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
The Library of Virginia is excited to partner with Made by Us, a coalition of history museums, archives, historical societies, and civic education organizations, in…
Library of VirginiaJune 15, 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
Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in Broadside, the magazine of the Library of Virginia, Issue No. 1, 2022 Writer Barbara Diggs discovered…
Guest ContributorMay 4, 2022
In view of thirty-nine of our free registers recently going live on the From the Page, we’re dedicating a series of blog posts to highlighting…
Lydia NeurothApril 27, 2022
In 1793, the Virginia General Assembly passed a law requiring that all free Black and multiracial individuals of Black descent in the state of Virginia…
Lydia NeurothMarch 30, 2022
On her deathbed in 1848, Susan Mills called her brother Henry and her sister Nancy to her bedside. She told them that she wanted her…
Lydia NeurothFebruary 23, 2022
Need to access the website of Governor Ralph S. Northam (2018-2022), which was taken down at the end of this term? The Library of Virginia…
Roger ChristmanFebruary 11, 2022
In August 1852, Elizabeth McKennon was accused of assembling with “fifteen negroes” at a house on Second Street in the City of Richmond with the…
Lydia NeurothJanuary 26, 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
The newspaper page count has officially surpassed two million on Virginia Chronicle! An array of new titles have been added to the Library’s growing digital…
Kelley EwingDecember 1, 2021
Last month, I took my first road trip as project manager for Virginia Untold. I traveled to Clarke County courthouse, along with local records archivists…
Lydia NeurothSeptember 29, 2021
Over the summer of 2021, student interns conducted a self-directed research project using Library of Virginia collections and other resources to explore the effects of…
Library of VirginiaSeptember 17, 2021
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
