The UncommonWealth is off today. We hope you are enjoying time with family and friends, or perhaps a good book. See you soon!
Jessica BurgessDecember 25, 2019
The close of the American Civil War brought two young men back to a devastated Shenandoah Valley and an uncertain future. Aldine Silliman Kieffer had…
Gregg KimballDecember 3, 2018
One hundred years ago, on “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month,” representatives of Germany and the Allied forces met in…
Claire RadcliffeNovember 11, 2018
Happy Halloween! And what would Halloween be without Virginia's very own master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe? Check out these illustration from different editions…
Claire RadcliffeOctober 31, 2018
Richmond's John Marshall High and its outstanding student newspaper, the Monocle, have had a lot to be proud of over the years and a recent Style…
Kelley EwingOctober 17, 2018
Welcome to Mug Shot Monday! This is the latest entry in a series of posts highlighting inmate photographs in the records of the Virginia Penitentiary. John…
Roger ChristmanSeptember 24, 2018
On an August night in 1882, Adam Wilkerson returned to his Bedford County home to an unpleasant surprise. When he pushed the door open, he…
Mary Dean CarterJuly 25, 2018
Recently, the Library of Virginia acquired two Baptist newspapers, the Primitive Baptist and the Tazewell Baptist, both from Tazewell, Virginia. The two papers share more…
Kelley EwingJuly 23, 2018
The Library of Virginia recently acquired a family photograph collection identified as belonging to the Brooks/Ellis families. A composition book labeled “Bessie Miller December 1902”…
Vince BrooksJuly 4, 2018
This Service Song Book, which was “Prepared for the Men of the Army and Navy,” was used by the YMCA at Camp Lee during World…
Claire RadcliffeApril 4, 2018
To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, we found a selection of the (very) broad ways that newspapers have chosen to acknowledge the feast day over the…
Olin JohnsonMarch 14, 2018
A passport is both a highly practical and importantly symbolic item. It provides not only identification but also identity, allowing the bearer to travel to…
Claire RadcliffeMarch 7, 2018
Recently Susan Chiarello brought in a very unusual item to be scanned for the Virginia World War I/World War II Commission—her grandfather’s short snorter. Measuring…
Trenton HizerFebruary 28, 2018
In honor of George Washington's 286th birthday, we thought we'd share some of the many front page renderings of the nation's Founding Father drawn by…
Kelley EwingFebruary 22, 2018
