Many times, in the course of our work processing local government records, we run across something interesting that sends us down the proverbial rabbit hole.…
Vince BrooksMarch 6, 2023
Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I am sure some people are thinking about gathering together with family and friends around a big table where…
Amanda MorrellNovember 7, 2022
While many archival items contain interesting content, the item itself may look rather boring. That is certainly not the case with an arithmetic book from…
Ginny DunnJuly 4, 2022
Peter Francisco was a revered Revolutionary War soldier with mysterious origins. It is believed that his American story began in 1765, after being discovered abandoned…
Dawn TinnellJune 6, 2022
We are living in an age of peak advice, a crowded media landscape in which bloggers, columnists, podcasters, and online strangers field inquiries about everything…
Rebecca SchneiderMarch 7, 2022
Gothic Romance is a genre of fiction that reached its height during the Romantic Period, late 18th and early 19th century, in England. These novels…
Anna MoulisFebruary 7, 2022
Manakin Town, in present-day Powhatan County, was a unique community made up of Huguenot (French Protestant) refugees who settled there in 1700-1701. Although free from…
Bill BynumSeptember 15, 2021
The Library of Virginia has long maintained an excellent series of introductory guides to the Library’s resources and subject areas. At first, these were mostly…
Library of VirginiaJuly 12, 2021
The best thing about being a reference archivist is that every time you pick up the phone you have no idea what the question will…
Dawn TinnellJune 7, 2021
Want to learn another language? The Library of Virginia’s archival collections could be a place to start! Virginians learn new languages for a variety of…
Cara GriggsMay 3, 2021
In honor of National Library Week, I took a whirl through the Library of Virginia’s published holdings related to librarianship and library services. As the…
Rebecca SchneiderApril 5, 2021
A few years ago, my mother and I were cleaning out some closets and I ran across a scrapbook she made as a college freshman.…
Ginny DunnMarch 1, 2021
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have noticed a steady increase in the number of people cycling in my neighborhood. Cycling has always…
Jennifer HuffFebruary 1, 2021
This is an entry in our “Random Reference” series, which features interesting discoveries made and reference questions answered by our Archives & Library Reference Services…
Annie HattonNovember 23, 2020
