This northern Shenandoah Valley county is named for John Page, Governor of Virginia from 1802-1805. Land from Rockingham and Shenandoah counties created the county in…
Callie FreedJanuary 19, 2022
William H. Pemberton’s father was a white man. His mother, Elizabeth Pleasants, had skin that was described as “very bright mulatto”, a term then in…
Lydia NeurothDecember 29, 2021
Nineteenth-century newspapers were often filled with tales of fraud. Stories of credit scams, dubious identities, duplicitous lovers, and a myriad of other reported confidence schemes…
Kevin ShupeDecember 15, 2021
Editor’s Note: The Library of Virginia, in partnership with Virginia Humanities, sponsors residential fellows during the academic year to conduct in-depth research in the Library’s collections.…
Meredith Henne BakerDecember 8, 2021
The Division of Motion Picture Censorship existed as a section of the Department of Law (now the Office of the Attorney General) from 1922-1966. Originally…
Nathan VerillaDecember 6, 2021
This month’s blog is a continuation of the story I posted last month of an enslaved man, Richard, who helped his nephew Tazewell seize his…
Lydia NeurothNovember 24, 2021
From its exterior, the Leesburg United Methodist Church, Loudoun County, Virginia, appears to be like any other church building scattered across the country. However, a…
Mary Ann MasonNovember 17, 2021
The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce that the Warwick County Chancery Causes, 1860-1912, are available online through the Chancery Records Index on Virginia…
Tracy HarterNovember 12, 2021
Visiting John and Lucinda Smith at their home in Belton, South Carolina, could be a little complicated if one were traveling from out of town.…
Eddie WoodwardNovember 10, 2021
As the original inhabitants and caretakers of the land known today as Virginia, the influence of indigenous communities on the land, history, and culture of…
Vince BrooksNovember 1, 2021
On March 18, 1856, an enslaved man named Richard was charged in the City of Richmond for the crime of aiding and advising Tazewell, his…
Lydia NeurothOctober 27, 2021
We’re excited to announce that we’ve just uploaded new Virginia Untold material to our transcription platform From the Page! This Saturday, October 23, from noon…
Lydia NeurothOctober 20, 2021
Lucy began her life in enslavement. The daughter of her enslaver, Edmund Littlepage, and enslaved mother Sophia Littlepage, Lucy lived on her father’s plantation in…
Mary Ann MasonOctober 6, 2021
Several of my colleagues have shared the personal stories of enslaved individuals over the past nine years as we work our way through processing and…
Callie FreedOctober 4, 2021
