Posts – Page 29 – The UncommonWealth

The Stacks

Looking Ahead to the Library’s Next 100 Years: 7 Questions with Elaine McFadden

This is the lates blog entry in a series introducing LVA employees and exploring what they do day-to-day. If you are interested in what goes…

Vince BrooksJanuary 24, 2022

Archives Manuscripts & Special Collections Newspapers

Little Giants of Tree-Planting: Appreciate a Squirrel Today!

Today is National Squirrel Appreciation Day. While the clever little rodents are ubiquitous in urban and suburban settings today, that was not always so. According…

Vince BrooksJanuary 21, 2022

Updated Page County Chancery, 1831-1867, Available Now in the Chancery Records Index

This northern Shenandoah Valley county is named for John Page, Governor of Virginia from 1802-1805. Land from Rockingham and Shenandoah counties created the county in…

Callie FreedJanuary 19, 2022

Education & Programming

History is Evergreen and Ever-Evolving

In the historic Evergreen Cemetery, segregated resting place of many generations of Richmond’s Black families, lies the gravestone of Edward S. Brown. A visitor could…

Library of VirginiaJanuary 17, 2022

Archives The Stacks

The Virginia State Historical Records Advisory Board

If you ever found yourself clicking through the various pages on the Library of Virginia website, you may have come across one detailing the State…

Emeline AlexanderJanuary 12, 2022

Public Libraries

A New Branch for Pocahontas

Pocahontas, Virginia, is a tiny town in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Formerly a large coal-mining town, its population has dwindled since the last coal…

Guest ContributorJanuary 10, 2022

Education & Programming

Columbia Pike Exhibit Turns the Lens on Vibrant Northern Virginia Region

The Library of Virginia's current exhibition, Columbia Pike: Through the Lens of Community, highlights the vibrant and diverse community of Columbia Pike in Arlington County.…

Mari JulienneJanuary 5, 2022

Circuit Court Records Preservation Program Approves 115 Grant Projects

The Circuit Court Records Preservation Program (CCRP) Grant Review Board met on 16 December 2021 at the Library of Virginia to consider records preservation grant…

Greg CrawfordJanuary 3, 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

Virginia Authors

New Books – December 2021

The Library of Virginia is now operating under new hours for Fall 2021. The first-floor lobby and Exhibition Gallery are open Monday-Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to…

Donna PletcherDecember 27, 2021

Manuscripts & Special Collections

10 Holiday Gifts Worth Time-Traveling For!

Everyone has a holiday gift guide now so here are our favorites from the 1956 Miller & Rhoads Christmas Catalog. Or if you don't care…

Library of VirginiaDecember 22, 2021

Public Libraries The Stacks

Virtual Meets and Virtual Treats: 7 Questions with Sue La Paro

This is a series introducing LVA employees and exploring what they do day-to-day. Entries in this series are collected under the tag 7 Questions. Other…

Vince BrooksDecember 20, 2021

Virginia Authors

Ramping Up Local Food Consumption

A lot has changed in our food culture since Barbara Kingsolver first wrote her memoir about eating locally sourced food. The cultural movement to eat…

Library of VirginiaDecember 17, 2021

Archives Virginia Authors

The Mysterious Dr. Howard and the Gunston Hall Scandal of 1894

Nineteenth-century newspapers were often filled with tales of fraud. Stories of credit scams, dubious identities, duplicitous lovers, and a myriad of other reported confidence schemes…

Kevin ShupeDecember 15, 2021

Public Libraries

Life as a Library Fellow: My Experience in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa

I fling open the black metal front gate, and the bright morning sun greets me. I begin walking down the bustling street, passing taxi cabs,…

Guest ContributorDecember 13, 2021