Last week marked the 70th anniversary of the February 1951 executions of the Martinsville Seven. Joe Henry Hampton, Howard Lee Hairston, Booker T. Millner, Frank…
In September 1895, Kit Leftwich (also known as Kit Leftridge) was indicted for the rape of Annie Fogarty, the 12-year-old daughter of his supervisor. The…
In his debut novel, Forsaken, Ross Howell Jr. tells the story of an uneducated African American servant, Virginia Christian, who was tried for killing her white employer in…
Welcome to Mug Shot Monday Special Edition. This is the final post focusing on records at the Library of Virginia related to the “Hillsville Massacre.” In March 1913, Floyd…
Welcome to Mug Shot Monday Special Edition. Next Wednesday, 14 March marks the 100th anniversary of the infamous “Hillsville Massacre,” where five people were killed in a gunfight in…
Welcome to Mug Shot Monday (Halloween Edition)! This is the latest entry in a series of posts highlighting inmate photographs in the records of the Virginia Penitentiary. At…
The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce that the records of the Virginia Penitentiary (Accession 41558) are now available to researchers. The collection contains 289 bound…
On 16 August 1912, 17-year-old Virginia Christian was electrocuted at the Virginia Penitentiary for the 18 March 1912 murder of Ida Belote, her white employer.…
These records are part of the Virginia State Penitentiary Collection, 1796-1991 (Accession 41558). Access to the execution files and four audio cassettes is restricted for…