Now celebrated as a federal holiday, Juneteenth marks the date of June 19, 1865, when the Union Army arrived in Galveston and announced that the…
Guest ContributorJune 19, 2024
As soon as English colonizers established themselves in Virginia, one of their main concerns was the education of Indigenous people. The education implemented by the…
Ashley CraigApril 17, 2024
On December 25, 1955, the Richmond Times-Dispatch ran an article titled “Decline of Penmanship.” An Associated Press piece by Arthur Edson, the article bemoaned “this…
Jessi BennettDecember 18, 2023
As another year winds down many of us may be thinking not only of endings, but also of new beginnings. New Year’s imagery usually includes…
Jessi BennettDecember 4, 2023
Before I begin describing what exactly the Books on Wheels service is, I want to give you some context regarding the community Augusta County Library…
Guest ContributorAugust 14, 2023
School may be out for the summer, but school newspapers are in—on Virginia Chronicle, that is! Five student newspapers, totaling around 58,000 pages, have recently…
Kelley EwingAugust 9, 2023
Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of blog posts regarding Virginia female newspaper editors by our Transforming the Future of Libraries and…
Elena CarioAugust 7, 2023
Conceived of by financier Morton Blumenthal, inspired by twentieth-century psychic Edgar Cayce, and led by Virginia educator Dr. William Moseley Brown, Atlantic University (AU) officially…
Kelley EwingJuly 26, 2023
In 1811, the Commonwealth of Virginia decided to set aside money for public education for the first time in its history. Various previous attempts to…
Alan ArellanoNovember 23, 2022
Each fall, high school students search for a “room of their own.” They seek out places away from teachers and parents where they can process…
Jessi BennettOctober 17, 2022
During the early 20th century, the Lost Cause mythology had firmly taken root in the South. One of its most vocal advocates was Mildred “Millie”…
Greg CrawfordSeptember 14, 2022
Next month, the Common Ground History Book Group, LVA’s virtual non-fiction book club, will return for a discussion with Kathryn Miles, author of Trailed: One…
Library of VirginiaAugust 26, 2022
We cover a lot of serious and heavy topics on the UncommonWealth blog but every once in a while we like to present something just…
Jessi BennettJune 1, 2022
Last Friday we took a look at some of the ways that Virginia high school yearbooks have celebrated their graduates in the past, but there…
Jessi BennettJune 4, 2021
