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
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
Editor's Note: A version of this article first appeared in Broadside, the magazine of the Library of Virginia, Issue No. 2, 2020. As we near…
Dana PugaAugust 18, 2021
A little more than 20 years ago, the Library of Virginia performed most newspaper inventory, cataloging, and even preservation microfilming in-house. We did use online…
Kelley EwingAugust 4, 2021
The Library of Virginia has long maintained an excellent series of introductory guides to the Library’s resources and subject areas. At first, these were mostly…
Library of VirginiaJuly 12, 2021
Hi, I’m Lydia, the new Project Manager for Virginia Untold. I’m using this blog post to introduce myself and my interest in this project. Going…
Lydia NeurothJune 30, 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
The Library of Virginia houses an extensive collection of vital records, including birth and death records, 1853-1896, and marriage records, 1853-1935. Genealogists and family historians…
Paige NealMay 24, 2021
In case you missed it, 14-20 March 2021 was Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of open and transparent government and citizen engagement in government decision-making.…
Kathy JordanMarch 31, 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
The “Runaway Slaves” Records, 1791-1863, available at Virginia Untold: the African American Narrative, include reports, accounts, correspondence, court records, and receipts concerning expenses incurred by…
Greg CrawfordJanuary 27, 2021
