The library has a large collection of broadsides, some dating back as early as the settlement of Jamestown. These broadsides (items printed on one sheet of paper and then posted for the general public) include announcements, political campaign items, advertising material, and legal notices.

A number of the broadsides relate to the African American experience in Virginia. This list of titles and call numbers indexes hundreds of broadsides that contain information about many aspects of African American history in Virginia over the past four hundred years.

Date/call number and title:

1739:1   The signatures of the principal slave owners …
Petition to curtail the night travel of slaves

1775:7   Sir, as the Committee of Safety …
Government of the slaves

1788:3   The will of Mary Washington …
List of slaves willed as property

1790:2   An ordinance for raising revenue
Taxes to be paid by every white male and free African American

18- -:38   Repository Hall
John E. Blackwell – Comedian

18- -:43   Dixey
Song written in dialect

18- -:47   The people who gathered …
Editorials about John Brown and Harpers Ferry

18- -:48   I'se Gwine Back to Dixie
Song written in dialect

18--:86   Ford's Hotel, Richmond, Va …
Mentions "New African Church"

1802:2   Advertisement. To be sold …
Four slaves listed among the property

1805:6   In the court of appeals …
Slaves listed in a deed

1822:1   Mssrs. Vogel & Baur's Wonderful …
Art show with an African American listed as being the subject of a piece

1822:4   American Colonization Society …
Publicity for the organization

1825:4   Circular. At a meeting of the …
Petersburg Auxiliary Colonization Society

1825:5   Come on my fellow …
Poem about Africa

1831:2   Horrid massacre …
Description and depiction of the Nat Turner Rebellion

1836:10   At a circuit court of law …
Mentions expenses incurred for the hiring of slaves

1837:9   Negroes for sale
From the estate of Francis Muir

1840:1   The steamer Jas. Guy having route …
Uses language "servants" and "owners" in advertisement

1840:2   A death blow to slander …
General Harrison's viewpoint on the slave question

1840:3   To the voters of Spotsylvania …
Mentions the slave question

1843:7   Trustee's sale …
List of slaves for sale

1843:8   Sale of slaves
Sale in Fauquier County

1844:1   Mr. Clay … concerning …
Mentions slave states and free states

1845:3   Commissioner's sale of negroes …
Sale in Fauquier County

1845:7   Public sale of 35 valuable negroes …
Roanoke County

1848:17   Committee of correspondence …
Mentions slaveholding states

1848:18   Negroes for sale …
Fauquier County

1849:3   Negroes for sale …
Fauquier County

185-:3   M. D. Wells' imported patent …
Illustration of a slave operating machinery

1850:11   Jeffersonian-Extra
T. H. J. Randolph's address to voters; mentions slave population

1850:14   $150 Reward …
Runaway slave, Fauquier County

1850:20   Tariff of fees adopted by the …
Vaccination rates for whites, blacks, and slaves

1852:7   Slave for sale …
Fauquier County

1852:21   A Public Sale of Valuable …
Sale of slaves at Sandy Point

1852:27   $2500 Reward
Runaway Mississippi County, Missouri

1853:3   Ordinances of the town of Bowling Green …
Several of the ordinances concern slaves and free blacks

1853:14   Thirty-two negroes for sale …
Halifax Court house

1853:22   Metropolitan Hall, Richmond Va. For a short time only, Friday …
Tickets for "colored" people $0.25

1854:2   $100 Reward!
Runaway slaves, Warrenton

1856:14   $50 Reward! Ran away from …
Runaway slaves

1856:20   The only safe and conservative …
Editorial requesting noninterference with slavery

1856:27   Notice: At a meeting of the …
By-law concerning slaves

1857:9   To the people of Leavenworth County, KS …
Propositions sanctioning and prohibiting slavery

1857:25   Exhibition of the Calliopean …
Mentions liberty and oppression

1859:12   Public Sale! Late residence of …
Servants to be hired out

1859:14   Commissioners' sale of valuable …
Slaves for sale

1859:22   Execution of John Copeland …
Account of a hanging of two African Americans

1859:31   The Lord shall hold them in derision …
Execution of John Brown; mention freedom of slaves

1859:33   Free Press Extra …
Sentencing of two African Americans: John Copeland and Shields Green

