Posts – Page 36 – The UncommonWealth

“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

Virginia Authors

New Books – December 2021

The Library of Virginia is now operating under new hours for Fall 2021. The first-floor lobby and Exhibition Gallery are open Monday-Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to…

Donna PletcherDecember 27, 2021

Manuscripts & Special Collections

10 Holiday Gifts Worth Time-Traveling For!

Everyone has a holiday gift guide now so here are our favorites from the 1956 Miller & Rhoads Christmas Catalog. Or if you don't care…

Library of VirginiaDecember 22, 2021

Public Libraries The Stacks

Virtual Meets and Virtual Treats: 7 Questions with Sue La Paro

This is a series introducing LVA employees and exploring what they do day-to-day. Entries in this series are collected under the tag 7 Questions. Other…

Vince BrooksDecember 20, 2021

Virginia Authors

Ramping Up Local Food Consumption

A lot has changed in our food culture since Barbara Kingsolver first wrote her memoir about eating locally sourced food. The cultural movement to eat…

Library of VirginiaDecember 17, 2021

Archives Virginia Authors

The Mysterious Dr. Howard and the Gunston Hall Scandal of 1894

Nineteenth-century newspapers were often filled with tales of fraud. Stories of credit scams, dubious identities, duplicitous lovers, and a myriad of other reported confidence schemes…

Kevin ShupeDecember 15, 2021

Public Libraries

Life as a Library Fellow: My Experience in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa

I fling open the black metal front gate, and the bright morning sun greets me. I begin walking down the bustling street, passing taxi cabs,…

Your Local Public LibrarianDecember 13, 2021

Archives Education & Programming Public Libraries

Garden Clubs Plant Seeds of Change

Editor’s Note: The Library of Virginia, in partnership with Virginia Humanities, sponsors residential fellows during the academic year to conduct in-depth research in the Library’s collections.…

Meredith Henne BakerDecember 8, 2021

Division of Motion Picture Censorship Records at the Library of Virginia

The Division of Motion Picture Censorship existed as a section of the Department of Law (now the Office of the Attorney General) from 1922-1966. Originally…

Nathan VerillaDecember 6, 2021

Digital Projects Newspapers

Virginia Chronicle Surpasses Two Million Pages!

The newspaper page count has officially surpassed two million on Virginia Chronicle! An array of new titles have been added to the Library’s growing digital…

Kelley EwingDecember 1, 2021

Virginia Authors

New Books – November 2021

The Library of Virginia is now operating under new hours for Fall 2021. The first-floor lobby and Exhibition Gallery are open Monday-Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to…

Donna PletcherNovember 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

Education & Programming

Infrastructure Week: 1870s Edition.

In 1989, Samuel K. Skinner, Secretary of Transportation under George H. W. Bush, proclaimed in a committee hearing that, “infrastructure is not sexy - it…

Library of VirginiaNovember 22, 2021

Church Divided Cannot Stand: A Loudoun County Chancery Cause

From its exterior, the Leesburg United Methodist Church, Loudoun County, Virginia, appears to be like any other church building scattered across the country. However, a…

Mary Ann Mason, They/ThemNovember 17, 2021

The Stacks

“My friend Virginia and I got bored and decided to invent a holiday”: 7 Questions with Christine Lucas

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

Vince BrooksNovember 15, 2021