New ideas are sometimes birthed out of tragedies. In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill passed by both houses of Congress authorizing an ambitious…
Joanne PorterNovember 18, 2015
The Library of Virginia cookbook collection documents hundreds of churches, clubs, special interest groups, school groups, families, chef specialties, and, of course, regional cuisine. Currently…
Claire RadcliffeMay 6, 2015
Before the Commonwealth of Virginia began officially recording vital statistics in 1853, many people recorded the births, deaths, and marriages in their families in the…
Tricia NoelApril 15, 2015
The 2015 Alan M. and Nathalie Voorhees Lecture on the History of Cartography will be held at the Library of Virginia on Saturday, 18 April. …
Cassandra FarrellApril 8, 2015
The Library of Virginia began accessioning maps in 1911. Today its collection has grown to encompass several types of maps, including town plans. One of…
Cassandra FarrellFebruary 20, 2015
In the courthouses of Virginia, one can often find records that are not and were never under the official purview of the clerks of the…
Sarah NerneyFebruary 4, 2015
Here on Out of the Box we like to take the occasional Friday to let patrons of the Library of Virginia tell our readers of…
Jessica Tyree BurgessDecember 12, 2014
In 1883, the year when Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson solved the case of the Speckled Band, an equally baffling real-life killing drew another noted…
Bill BynumNovember 19, 2014
This summer’s announcement that Mayo’s Island is again for sale prompted a look back at the history of of the most well-known of the James River islands.…
Cassandra FarrellNovember 14, 2014
The papers of Earl Hamner, Jr., creator and writer of the popular television series The Waltons, are now available for research at the Library of Virginia.…
Jim GreveNovember 12, 2014
On September 17, 2014 you’ll be able ask curators from cultural institutions around the world questions on Twitter using the hashtag #AskACurator. They can be…
Vince BrooksSeptember 4, 2014
Most of us—whether we were alive at the time of the event or learned about it from parents and grandparents, books, magazine articles, documentaries, and…
Jessica Tyree BurgessNovember 20, 2013
The smell of deep-fried pickles and cotton candy. The sounds of music and laughter. The sights of the midway. For well over a century and…
Trenton HizerOctober 3, 2013
In 1964, the Children’s Home Society of Virginia (CHS) sought to make use of the power of radio, requesting some air time from WRVA to…
Jessica Tyree BurgessAugust 21, 2013
