Since its establishment in 1823, the Library of Virginia has been managed and staffed largely by white, middle class, cisgender people. Consequently, the collections stored…
Just like Bob Dylan went electric at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1965, the Library of Virginia's Dictionary of Virginia Biography (DVB) went digital more…
Downtown Richmond seems to be perpetually under construction. The Library of Virginia has had several buildings downtown during its 200-year history and the 800 block…
Tamika Y. Nunley’s new book The Demands of Justice: Enslaved Women, Capital Crime, and Clemency in Early Virginia explores the impact of Virginia’s judicial system…
Earl Swift’s book Chesapeake Requiem is the Common Ground Virginia History Book Group pick for June 2023. Chesapeake Requiem explores the close-knit community of Tangier…
In February 2023, we began our seventh season of travel as the first Library of Virginia Circuit Court Records Preservation Program (CCRP) consulting archivists. Although…
For many entering the United States, bureaucratic paperwork is one of their first encounters with the United States government. Deepak Singh, author of How May…
Robert K. Sutton’s Nazis on the Potomac details the intelligence operations that took place in Virginia’s Fort Hunt during World War II, including the interrogation of…
The Library of Virginia (LVA) is known for its remarkable collections and its outstanding support for anyone interested in exploring those collections. Many Virginians, though,…
Shortly after the end of the Civil War, which had a devastating impact on the commonwealth’s records, the Virginia State Library (now Library of Virginia)…
It is often assumed that after Congressional Reconstruction in Virginia ended in 1870, no Black men won election to political office in the state until…
For March 2023, the Common Ground Virginia History Book Group is exploring the history of Southern baking with Rebecca Sharpless’s Grain and Fire. Sharpless explores…
Brenda Mitchell-Powell’s book Public in Name Only explores the history of racial segregation in Virginia public libraries through the example of the Alexandria library system and…