IIn 2020, Governor Ralph Northam issued an executive order proclaiming Juneteenth as a Virginia state holiday. Later that year, the General Assembly unanimously voted in…
Library of VirginiaJune 14, 2021
In mid-October of 1899, Richmond's Black Community prepared to have a three day celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation complete with a large downtown parade. The Richmond…
Jessi BennettJune 19, 2020
Fit to Print invites you to read yesterday's Out of the Box blog which tells the tragic story of Albemarle County native, John Henry James.…
Kelley EwingJune 7, 2018
On 12 July 1898, an Albemarle County grand jury met to hear evidence against an African American man named John Henry James accused of assaulting…
Greg CrawfordJune 6, 2018
In the late spring of 1907, forty-two years after the end of the Civil War, Richmond was flooded with veterans and tourists for a 5…
Olin JohnsonJanuary 9, 2018
People have always been complex, making history a complicated topic. When history is distilled down to be straightforward, the reality of human failings and flaws…
Olin JohnsonJuly 27, 2017
A graduate student in Public History and two film students have created a short but excellent documentary for The National Museum of African American History…
Errol SomayMay 23, 2017
A single extant issue of the Reformer, an African American newspaper published in Richmond from 1895-1931, was recently added to Virginia Chronicle, the Library’s free and searchable…
Kelley EwingMay 17, 2016
On November 10, 1898, in response to the election of a biracial Fusionist government, a group of white Democrats in Wilmington, North Carolina organized a mob, attacking…
Ann McCrearyNovember 10, 2015
The Library of Virginia is the home of the Virginia Newspaper Project. In 1997, the Library of Virginia moved to a new building at 800…
Errol SomayApril 30, 2014
Come on down to the Library of Virginia tomorrow night for what promises to be a fascinating discussion of the life and legacy of John…
Kelley EwingFebruary 18, 2014
John Mitchell, Jr., fighting editor of the Richmond Planet, was born 150 years ago today. Celebrate Mitchell’s birthday by checking out digitized copies of the Richmond Planet on Virginia…
Kelley EwingJuly 12, 2013
Most of us know John Mitchell, Jr. as the tireless “fighting” editor of the Richmond Planet, a newspaper he ran for 40 plus years beginning in the mid-1880′s.…
Errol SomayMarch 1, 2013
