Posts – Page 28 – The UncommonWealth

National Poetry Month Blog: Week 3, Kiki Petrosino

The Library of Virginia is a favorite haunt for genealogists, tracking down their ancestors with great hopes of finding a notable person in their family…

Nan CarmackApril 15, 2022

Newspapers

Virginians in the Projection Booth

On 28 December 1895, the Lumière Brothers, Auguste and Louis, gave the first public viewing of a projected motion picture at the Salon Indien du…

Errol SomayApril 13, 2022

Public Libraries

Unequal Access: The Desegregation of Public Libraries in Northern Virginia

It all began with a question. The Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) Board of Trustees had over the past year onboarded a cohort of new…

Guest ContributorApril 11, 2022

Virginia Authors

National Poetry Month Blog: Week 2, Bill Glose

Bill Glose was born into a military family, moving frequently overseas, but found home at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. An ROTC Hokie, Bill…

Nan CarmackApril 8, 2022

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

Education & Programming Public Libraries

Growing As A Community: Virginia’s Seed Libraries

With the weather warming up, many Virginians start thinking about life outdoors again, and with that comes gardening. From largescale agricultural growing to elaborate landscape…

Annie HattonApril 4, 2022

Education & Programming Virginia Authors

LVA celebrates National Poetry Month 2022 with its Virginia Literary Award Winners and Nominees

Robert Frost said, “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” Virginia’s own Rita Dove advances this thought:…

Nan CarmackApril 1, 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

Virginia Authors

New Books – March 2022

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

Donna PletcherMarch 28, 2022

Newspapers

Devoted to the Industrial Classes of the South: The Southern Workman on Virginia Chronicle

Along with a list of many new newspapers, a nearly complete run of the Southern Workman, a monthly published from 1872-1939 by the Hampton Normal…

Kelley EwingMarch 25, 2022

Manuscripts & Special Collections

Epicurious in the 18th Century

Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in Broadside, the magazine of the Library of Virginia, Issue No. 3, 2021.The most popular cookbook…

Audrey McElhinneyMarch 23, 2022

The Stacks

“I’m a history nerd who brings Virginia history to the Internet” : 7 Questions with Jessi Bennett

This blog entry is the latest in a series introducing LVA employees and exploring what they do day-to-day. If you are interested in what goes…

Vince BrooksMarch 21, 2022

Education & Programming Virginia Authors

Naming Our Common Ground

In A Brave and Cunning Prince, James Horn questions accepted narratives regarding 17th-century Virginia as he traces the life of Opechancanough, the brother of Chief…

Library of VirginiaMarch 18, 2022

Archives Newspapers

Wearing of the Green

In the late 1840s, a flood of Irish refugees fleeing the Great Famine filled America’s cities. While most of these immigrants went to the Northeast,…

Bill BynumMarch 16, 2022

Public Libraries

Libraries and the Power of Story

"...all cultures—the dominant and marginalized—have always used stories to validate their existences, make sense of their worlds, and pass on to future generations what they…

Barry TrottMarch 14, 2022