Richmond (City) Commonwealth Causes

Archives

Stolen Coats, Stolen Freedom

In July 1813, a Black man named Roger was charged in the Richmond City Hustings Court with stealing a “Sourtaurt great coat.” I was not…

Lydia NeurothFebruary 28, 2024

Archives

“Arrest of A Yankee Kidnapper”

On the morning of July 23, 1856, ship mate Joseph Chadwick was sitting on the rail of the schooner Danville when he heard a strange…

Lydia NeurothDecember 20, 2023

Archives

Jane Connelly: A Story from the City of Richmond Hustings Court Exhibit

In last month’s Virginia Untold blog post, we shared about the exhibition currently on display in our pre-function hall to celebrate Black History Month: “I…

Lydia NeurothFebruary 15, 2023

Archives Education & Programming

“I have this day committed to jail…”: An exhibition from Virginia Untold

On February 1, in celebration of Black History Month, a new exhibit from Virginia Untold will open to the public. This exhibition represents a small…

Lydia NeurothJanuary 25, 2023

Archives Digital Projects

“[His] claim to be free is clear & unquestionable” : Free Black Virginians at Large

We continue to process more records from the Richmond City Hustings Court as a part of our NHPRC grant for Virginia Untold. As we do…

Lydia NeurothNovember 30, 2022

Archives

The “art and mystery of [Black] cabinetmaking”

In 1832, seventeen men were brought to the Richmond City Hustings Court with a unique charge. These men were cabinetmakers. They had united themselves illegally…

Lydia NeurothSeptember 28, 2022

Archives

“Enticing, Advising, and Aiding…a Slave…to Abscond”

In October 1842, Cora Ann Elizabeth Carter and her husband William Watt Hubbard boarded the steamboat Patrick Henry en route for New York. Earlier that…

Lydia NeurothJuly 27, 2022

Archives Digital Projects

A Case Study of Freedom: John Hopes

Nearly a week and a half ago, the country celebrated Juneteenth, which commemorates emancipation from slavery in the United States. Juneteenth refers to the historic…

Lydia NeurothJune 29, 2022

Archives Digital Projects

The Freedom to Love

On her deathbed in 1848, Susan Mills called her brother Henry and her sister Nancy to her bedside. She told them that she wanted her…

Lydia NeurothFebruary 23, 2022

Archives Digital Projects

‘Teaching a School of Negro Children’: The Story of Elizabeth McKennon

In August 1852, Elizabeth McKennon was accused of assembling with “fifteen negroes” at a house on Second Street in the City of Richmond with the…

Lydia NeurothJanuary 26, 2022

Archives Digital Projects

“That he is a ‘person of mixed blood’”: Being Biracial in Antebellum Virginia

William H. Pemberton’s father was a white man. His mother, Elizabeth Pleasants, had skin that was described as “very bright mulatto”, a term then in…

Lydia NeurothDecember 29, 2021

Archives Newspapers

“Gone in the First Boat”: Part 2

This month’s blog is a continuation of the story I posted last month of an enslaved man, Richard, who helped his nephew Tazewell seize his…

Lydia NeurothNovember 24, 2021

Archives

“Gone in the First Boat”: Part 1

On March 18, 1856, an enslaved man named Richard was charged in the City of Richmond for the crime of aiding and advising Tazewell, his…

Lydia NeurothOctober 27, 2021

Archives

Freedom is Never Free: The Untold Story of Reubenetta Dandridge

On 30 March 1857, Joseph Elam and two other white men broke into the house of Reubenetta Dandridge, a free Black woman living in the…

Lydia NeurothAugust 25, 2021

Archives

Commonwealth v. Fanny

CONTENT WARNING: Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and…

Lydia NeurothJuly 28, 2021