The search results below contain listings from our website. To search our library and museum collections catalogs, please visit the Collections page.
Article
A Beardless Boy of Seventeen Years
Image
Even before Aristophanes wrote of Lysistrata’s plan to end the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE) by convincing the women...
Article
Convict Leasing
Image
For much of the twentieth century, convicts worked on Virginia’s roads. This practice grew out of the convict lease...
Article
Freedmen's Schools
Image
In the antebellum South, African Americans were generally prevented from receiving education. After Appomattox...
Article
James Jones Archive (1870s-1960s)
Image
With a coat of faded red paint and a crude hand-forged hasp to secure its lid, the simple pine chest – once used to...
Article
Juneteenth
Image
Pop Civ is a series developed by the John Marshall Center for Constitutional History & Civics at the VMHC. By connecting...
Article
Murals Inspired by the Story of Virginia
Image
Richmond is now home to more than 100 outdoor murals, and this popular form of artwork reflects the city’s modernity and...
Article
Offense or Defense?
Image
To win the war, United States troops needed to invade and control an unfriendly South and subdue Confederate armies.
Article
Oysters in Virginia
Image
Learn about the history of oyster in Virginia's food culture, tourism, and economy.
Article
Political Sheet Music
Image
Politicians have long appreciated the value of a campaign song during an election year. A popular tune can rally the...
Article
Separate and Unequal: The Breakdown of Segregation in Virginia Schools
Image
The Virginia Constitution of 1869 established a statewide system of free public schools. The schools evolved in the...
Article
Speed or Strength?
Image
Early in 1862, Confederate general Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson decided to “move swiftly and strike vigorously” against...
Article
The 100th Anniversary of The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Image
On November 11, 1921, known as Armistice Day and the anniversary of the end of World War I in 1918, the remains of an...
Article
The First Modern War?
Image
The technology of the industrial revolution applied to the science of killing made the Civil War a turning point between...
Article
The Peaceful Transfer of Power: Oaths and Inaugurations
Article
Transportation in Virginia
Image
Transportation began to change early in the nineteenth century with the introduction of steam power and the development...
Article
Urbanization in Virginia
Image
Learn about the process of urbanization in Virginia.
Article
Virginia’s Sweet History – Chocolate-Making in the Commonwealth
Image
Production methods and flavorings have changed in the 4,000 years since chocolate was consumption began, but it remains...
Article
Who Freed the Enslaved People?
Image
Two years of fighting changed what the war was about. Beginning in 1863, the North no longer fought only to save the...
Article
Why is there a West Virginia?
Image
Secession from Virginia was the hope of some western Virginians as early as 1829. Many western Virginians felt...
Article
Why Richmond?
Image
Once Virginia seceded, the Confederate government moved the capital to Richmond, the South’s second largest city. The...