Posts – 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

The Stacks Virginia Authors

New Books – October 2025

The Library of Virginia's first-floor lobby and Exhibition Gallery are open Monday-Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The second-floor Reading Rooms are open Tuesday-Friday, 9:00…

Annie HattonOctober 27, 2025

A Bill of Divorcement

After 31 years of marriage, Alois Rick filed for divorce from Anna Regina Rick, his wife, in the Richmond Chancery Court. The two were married…

Jennifer TaylorOctober 22, 2025

Digital Projects

School Spirits

October is full of spooky spirits, good-natured yelling and creepy costumes - but it’s not all Halloween-related. There is also school spirit haunting the stands…

Jessi BennettOctober 20, 2025

Archives Conservation Digital Projects The Stacks

Looking Back, Moving Forward: The Chancery Records Index Turns 25!

Those words in the November/December 2000 issue of the Library of Virginia newsletter launched what would eventually evolve into one of the agency’s most-used digital…

Vince BrooksOctober 15, 2025

Public Libraries

I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghosts: Ghost Hunting Kits Now Available at Franklin County Public Library

If you’ve ever felt a mysterious chill in the air, heard footsteps in an empty hallway, or wondered if that creaky noise was more than…

Guest ContributorOctober 13, 2025

Archives Digital Projects Education & Programming

Grappling With Your Digital Records: How To Preserve Them

When you have digital records, it’s important to carefully consider where and how to store them. Celebrate Electronic Records Day by using this article as…

Emily JohnsonOctober 10, 2025

Newly-Available Archival Accessions, April 1-June 30, 2025

The Library of Virginia maintains the most comprehensive collection of information about Virginia’s history, culture, and government. We hold more than 200 million manuscript items,…

Trenton HizerOctober 8, 2025

Digital Projects Newspapers

6,000,000 Pages and Counting: New Titles on Virginia Chronicle

October 5-11 is National Newspaper Week, the perfect time to highlight new titles available on Virginia Chronicle, the Library of Virginia’s freely accessible, fully searchable…

Kelley EwingOctober 6, 2025

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections Newspapers The Stacks

Happy Virginia Archives Month 2025!

Everyone knows that October is spooky season– a time for campfires, warm cider donuts, and Archives Month! This year, archives and special collections from around…

Vince BrooksOctober 1, 2025

The Stacks Virginia Authors

New Books – September 2025

The Library of Virginia's first-floor lobby and Exhibition Gallery are open Monday-Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The second-floor Reading Rooms are open Tuesday-Friday, 9:00…

Annie HattonSeptember 29, 2025

Archives Education & Programming

“From Whence They Came:” The Richard Forrester Family of Jackson Ward

In 1823, a mixed-race child named Richard Gustavus Forrester was born in Richmond to nineteen-year-old Gustavus Adolphus Myers, a member of one of the wealthiest…

Lee Ann TimreckSeptember 26, 2025

Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Richmond: The Cosmopolitan Sensibility of the 1890 Lee Monument

Confederate monuments are often defended on the grounds that they provide an educational function. Both enthusiasts and critics of the Confederacy who take this position…

Donovan SchaeferSeptember 24, 2025

Archives Digital Projects

Do You Want to Join the Gallon Club?

It was well understood during World War II that blood transfusions saved lives. However, prior to the 1930s, one of the only ways to provide…

Lauren CaravatiSeptember 22, 2025

Archives Conservation

Attics and Basements and Bell Towers, Oh My!

The Circuit Court Records Preservation (CCRP) consulting archivists from the Library of Virginia routinely travel across the Commonwealth assisting the state’s 120 circuit court clerks’…

Library of VirginiaSeptember 17, 2025