Virginia General Assembly – The UncommonWealth

Sites of Past Campaigns: Virginia Public Access Project Website Archive

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, twenty-eight members of the Virginia General Assembly (10 Senators and 18 Delegates) have announced they will not seek…

Roger ChristmanApril 12, 2023

Archives Newspapers

Dr. Ware’s War on Kissing

December 26, 1902 was, by all appearances, a slow news day for the Staunton Spectator and Vindicator. The Virginia newspaper featured such prosaic headlines as…

Rebecca SchneiderFebruary 6, 2023

Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

“Unwarrented, Unnecessary, Undemocratic:” The Virginia General Assembly Responds to the Proposed Nineteenth Amendment in 1919

In June 1919 Congress proposed an amendment to the Constitution of the United States guaranteeing women’s right to vote (with only one vote in favor…

Mari JulienneSeptember 4, 2019

Education & Programming

Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Founding of the General Assembly of Virginia

The first meeting of the General Assembly of Virginia took place at the church building in Jamestown on 30 July 1619. The session lasted for…

Brent TarterJuly 30, 2019

Archives

The Remarkable Hodges Family of Princess Anne County and Norfolk

During the night of 23 April 1829, six African American men made a daring escape from the Norfolk County jail. One of them was William…

Brent TarterMarch 6, 2019

Archives

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Legislative Petitions for Divorce

In this age of no-fault divorce, it is hard to imagine that from 1776 to 1826 the only means of divorce in Virginia was by…

Bill BynumAugust 29, 2018

Archives

"Objection, Mr. Chairman!" – The Opening Session of the 1998 House of Delegates

With the Virginia House of Delegates almost evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats when it convenes on Wednesday, 10 January 2018, Out of the Box…

Roger ChristmanJanuary 8, 2018

Archives

It Came From YouTube!: the State Records Film Collection

Have you ever been curious about the birds who call Virginia home? Or wanted to explore the history of Richmond? Or maybe take a closer…

Paige NealOctober 11, 2017

Archives

Drink Wet and Vote Dry

One of the hallmarks of the age of Prohibition is a certain level of contradiction. After all, the country was supposed to be entirely dry;…

Claire RadcliffeJuly 26, 2017

Archives

Ten Paces! Fire!

On 28 November 1818, John McCarty of Loudoun County wrote a short letter to the Speaker of the House of Delegates of Virginia, declining the…

Claire RadcliffeJune 29, 2016

Archives Digital Projects The Stacks

Ten Years Burning Down the Road: Web Archiving at LVA

September 2015 marks the ten year anniversary of web archiving at the Library of Virginia. In the fall of 2005, the Library partnered with the…

Roger ChristmanSeptember 23, 2015

Archives The Stacks

A Day in the Archives with Who Do You Think You Are?

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I was called to a meeting in the Library’s Special Collections reading room on a busy day in…

Gregg KimballApril 20, 2015

Archives Digital Projects

Digital Images of All Legislative Petitions Now Available on Virginia Memory

The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce that the final batch of digital images of legislative petitions to the Virginia General Assembly, 1776-1865, is now…

Greg CrawfordJune 11, 2014

Archives Digital Projects

Latest Digital Images of Legislative Petitions Now Available

Digital images of Legislative Petitions to the Virginia General Assembly, 1776 to 1865, from Bath County through Essex County are now available on Virginia Memory, the Library…

Bari HelmsOctober 18, 2013

Archives Digital Projects

Legislative Petition Digital Project Up and Running

Public improvements, military claims, divorce, manumission of slaves, division of counties, incorporation of towns, religious freedom, and taxation are just some of the concerns expressed…

Craig MooreMay 1, 2013