In October 1981, many Virginian cities along the James River opened their taps to find water with a “rusty, swampy, generally unpleasant odor.”1 After closing…
Jessi BennettFebruary 3, 2025
Archives are full of old examples of different methods of storing and sharing information whether these be frakturs, index cards or poll books. Each present…
Jessi BennettJanuary 17, 2024
On December 25, 1955, the Richmond Times-Dispatch ran an article titled “Decline of Penmanship.” An Associated Press piece by Arthur Edson, the article bemoaned “this…
Jessi BennettDecember 18, 2023
As another year winds down many of us may be thinking not only of endings, but also of new beginnings. New Year’s imagery usually includes…
Jessi BennettDecember 4, 2023
It was November 1932 and Richmond resident John O’Flaherty had a complaint. It was not an earth-shattering complaint, nor an urgent one, not big enough…
Jessi BennettJuly 17, 2023
Each fall, high school students search for a “room of their own.” They seek out places away from teachers and parents where they can process…
Jessi BennettOctober 17, 2022
In 2018, we shared a blog post detailing the World War I experience of James P. Spencer, a Black soldier in the 370th Infantry of…
Jessi BennettJuly 6, 2022
We cover a lot of serious and heavy topics on the UncommonWealth blog but every once in a while we like to present something just…
Jessi BennettJune 1, 2022
In 1823, Jacques Arago’s Voyage autour du Monde was published. After describing a line-crossing ceremony he had witnessed, he waxed philosophical, noting, “I have no…
Jessi BennettSeptember 1, 2021
Last Friday we took a look at some of the ways that Virginia high school yearbooks have celebrated their graduates in the past, but there…
Jessi BennettJune 4, 2021
The high school classes of 2020 and 2021 will always stand out for their unique senior year experience. We’ve had to invent new ways to…
Jessi BennettMay 28, 2021
Sometimes after a long day of looking at archival documents on my computer screen, I go home and relax by looking at archival documents on…
Jessi BennettMarch 24, 2021
On 13 September 1886, an ill W. W. Colley returned to Richmond, Virginia, from Liberia, trying once again to outrun scandal. However, the month-long boat…
Jessi BennettFebruary 17, 2021
CONTENT WARNING: Materials in the Library of Virginia's collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and…
Jessi BennettSeptember 11, 2020