186-:13   Parody on the cottage by the …
Depicts Negro colony

186-:14   Home without a mother …
Reference to a "now Negroes colony …"

186-:15   The American rebels!
"Slavish …"

1860:5   To the voters of Fauquier County …
Editorial regarding secession and slavery

1860:8   Commissioners' sale of slaves …
Fauquier County

1860:14   Letter of Hon. Wm. C. Rives …
Editorial regarding slaveholding states

1860:20   A letter from a member of the cabinet …
Editorial regarding secession and slavery

1860:21   Old John Brown, a song for every …
Harpers Ferry

1860:23   Auction and Commission House …
Selling Negroes

1860:29   Death for treason!
Hanging of John Brown and his African American compatriots

1860:32   Sale of valuable family of Negroes …

1861:8   To the people of Augusta County …
Editorial on secession and taxes on personal property, i.e. slaves

1861:9   To my fellow citizens …
Candidacy of Eppa Hunton; discusses slave and free labor

1861:14   Partial report from the committee …
Discusses African slavery

1861:15   Hospital of the MCV at Richmond …
Charges for the boarding of whites and blacks

1861:31   Pacific address of Major Charles H. Baylor …
Address given to an "admiring crowd of Africans"

1861:32   To the voters …
Reference to "slave holding border states …"

1861:37   The Southern Literary Messenger …
Pamphlet in which slavery is endorsed

1861:43   Carriers' Address, 1860, 1861 …
Poem mentions slaves

1861:53   Prison bill of fare …
Poem mentions "colored gemmen"

1862:39   The despotism at Richmond …
Editorial about "slave power"

1862:44   General Orders: no. 206 …
Mentions "colored man"

1863:2   Fee bill of the Georgia Medical Society …
Charges for the medical treatment of whites and slaves

1863:10   To the Senate and House of Representatives …
Mentions black and white laborers

1863:25   Medical College Hospital …
Boarding charges for blacks and whites

1863:29   Maj. Gen. Peck's Hdqts.
Song which mentions Lincoln, poor whites, and blacks

1863:33   Va. 7th Congressional District Election …
Discussion of slavery

1864:1   Campaign Song …
Mentions freedom of the slaves

1864:30   The Daily Dispatch
Reference to the "capture of a large number of colors"

1864:32   The Battle of the Wilderness …
Lyrics: "… set their darkies free"

1865   Union Victory!
Slavery abolished

1865:42   Mechanics' Hall! …
Actors' titles "Three Crows"

1865:45   Worthy Brother …
African American accepted into the membership of the Massachusetts chapter of the Sons of Temperance

1865:46   Bureau Refugees, Freedmen, & …
Notice to Freedmen to register with the Bureau Refugees, etc.

1865:50   Glenn's Theatre!
Lists the theater rates for African Americans

1866:2   Come! Come! Come!
Gathering of the Freedmen's Aid Society

1866:13   Notice! The Colored People of the City of Richmond …
Announcement regarding Emancipation Day

1866:26 To the Conservative People of Virginia …
Mention of African Americans recently released from slavery

1867:18   Circular of the Southern Opinion …
Negro suffrage mentioned

1871:5   To the Colored People of the 2nd Congressional …
Concerns the Colored States Convention

1875:9   Capon Springs and Baths …
Rates for African American servants

1879:12   Accomack Co. … Negroes Registering …
Payment of poll tax

1883:1   Banchory & Loch Lion …
Image of African American and a horse

1883:10   To the People of Halifax …
Summary of a meeting in which a riot between blacks and whites was discussed

1885:6   Dalgetty!
Image of African American and horse

1885:7   Aspinwall
Image of African American and horse

1886:11   A New Mixture …
Mentions African American voters

1887:32   The X-Mas Dinner …
Lists tables for whites and tables for blacks

1888:2   Uncle Gabe's White Folks …
Thomas Nelson Page poem in dialect

1889:18   The Defeat of William Mahon for Gov. …
Black voting counties listed

1889:22   Gen. Wm. Mahone "Hero of the Crater" …
B. K. Bruce and John R. Lynch, African American leaders

1889:23   Why Judge Nonlin became a Republican …
African American "domination"

1890:1   Lynchburg, Va. Dry.
Lists drinking whites and blacks

1890:35   Slary Bro's big show: beneficiary …
Mentions "black-faced comedians"

1892:19   Just Published … Plantation Life before …
Discusses salvation of the slaves

1893:23   List of relics contributed to the World's Fair …
"Uncle Billy Pane", former slave, now farmer

1895:9   In the Northern Neck of Va. …
Annual African American Fall Fair

1896:8   The 33rd Anniversary of the Great Emancipation Proclamation.

