Military Records – The UncommonWealth

“It’s Gonna Be A Gosh Darn Good Affair”: The Lackey USO Club

During World War II, various USOs were established across Virginia. The United Service Organizations is a nonprofit organization that provides military service members and their…

Lauren CaravatiMay 7, 2025

Archives Digital Projects

Denied Benefits, Forgotten Heroes: The Hidden Cost of WWII Blue Discharges

In previous blog posts and during events discussing the Virginia WWII Separation Notices collection, I've provided some background on the history of this collection and…

Lauren CaravatiFebruary 19, 2025

Side view, M2A2 Light Tank, Danville, VA, circa 1937

Archives

An M2A2 of the 29th Tank Company: An Interwar Period Multi-Turreted Tank of the Virginia National Guard

I am not only a reference archivist, but also a U.S. Army veteran. I served as an M1A1 Abrams and M551 Sheridan armor crewman in…

Kenneth ForestDecember 2, 2024

Archives

Whatever Happened to Virginia’s Black Patriots? Stories from the Declarations for Revolutionary War Pensions

Crispus Attucks, Peter Salem, James Lafayette. The first person to die in the American Revolution at the Boston Massacre, a soldier responsible for killing a…

McKenzie LongAugust 7, 2024

Archives

How Not to Be a Confederate Soldier: Civil War Writs of Habeas Corpus from Richmond City and Petersburg

Why didn’t men fight in the Civil War? It’s not the most popular question that gets brought up during discussions of America’s bloodiest war, but…

McKenzie LongJune 7, 2023

Archives Education & Programming

True Son of Freedom: The World War I Experience of James Preston Spencer

True Sons of Freedom, a photographic exhibition at the Library of Virginia, explores the stories of Virginia's African American World War I soldiers. More than…

Claire RadcliffeJanuary 17, 2018

Archives

Ibby Jane Smith: U.S. Pensioner

Ibby Jane Smith was born in January 1864 in Northampton County, Virginia, the daughter of Leah Smith, also called Leah Jacob, and Seth Smith, also…

Louise JonesMarch 29, 2017

Archives

Blood Brothers: the Virginia World War II Separation Notices

In observance of Veteran’s Day, Out of the Box would like to spotlight the Virginia World War II Separation Notices (accession 23573). Part of the records of…

Roger ChristmanNovember 11, 2015

Archives

A Wedding, a Death, and a Pension: Charles and Sarah Butler’s Story

Portsmouth, Virginia, occupied by the Union army, was the scene of a wedding in November 1863. The happy couple was Charles “Charley” Butler, a private…

Bill BynumJune 3, 2015

Archives

The Conscientious Objector: Desmond T. Doss

In keeping with Out of the Box’s recent anniversary theme, today’s post spotlights Lynchburg native Desmond T. Doss (1919-2006), the first conscientious objector to receive…

Roger ChristmanMay 21, 2015

Archives

Prince Edward Co. Declarations for Revolutionary War Pensions

While examining Prince Edward County court records for chancery suits, former Local Records Archivist Catherine OBrion found a group of declarations to the justices of the…

Greg CrawfordJanuary 18, 2012

Archives

Documenting Virginia’s Participation in the Civil War, Take One?

Recent efforts by the Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission to digitize Virginia’s Civil War legacy is reminiscent of a similar, yet very different, endeavor by the state…

Craig MooreAugust 17, 2011

Archives

War, Remembrance, and the Power of Records

For this week’s Veterans’ Day-themed post, I am going to depart from our usual practice of focusing on images, documents, and stories that Library of…

Roger ChristmanNovember 10, 2010

Archives

"General"John Salling : Virginia’s Last Confederate Veteran?

John Salling of Slant, Virginia, in Scott County, was long recognized as Virginia’s last surviving Confederate veteran. In recognition of his service, the state of…

Craig MooreOctober 6, 2010

Manuscripts & Special Collections

Reuse, recycle…

During the Civil War, the scarcity and high cost of writing paper often led people to reuse it. They wrote new letters across existing ones,…

Renee SavitsMay 19, 2010