Sonya Coleman – The UncommonWealth

Manuscripts & Special Collections Newspapers

Of ‘Maters and Mayo: Hot Tomato Summer and the History of Duke’s

It’s that special time of year, when it’s too dang hot to do anything but sit back and enjoy a tomato sandwich. And what’s a…

Sonya ColemanJuly 25, 2025

Digital Projects Education & Programming

Making History: Celebrating Student Transcribers for National Volunteer Week

Volunteering can deepen community connections and transform lives. In our Making History crowdsourcing program, Library of Virginia staff work with volunteers to transcribe historical documents…

Sonya ColemanApril 23, 2025

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

The Kids Are Alright: Volunteer Transcription Projects Flourish at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School

Since 2017, the Library of Virginia has partnered with Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School (MLWGS) to offer the Making History crowdsourced transcription project to students…

Sonya ColemanMay 3, 2023

Digital Projects Education & Programming Newspapers

History Unfolded: Crowdsourcing through the Pandemic and Beyond

The co-creation of knowledge, the joy of discovery, even the small failures and inevitable words – crowdsourcing has been an ongoing source of inspiration and…

Sonya ColemanMarch 8, 2023

Archives Digital Projects Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections The Stacks

Transforming the Future

Summer 2022 marked the first cohort of the Transforming the Future of Libraries & Archives Internship Program. With great excitement and anticipation, we welcomed six…

Sonya ColemanAugust 22, 2022

Manuscripts & Special Collections

My Vicious Valentine

When the wishes you strive to send are neither sweet nor charming, Dose a valentine with vinegar – that’s sure to be alarming! Drink, gamble,…

Sonya ColemanFebruary 9, 2022

Education & Programming

Happy Archives Month, Virginia!

Though Virginia Archives Month arrives every autumn, there is truly no season of the year where you cannot find an archival item or collection to…

Sonya ColemanOctober 9, 2020

Education & Programming

Unfinished Business: Barriers to Voting

Even after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1920, many people in the United States continued to be denied the right…

Sonya ColemanSeptember 2, 2020

Education & Programming

“Research sprints” help show what Virginia papers covered during the Holocaust

What did Virginia newspapers report about Nazi persecution during the 1930s and 1940s? There is a misconception that Americans did not know about the Holocaust…

Sonya ColemanAugust 25, 2020

Manuscripts & Special Collections

Letterhead in the Archives: Suffrage Edition

Commercial stationery can offer a fascinating snapshot of a place or time. Scholars of this subject point out that the rich illustrations and elaborate printing…

Sonya ColemanMarch 27, 2020

Digital Projects

Make Some History From the Comfort of Your Couch!

Stuck at home? Need a project? We’ve got three! These three projects use crowdsourcing to help make historical materials at the Library of Virginia more…

Sonya ColemanMarch 19, 2020

Manuscripts & Special Collections

Chasing Steeples through WWI France

The Library of Virginia’s Visual Studies Collection has a collection of German postcards depicting non-combat scenes from the Western Front. Schaar & Dathe of Trier…

Sonya ColemanNovember 9, 2018

Digital Projects Education & Programming

Connect with Us

Libraries and the people that staff them, fund them, and use them have a long history of civic engagement—they’re involved in their communities and make…

Sonya ColemanMay 25, 2017

Archives The Stacks

"Nat’s War": The Southampton Slave Rebellion of 1831

On 23 August 1831, Governor John Floyd received a hastily written note from the Southampton County postmaster stating “that an insurrection of the slaves in…

Sonya ColemanOctober 12, 2016

Digital Projects

Come On, Make Some History!

We’re happy to announce that Making History: Transcribe is now live! This site will enable users to transcribe documents in the Library of Virginia collections in…

Sonya ColemanAugust 19, 2014