The search results below contain listings from our website. To search our library and museum collections catalogs, please visit the Collections page.
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A House Built of Virginia Stone
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Approximately forty miles south of Washington, D.C., the Aquia sandstone quarry on Government Island sits quietly in the...
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A Spoon That Got Around...
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This silver serving spoon, labeled as “A Spoon That Got Around," was on view in The Story of Virginia exhibition in the...
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Audubon's The Birds of America
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In the VMHC collections are several rare editions of his work, including a first edition of Viviparous Quadrupeds and...
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Colonial Cookbooks
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Food and dining were integral to social life in the eighteenth century, particularly among the upper class. The gentry...
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Colored Knights of Pythias Helmet (c. 1890)
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Race has been a divisive issue throughout American history, and this impressive helmet tells part of the story.
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Convict Leasing
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For much of the twentieth century, convicts worked on Virginia’s roads. This practice grew out of the convict lease...
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Freedmen's Schools
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In the antebellum South, African Americans were generally prevented from receiving education. After Appomattox...
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Glee Clubs
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The VMHC has several glee club items in its collection. The earliest item, an 1848 broadside entitled “Rally Whigs”...
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James Jones Archive (1870s-1960s)
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With a coat of faded red paint and a crude hand-forged hasp to secure its lid, the simple pine chest – once used to...
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Juneteenth
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Pop Civ is a series developed by the John Marshall Center for Constitutional History & Civics at the VMHC. By connecting...
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Mary-Cooke Branch Munford
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Learn how Mary-Cooke Branch Munford helped improve education in Virginia.
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Murals Inspired by the Story of Virginia
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Richmond is now home to more than 100 outdoor murals, and this popular form of artwork reflects the city’s modernity and...
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Oysters in Virginia
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Learn about the history of oyster in Virginia's food culture, tourism, and economy.
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Political Sheet Music
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Politicians have long appreciated the value of a campaign song during an election year. A popular tune can rally the...
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Separate and Unequal: The Breakdown of Segregation in Virginia Schools
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The Virginia Constitution of 1869 established a statewide system of free public schools. The schools evolved in the...
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The History of Virginia's Natural Bridge: "So Beautiful an Arch"
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In the late eighteenth century, when Thomas Jefferson “discovered” Natural Bridge and purchased it from the King of...
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Thomas Jefferson’s 1774 Summary View of the Rights of British America
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The importance of Summary View is proven by the reappearance in the Declaration of most of its ideas, beginning with...
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Virginia Landscapes: Sublime & Picturesque
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Thomas Jefferson wrote that Natural Bridge is “the most sublime of nature’s works”: “It is impossible for the emotions...
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Virginia’s Sweet History – Chocolate-Making in the Commonwealth
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Production methods and flavorings have changed in the 4,000 years since chocolate was consumption began, but it remains...
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Why is there a West Virginia?
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Secession from Virginia was the hope of some western Virginians as early as 1829. Many western Virginians felt...