The search results below contain listings from our website. To search our library and museum collections catalogs, please visit the Collections page.
Article
"That part of America, now called Virginia"
Image
In 1590, John White published the first separate map of “Virginia” and the first printed record of Sir Walter Raleigh’s...
Article
Affidavit, 1693
Image
This affidavit informs the governor that Frank, a man of African descent enslaved by Henry Gibbs, has been jailed on...
Article
Arthur Ashe Jr.’s Family Tree: Tracing the Blackwell Family to 1735
Image
See a rare family tree, drawn by hand on canvas, tracing Arthur Ashe, Jr.’s family.
Article
Clementina Rind
Image
Clementina Rind was Virginia’s first female printer and newspaper publisher, publishing important official documents for...
Article
Diderot's Encyclopédie
Image
Housed within the library collections of the museum is a complete thirty-five volume set of Diderot's Encyclopédie.
Article
Dolley Madison
Image
Dolley (Payne) Todd Madison (1768–1849) lived through three wars, knew eleven presidents, and was a gracious and...
Article
George Washington Portrait by Charles Peale Polk
Image
This depiction of George Washington (1732–1799) as commander of the Continental army was painted in the 1790s by Charles...
Article
George Washington, Land Surveyor
Image
George Washington’s surveying work spanned fifty years and enabled him to acquire vast tracts of land.
Article
John Murray, fourth Earl of Dunmore
Image
John Murray, fourth Earl of Dunmore, was Virginia's last royal governor.
Article
Mark Catesby
Image
The first accounts of the strange flora and fauna of the New World created a great demand among European scientists for...
Article
Martha (Dandridge) Custis Washington
Image
This portrait of Martha Washington (1731–1802) is the work of Charles Willson Peale, who also painted the sitter several...
Article
Olaudah Equiano
Image
Snatched from his Ibo village in Nigeria at the age of eleven, Equiano (c. 1745-1797) was transported to Barbados...
Article
Oysters in Virginia
Image
Learn about the history of oyster in Virginia's food culture, tourism, and economy.
Article
Patrick Henry Arguing the Parsons’ Cause
Image
The Parsons’ Cause was a legal conflict rooted in the volatility of the tobacco-based economy and the state-sponsored...
Article
Surrender of the English Army at Yorktown
Image
View how the surrender at Yorktown was represented by artists.
Article
The College of William and Mary
Image
The town developed around the college in the early eighteenth century once the General Assembly moved the seat of the...
Article
The Regions of Virginia
Image
The geography of Virginia has shaped both the history and economy of the state.
Article
Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
Image
Jefferson sent a paper to the Virginia Convention of 1774, later published as A Summary View of the Rights of British...
Article
Tom Molineaux
Image
Born into enslavement on a Virginia plantation, Tom Molineaux (1784–1818) fought fellow enslaved people while plantation...
Article
Writing the Declaration of Independence, 1776
Image
Learn about Thomas Jefferson and his role in writing the Declaration of Independence.