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Article Set - Intro
Virginia's Colonial Dynasties
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In the colonial period, portraiture proved to be a particularly useful tool in establishing and preserving family status. This exhibit presents twenty-four portraits from the Virginia Historical Society's collection. Early Virginia portraits reveal much about the families that commissioned them, as well as how these Virginians valued how they were perceived by others.
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Virginia’s Sweet History – Chocolate-Making in the Commonwealth
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![VHE_Chocolate_2019-12-14_Chocolate-Demo001.jpg VHE_Chocolate_2019-12-14_Chocolate-Demo001.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_Chocolate_2019-12-14_Chocolate-Demo001.jpg.webp?itok=q1IV_d0S)
Production methods and flavorings have changed in the 4,000 years since chocolate was consumption began, but it remains...
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VIRTUAL LECTURE - Escape to the City: Fugitive Slaves in Antebellum Richmond
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On September 21, 2023, Viola Franziska MĂĽller gave a virtual-only lecture about her book, Escape to the City: Fugitive Slaves in the Antebellum Urban...
Article Set - Chapter
Voting Rights
To circumvent the Fifteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guaranteed voting rights to Black men, the 1901–02
Article Set - Chapter
W. E. B. Du Bois and the NAACP
W. E. B. Du Bois was the first black recipient of a Ph.D. from Harvard University. In The Souls of Black Folks, published in
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Washington at the Plow: The Founding Farmer and the Question of Slavery
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On December 9, 2021, historian Bruce A. Ragsdale presented a lecture about his book, Washington at the Plow: The Founding Farmer and the Question of...
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West Virginia v. EPA
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![President Nixon signs the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on January 1, 1970. President Nixon signs the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on January 1, 1970.](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Popciv20_Nixon.jpeg.webp?itok=XIMa8qji)
How has America wrestled with the debate over regulation versus growth of industry, and how does the Supreme Court’s...
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What's For Breakfast?
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This toaster was made possible by the invention of a wire made of nickel and chromium that could be heated quickly to a...
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When Every Second Counted: A Reflection on the Historic and Dramatic Race to Transplant the First Human Heart
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Fifty years ago, cutting-edge science intersected with human drama and changed the course of medical history. The Medical College of Virginia in...
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Who was Oliver Hill?
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The VMHC has a group of items that belonged to Oliver W. Hill, Sr., a prominent Richmond civil rights attorney, donated...
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Why We Need to Talk About James Armistead Lafayette
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![James Armistead Lafayette An 1824 engraving of James Armistead Lafayette, after a painting by John B. Martin. The print reproduces the handwritten text of a 1784 testimonial by the Marquis de Lafayette.](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/JamesLafayette_jamesalafayette-1993-215_crop.jpg.webp?itok=1yhFWQLq)
James Armistead Lafayette was an enslaved man who, during the American Revolution, volunteered to join the Continental...
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Women in Virginia
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Learn about how women in the early 20th century lived in Virginia.