1897:1   Sacrifice Sale.
Play; roster includes African American servant

1897:14   Leading Colored Republicans …
A. W. Harris, T. C. Walker, & James Hayes listed

1897:15   Address to Colored Voters of Virginia …
Address from P. H. McCall

1897:16   Mr. G. L. Pryor is one of the most foremost colored …
Biographical sketch

1897:35   To the Republican Voters of Bedford Co. desire …
Whites and African Americans encouraged to attend a meeting

1897:63   The second recital of the Organetta Club will be given …
African American club inviting "white friends" to participate

1898:17   At a Mass Meeting of the Citizens of Edinburg, Va. …
Town described as having no African American population

1899:8   City School Maintenance …
School taxes of black and white citizens

1899:10   From the Daily Citizen …
Editorial about school taxes

19--:74   The Men Who Made the Laws for S.C. …
R. K. Scott's Legislature depicting white and African American law makers

19--:87   Genuine Negroes: they look …
Description of Negro singers

19--:93   Negro national anthem.

19--:105   Broadway comes to Richmond …
Mentions Negro ensemble

19--: 112   Announcing the Brazilian International Choir …
Photograph of men of African descent

19--: 113   Minstrel by the W.H.S Glee Club …
"Black-faced" comedians

19--: 116   New Virginia Theatre …
One type of character was slave girl

19--: 117   New Virginia Theatre …
"Plantation Days" scene

1901:12   Preston, Va., May 14, 1901 …
Letter of A. L. Pedigo voicing concerns over voting restrictions for blacks and whites

1902:7   Va. School for the Deaf and Blind …
School for African American children

1902:8   The Proposed Establishment by the General …
School for African American children

1902:9   The Number of Deaf & Blind Colored Children …
Chart showing statistics

1902:18   Declaration of Principles …
Education for African Americans

1903:11   Trial of Richard Wilson by …
"Colored magistrate" in Dinwiddie, Virginia

1907:5   The Creation of Virginia
Poem – mentions "land of the Creole and Negro"

1909:22   True reformers' rally …
Mentions "sound advice for the race"

1914:12   Virginia Theatre, D. P. Wine …
Conclusion of theatrical entertainment was entitled "Aunt Dina's Watermelon Party"

1916:1   Equal Suffrage & the Negro Vote …
Concerns votes from African American women

1919:9   The Negro and the New Social Order …
Demand for universal suffrage

1922:2   An Open Letter to the College Man …
From the University Commission on the Southern Race Question

1922:13   Academy of Music …
African American listed in the program

1925:12   Ku Klux Klan …
Train fare rates for a rally in Washington, D.C.

1928:6   Democrats! Think Well Before …
Lists African Americans, Perry W. Howard and Ben Davis

1928:7   One of the Many Reasons the South …
"Radical Republicans and Negroes" mentioned

1928:20   Col. Jennings C. Wise of Richmond …
Discussion of the "Negro Policy"

1935:3   In Memory of the Late Rev. Henry L. Christmas
Photograph of subject

1939:3   Look Who's Coming …
Performers in blackface

1939:6   Woman's Auxiliary objectives …
Mentions "colored work in Haiti"

1949:6   Free Society?
Mentions Virginia's Racial Segregation Act

195-:2   Sketch of Storer College …
African American school, Harper's Ferry, W.Va.

