Picture a church with the front doors firmly locked, and the keys kept away from the congregation. Then picture a part of the congregation illegally…
McKenzie LongMarch 2, 2022
"I hate secession and all its hateful helpers. Cursed be the hand that raised its bloody flag to make desolate homes and wretched women,” wrote…
McKenzie LongSeptember 22, 2021
This is the second in a series of blog posts on the record types found in the forthcoming Library of Virginia research database: Virginia Untold: The…
Greg CrawfordJanuary 13, 2016
The Washington Monument is finally reopening on 12 May 2014 after undergoing restoration for damage caused by an earthquake in August 2011. I was curious what the…
Bari HelmsMay 12, 2014
The release of the film 12 Years a Slave had us talking here at Out of the Box. Discussions on slavery are a common occurrence at the Library of…
Bari HelmsDecember 4, 2013
Divorces reveal much about the inner-workings of a family, usually much more than outsiders should ever discover. While processing the Arlington County chancery causes, I…
Bari HelmsSeptember 18, 2013
Former Local Records archivist Catherine OBrion was given the task of processing the chancery causes of Arlington (formerly Alexandria) County. Perhaps the most interesting case…
Callie FreedDecember 21, 2011
At one o’clock in the morning on 1 September 1859, Milly T. King arrived at the home of James Clary and found his slave Hannah…
Bari HelmsNovember 7, 2011
Before the Civil War, Virginia did not have a comprehensive public school system. Lawmakers passed various measures to fund public schools, but these measures were…
Catherine OBrionMay 18, 2011
