Virginia Untold – Page 3 – The UncommonWealth

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“Enticing, Advising, and Aiding…a Slave…to Abscond”

In October 1842, Cora Ann Elizabeth Carter and her husband William Watt Hubbard boarded the steamboat Patrick Henry en route for New York. Earlier that…

Lydia NeurothJuly 27, 2022

Archives Digital Projects

A Case Study of Freedom: John Hopes

Nearly a week and a half ago, the country celebrated Juneteenth, which commemorates emancipation from slavery in the United States. Juneteenth refers to the historic…

Lydia NeurothJune 29, 2022

Archives

19th-Century Henrico County Records Offer Clues on the Lives of Free Black Individuals

Shortly after we published our story about William Pemberton, Lisa Denton from Henrico County Recreation and Parks reached out to me to share about her…

Guest ContributorMay 25, 2022

Archives Digital Projects

Forthcoming Additions to Free Registers Collection in Virginia Untold

In view of thirty-nine of our free registers recently going live on the From the Page, we’re dedicating a series of blog posts to highlighting…

Lydia NeurothApril 27, 2022

Virginia Authors

“She still lives through those to whom she gave her life.”

For the majority of United States' existence as a nation, the focus of academic history has been on the actions and achievements of educated, well-to-do…

Library of VirginiaApril 20, 2022

Archives

Reopening the Case of the Petersburg and Isle of Wight Commonwealth Causes

Although many years have passed since Local Records staff completed the processing of Isle of Wight County (Va.) Commonwealth Causes Ended, 1774-1937 and the city…

Library of VirginiaApril 6, 2022

Archives Digital Projects Highlights

“Free Negro Registers” from Virginia Untold Now Available on From the Page

In 1793, the Virginia General Assembly passed a law requiring that all free Black and multiracial individuals of Black descent in the state of Virginia…

Lydia NeurothMarch 30, 2022

Archives Digital Projects

The Freedom to Love

On her deathbed in 1848, Susan Mills called her brother Henry and her sister Nancy to her bedside. She told them that she wanted her…

Lydia NeurothFebruary 23, 2022

Archives Digital Projects

‘Teaching a School of Negro Children’: The Story of Elizabeth McKennon

In August 1852, Elizabeth McKennon was accused of assembling with “fifteen negroes” at a house on Second Street in the City of Richmond with the…

Lydia NeurothJanuary 26, 2022

Archives Digital Projects

“That he is a ‘person of mixed blood’”: Being Biracial in Antebellum Virginia

William H. Pemberton’s father was a white man. His mother, Elizabeth Pleasants, had skin that was described as “very bright mulatto”, a term then in…

Lydia NeurothDecember 29, 2021

Archives Newspapers

“Gone in the First Boat”: Part 2

This month’s blog is a continuation of the story I posted last month of an enslaved man, Richard, who helped his nephew Tazewell seize his…

Lydia NeurothNovember 24, 2021

Archives

“Gone in the First Boat”: Part 1

On March 18, 1856, an enslaved man named Richard was charged in the City of Richmond for the crime of aiding and advising Tazewell, his…

Lydia NeurothOctober 27, 2021

Archives Conservation

Coming Soon to Virginia Untold: Free Black Registers from Arlington County

We’re excited to announce that we’ve just uploaded new Virginia Untold material to our transcription platform From the Page! This Saturday, October 23, from noon…

Lydia NeurothOctober 20, 2021

Archives Digital Projects The Stacks

New Additions to Virginia Untold from Clarke County

Last month, I took my first road trip as project manager for Virginia Untold. I traveled to Clarke County courthouse, along with local records archivists…

Lydia NeurothSeptember 29, 2021

Archives

Freedom is Never Free: The Untold Story of Reubenetta Dandridge

On 30 March 1857, Joseph Elam and two other white men broke into the house of Reubenetta Dandridge, a free Black woman living in the…

Lydia NeurothAugust 25, 2021