Manuscripts & Special Collections

Picturing Family

Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in Broadside, the magazine of the Library of Virginia, Issue No. 1, 2024. Whether displayed on household…

Dale NeighborsJune 11, 2025

Manuscripts & Special Collections

Newly-Available Archival Accessions, January 1-March 31, 2025

The Library of Virginia maintains the most comprehensive collection of information about Virginia’s history, culture, and government. We hold more than 200 million manuscript items,…

Trenton HizerMay 23, 2025

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

“A Very Excellent Trip” : Governor Linwood Holton’s Trade Mission to Japan and Australia

On April 12, 1972, at 11:00 a.m., Governor Linwood A. Holton and 24 representatives of Virginia’s state government and private businesses left from Richmond’s Byrd…

Cara GriggsMay 21, 2025

Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

“The best for military purposes of any map available”: The Ludwig von Buchholtz revisions to the Wood–Bőÿe map and the Civil War

Within a short time after it was published in 1826, John Wood’s and Herman Bőÿe’s map became outdated. The population growth of Virginia in the…

Peter NorthMay 19, 2025

Manuscripts & Special Collections Newspapers

“Combustible Rubbish:” Colonel Blanton Duncan and Confederate Currency

The more history I do, the more amused I am by Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary. Originally published as The Cynic’s Word Book in 1906,…

Kenneth ForestMay 5, 2025

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

Searching for Nelly, Harriet, and Juno – Part 2

In my February blog post I promised to follow-up with a particular discovery in the case of three women who self-liberated from their enslavers in…

Lydia NeurothApril 30, 2025

Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections Newspapers

Navigating Methods of Map Making: A Feud Between Surveyors in the Enquirer

In February of 1816, the Virginia General Assembly approved an act for the overdue, expensive and laborious endeavor of creating the first state-funded Map of…

Kelley EwingApril 21, 2025

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

The Bibliography of a Map

"You will moreover as to be so good to see Mr. Patterson from August and inform him that I have not yet received the plat…

Cassandra FarrellMarch 17, 2025

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

“A Handsome & Workmanlike Manner”: Engraving the Map of Virginia

How was Virginia’s nine-sheet map, drafted from manuscript surveys, transformed into this elegant engraving? It was a time-consuming process that involved oversight and coordination of…

Barbara BatsonFebruary 21, 2025

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections

“You Can Survive an Atomic Attack”: Artifacts of the Nuclear Arms Race

I am a child of the Cold War, and I grew up on TV episodes and movies inspired by the nuclear arms race, from On…

Kenneth ForestJanuary 29, 2025

Archives Digital Projects Manuscripts & Special Collections Newspapers

A Shoeshine Box of Memories

Editor's Note: This blog came about as staff members explored some of the old gift catalogs in our collection. We know that during the holiday…

Cara GriggsDecember 23, 2024

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

Those Who Surveyed the Commonwealth

"He lacked the polish and dazzle in some degree that is so captivating to mankind, and which is often mistaken for merit itself,” wrote one…

Cassandra FarrellDecember 18, 2024

Manuscripts & Special Collections

War Comes to Chatham Manor: The Battle of Fredericksburg, 1862

They say that war makes for strange bedfellows, and the Battle of Fredericksburg was no exception. In 1862, three notable Americans – Clara Barton, “Angel…

Lee Ann TimreckDecember 11, 2024

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

The Odd Couple Mapping the Commonwealth

The two cartographers responsible for the first official state map of Virginia were very different individuals. One was an older itinerant scholar who undertook many…

John DealNovember 18, 2024

Archives Digital Projects Manuscripts & Special Collections

Building Towards Victory: The WWII Population Boom of Norfolk

The population in Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the greater Hampton Roads area greatly increased during World War II. Individuals and families moved to the area for…

Lauren CaravatiNovember 6, 2024