In 1920, Cora Cottman joined scores of other American women applying to vote for the very first time following the ratification of the 19th Amendment.…
McKenzie LongSeptember 23, 2024
The Library of Virginia is excited to partner with Made by Us, a coalition of history museums, archives, historical societies, and civic education organizations, in…
Library of VirginiaJune 15, 2022
Charlene Butts Ligon’s book Fearless: How a Poor Virginia seamstress took on Jim Crow, beat the poll tax and changed her city forever focuses on…
Library of VirginiaOctober 22, 2021
"The political woman will be a menace," warned anti-suffragists during the campaign for women's voting rights. Not only would women in politics threaten the family…
Mari JulienneMarch 3, 2021
The 26th Amendment, the last in a series of amendments which expanded constitutional protection for voting rights, provided that “the right of citizens of the…
Catherine Fitzgerald WyattNovember 9, 2020
In this year's election, nearly 2.8 million of the commonwealth’s approximately 5.9 million registered voters voted early or by mail-in ballot. Having voted before the…
Vince BrooksNovember 6, 2020
This blog post is being written on the lands of Virginia’s Indigenous people, Cheroenhaka (Nottoway), Chickahominy, East Chickahominy, Mattaponi, Monacan, Nansemond, Nottoway, Pamunkey, Patawomeck, Upper…
Ashley CraigNovember 4, 2020
Virginia women went to the polls for the first time on 2 November 1920, a cool and cloudy day across the commonwealth. After the Nineteenth…
Mari JulienneNovember 2, 2020
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…
Emma ItoOctober 30, 2020
With election season upon us, a recent find in Local Records seems particularly timely. While exploring a box of unprocessed Mecklenburg County records, archivists noticed…
Tracy HarterOctober 29, 2020
Visitors to the Library of Virginia's exhibition, We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia, have been drawn to a large display of index cards filled with…
Brent TarterSeptember 30, 2020
Citizens in the United States have many democratic principles and practices to be thankful for and among these, voting in our elections remains an important…
Annie HattonSeptember 23, 2020
After Tennessee ratified the Nineteenth Amendment in August 1920, Virginia women began registering to vote. As a result of the "Machinery Bill" passed by the…
Mari JulienneSeptember 16, 2020
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…
Jessi BennettSeptember 11, 2020
