WRVA Radio – The UncommonWealth

WRVA: The Voice of Virginia

Editor’s Note: This blog post contains information from a previous Library of Virginia exhibition (2003–2004), Radio in Virginia, developed by Gerald "Jay" Gaidmore. For generations of…

John DealOctober 29, 2025

Education & Programming

Virginia Roots Music: Creating and Conserving Tradition

Editor's Note: This blog post contains information from a previous Library of Virginia exhibition (2002–2003), Virginia Roots Music Creating and Conserving Tradition, developed by Barbara…

John DealMarch 5, 2025

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

Making Music with Sunshine Sue

The Library of Virginia, one of the oldest state libraries and archives in the nation, is marking its bicentennial in 2023 with a free exhibition—200…

Gregg KimballOctober 11, 2023

Give Me That Old Time Music: WRVA’s Old Dominion Barn Dance

Since its creation in 1823, the Library of Virginia has been renowned for its vast collection of books, manuscripts, and maps. A closer look at…

Dawn TinnellSeptember 12, 2018

Manuscripts & Special Collections

A morning not unlike any other morning

December 7th marked a “day that will live in infamy” for many Virginians. However, for one Richmond family, the crucial day fell not in 1941,…

Jim GreveFebruary 1, 2017

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941

With those words, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. Millions of Americans learned about the attack and heard the president’s…

Roger ChristmanDecember 7, 2016

Manuscripts & Special Collections

News of a tragedy

Most of us—whether we were alive at the time of the event or learned about it from parents and grandparents, books, magazine articles, documentaries, and…

Jessica Tyree BurgessNovember 20, 2013

Manuscripts & Special Collections

A Child is Waiting

In 1964, the Children’s Home Society of Virginia (CHS) sought to make use of the power of radio, requesting some air time from WRVA to…

Jessica Tyree BurgessAugust 21, 2013