1955:3   State Referendum Info. Center …
School Segregation

1956:3   Declaration of Convictions …
Declaration against school integration

1962:6   Don't buy at Woolworth.
Mentions "both Negro & White …"

1965:2   Tuesday, July 13th, 1965 is election day …
African American candidates, Wm. Ferguson & Colston A. Lewis

1966:1   Klan Rally
White Public Only

1967:5   Free: Country Music Show …
White Public Only (KKK)

1967:6   U.K.A. Anniversary Celebration …
All white people invited (KKK)

1967:11   United Klans annual state rally …
"All White public invited" to celebration of the Klan

1968:1   Forward Slate for '68 …
Election poster with African American candidates

1968:4   Duke Ellington and orchestra performance …
African American musician

1968:5   Duke Ellington and orchestra performance …
African American musician

1968:6   Duke Ellington and orchestra performance …
African American musician

1968:7   The Progressive Matrons of …
Duke Ellington African American musician

1969:6   Wilder on Expansion …
Editorial by L. Douglas Wilder

1970:4   Equal Employment Opportunity
Race mentioned

1970:12   Walter Kenney
African American candidate

1972:4   The Choice is Yours …
Black Power mentioned

1972:9   United Klans of America …
White Public Invited

1972:13   United Klans of America …
White Public Invited

1972:20   Meet McGovern …
Sen. Douglas Wilder listed

1974:8   Support Your Police …
Depicts white and African American police

1976:15   Warning. Racially Mixed Couples …

1980:4   The Lost Chance …
Editorial about racism

1984:4   Memorable moments in Black history …

1987:4   In Pursuit of Excellence …
Black History month

1995:2   White Pride
Ku Klux Klan

No Date

Ce:2   Richmond News Leader Refused …
Concerns civil rights for African Americans

Fa:3   Farewell of a Virginia Slave Mother …
Poem

Go:1   Going ober de Mountain …
Poem with African American depicted

Gu:2   Gumbo Sam: The Brute that Talks..
Poem

I:2   I Stand for God and his Church …
Biographical sketch of the Rev. D. H. Sparrow

Jo:9   John Brown …
Poem with African Americans depicted

Ne:3   The Negro Taxpayer and Free Books …
From the "Lynchburg News"

Oh:3   Oh! I Wish This War Was Over …
Poem with African Americans depicted

Sl:1   Slave Premiums
Rates for insuring slaves

St:9   Students at George Washington …
White Power rally

St:10   A Story from Richmond, Va. …
Documentary about racial issues in Richmond

To:5   To the Honorable Senate …
Address to slaveholders

To:8   To the Public … I am …
Race problem mentioned

To:17   To Virginia Democrats …
Free books to African Americans

Vi:5   Virginia Opera House … Blind Tom Concerts
African American pianist

Oversize Broadsides

1774:2 o.s.   At a very full meeting of delegates of the different counties …
Mentions "slaves"

1790:6 o.s.   A Topographical Analysis of the Commonwealth of VA
Black inhabitants listed

18--:81 o.s.   Kahl & Rahm, Eagle Machine …
Depicts African American

1848:7 o.s.   Disunion …
Editorial mentioning free states and slave states

1852:27 o.s.   Runaway, from the Subscriber …

1865:16 o.s.   Ireland's chronological chart …
Mentions slave holder's rebellion

1865:48 o.s.   To His Excellency Andrew Jackson …
Mentions the Freedmen's Bureau

1867:5 o.s.   List of Colored Voters …
Prince George County

187-:10   o.s. A Rich Treat …
Lecture entitled "The Va. Negro"

1881:34 o.s.   Virginia! Choose Between Them!!
Plea against public schools; African Americans pictured

1888:11 o.s.   100 Chamberlin Cartridges …
African Americans depicted hunting

19--:47 o.s.   The Dawson Tax Laws …
African American depicted

19--:77 o.s.   A Magnificent Production of …
Uncle Tom's Cabin – African Americans depicted

19--:85 o.s.   Polk Miller's "Old South"
Mentions "Negro singers"

191-:2 o.s.   Thomas Nelson Page, famous …
Editorials in Negro papers

1910:18 o.s.   Ttle[sic] for the Championship …
White and African American boxers depicted

1929:9 o.s.   Gutzon Borglum & the K.K.K. Bugaboo …

1969:9 o.s.   Wilder for State Senate
African American candidate

2003:1 o.s.   Happenings: Madam Chalmers …
African American woman

2008:1   Roots rock reggae superstars …
Roots are an African American musical group

St:1 o.s.   Stable Rules for Care of Horses …
African Americans depicted

Browse images of selected broadsides in the our online catalogs.