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 the Commonwealth are shedding light…but not too much light…on their photography collections with the theme “Oh Snap!” Photography in the Archives.
Photos document just a second of time but can convey volumes. They reveal information about period fashions and trends, document the built environment, and convey a shared humanity across the decades.
The 2025 Virginia Archives Month zine focuses on the preservation and care of photographic media. It provides a timeline of common photography types, and provides suggestions for appropriate care, handling, and storage. Maybe it will inspire you to pull down that old hat box or log into your cloud storage to begin organizing and preserving your own photograph archive.
2025 VA Archives Month zine cover
But Virginia Archives Month is never just about checking items off your To Do list. There will be lots of opportunities for learning, doing, and engaging with archival materials and staff.
George Mason University and the Virginia Museum of History & Culture will host archives fairs to share more about institutions and collections in those areas.
Buttons! Everyone loves buttons!
Washington & Lee University and the Library of Virginia will offer open houses and programming that explores various photographic processes and how and when they were used. And, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the library, George Mason University will host the terrifyingly fun HallowZines III!
If you aren’t able to visit an institution in person, there will be additional virtual programming options, including a history of photography webinar by Wendy Castenell of Washington and Lee University. Be sure to check the Virginia Archives Month 2025 webpage for other events as they are added.
This year’s Virginia Archives Month website also contains extensive information on the history and care of photographs. From blogs to books to podcasts, it’s a one-stop-shop for anything you ever wanted to know about photographs.
Finally, if you’re melancholy that Virginia Archives Month comes around but once a year. If you’ve often found yourself wondering, on a beautiful spring day in May, what are Virginia’s archivists up to? Well, fret no more! The Virginia caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) is on Instagram at @virginia_archivists.
