Posts – Page 91 – The UncommonWealth

Archives

"And the piano, it sounds like a carnival"

In May of 1883, H. W. Gray, president of the Schomacker Piano-Forte Manufacturing Company, brought suit against Bettie L. Payne in the Frederick County Circuit…

Sarah NerneyOctober 24, 2012

Newspapers

VNP Acquires Pages and Pages of Page County Newspapers

An auction purchase is but an occasional means of adding to the VNP archive but this was an occasion difficult to resist: some 100 copies…

Henry MorseOctober 23, 2012

Archives

Mug Shot Monday: Joe Perry, No. 6733

This is the latest entry in a series of posts highlighting early parole records in the Virginia Penitentiary. Joe Perry, the subject of this week’s post,…

Roger ChristmanOctober 22, 2012

Archives

Dueling potters

Benjamin DuVal’s pottery in Richmond, Virginia is one of the best-documented early Virginia pottery manufactories, with articles about it appearing in at least two scholarly…

Chris KolbeOctober 17, 2012

Archives

Mug Shot Monday: Edmonia M. Peebles, No. 7803

This is the latest entry in a series of posts highlighting early parole records in the Virginia Penitentiary. Edmonia M. Peebles, the subject of this week’s…

Roger ChristmanOctober 15, 2012

Archives

Halifax Tax Ledger Turned Child’s Scrapbook

During a recent cataloging project, what at first seemed like a standard exercise revealed a nice surprise. From its exterior, the Halifax County (Va.) Capitation and…

Sarah NerneyOctober 10, 2012

Archives

Mug Shot Monday: Ben Parker, No. 8432

This is the latest entry in a series of posts highlighting the records of the Virginia Penitentiary. This month’s entries will spotlight early parole records. An 1898 Act…

Roger ChristmanOctober 8, 2012

Archives

When Disaster Struck the Commonwealth: The 1933 Chesapeake-Potomac Hurricane

With good reason, hurricanes are both a familiar and forbidden subject in the state of Virginia. The Atlantic hurricane season is officially from 1 June…

Callie FreedOctober 3, 2012

Archives Education & Programming The Stacks

Archives Month 2012: Boxes to Bandwidth

October brings back falling leaves, cooler weather, football, and most importantly Archives Month! Governor Bob McDonnell has officially proclaimed October as Virginia Archives Month. And…

Bari HelmsOctober 1, 2012

Newspapers

When in Our Nation’s Capitol

There was a story on yesterday’s Morning Edition about an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The exhibit is called “Shock of…

Silver PersingerSeptember 26, 2012

Archives Education & Programming

"hundreds of the descendants of Indians have obtained their freedom:" Freedom Suits in 18th & 19th Century Virginia

A small slip of paper on display in the Library of Virginia’s latest exhibition You Have No Right: Law and Justice in Virginia, running 24 September 2012-18…

Brent TarterSeptember 26, 2012

Archives

Two Faces: The Personal Files of Dr. Joseph S. DeJarnette

Processing the records of a state agency director can often be unsatisfying. While the folders of historically important correspondence, reports, and meeting minutes describe the…

Jessie GrahamSeptember 19, 2012

Archives

Fortune Teller Comes to Unpredictable End

On 15 May 1883, a seemingly intoxicated man approached Richard Stevens and his group of friends as they were standing together at 513 N. 17th Street…

Mary Dean CarterSeptember 12, 2012

Newspapers

Take a Look through The Monocle.

The Virginia Newspaper Project has cataloged over 7,000 newspapers, most of them local dailies and weeklies that you all grew up reading.But the Newspaper Project…

Errol SomaySeptember 10, 2012

Manuscripts & Special Collections

Spinnin’ on top of the world

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the former “Virginiana” section of Virginia Memory. Ever been on vacation and experienced weather so bad that it traps you…

Vince BrooksSeptember 5, 2012