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Freedmen's Schools
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![VHE_Freedmen_Harpers Weekley cropped.jpg VHE_Freedmen_Harpers Weekley cropped.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_Freedmen_Harpers%20Weekley%20cropped.jpg.webp?itok=TmJCMsl0)
In the antebellum South, African Americans were generally prevented from receiving education. After Appomattox...
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George Washington Portrait by Charles Peale Polk
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![VHE_GeorgeWashington.1905.10_teaser.jpg VHE_GeorgeWashington.1905.10_teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_GeorgeWashington.1905.10_teaser.jpg.webp?itok=zW_zU62S)
This depiction of George Washington (1732–1799) as commander of the Continental army was painted in the 1790s by Charles...
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Grace Sherwood: The "Witch of Pungo"
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![sherwoodtrial.jpg sherwoodtrial.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/sherwoodtrial.jpg.webp?itok=Ufkjl5Om)
On July 10, 1706, a forty-six-year-old Princess Anne County woman named Grace Sherwood faced an unusual legal procedure...
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Jefferson’s Desk
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![Jefferson's Writing Desk A rectangular wooden desk, with writing surface propped at an angle and drawer opened](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Desk.1956.1_Open_SLIDE.jpg.webp?itok=TN1yHIPN)
There are many reproductions of the desk on which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Some have even...
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Liberated Books
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![VB360.A2.1826.Rare_.TitlePage.jpg VB360.A2.1826.Rare_.TitlePage.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VB360.A2.1826.Rare_.TitlePage.jpg.webp?itok=m_z7X3le)
During the Civil War, looting by soldiers was a common practice. The hungry soldier usually confiscated food and...
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Life Portrait of Pocahontas
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![VHE_PocahontasEngraving_Teaser.jpg VHE_PocahontasEngraving_Teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_PocahontasEngraving_Teaser.jpg.webp?itok=weL_dH2x)
The only life portrait of Pocahontas (1595–1617) and the only credible image of her, was engraved by Simon Van de Passe...
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Mark Catesby
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![VHE_Catesby_QH41.C292.1754.Rare_.OS_.Bluejay.jpg VHE_Catesby_QH41.C292.1754.Rare_.OS_.Bluejay.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_Catesby_QH41.C292.1754.Rare_.OS_.Bluejay.jpg.webp?itok=92Ar1teT)
The first accounts of the strange flora and fauna of the New World created a great demand among European scientists for...
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Martha (Dandridge) Custis Washington
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![VHE_MarthaWashington.1857.3_teaser.jpg VHE_MarthaWashington.1857.3_teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_MarthaWashington.1857.3_teaser.jpg.webp?itok=MvRERM1q)
This portrait of Martha Washington (1731–1802) is the work of Charles Willson Peale, who also painted the sitter several...
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Murals Inspired by the Story of Virginia
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![Still Relevant by Ed Trask Ed Trask paints a mural of flowers](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/FreshPaint_StillRelevant_DSC0887_e1%20copy.jpg.webp?itok=vx9S_GnP)
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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Olaudah Equiano
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![VHE_OlaudahEquiano_Teaser.jpg VHE_OlaudahEquiano_Teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_OlaudahEquiano_Teaser.jpg.webp?itok=pUL5Qd1M)
Snatched from his Ibo village in Nigeria at the age of eleven, Equiano (c. 1745-1797) was transported to Barbados...
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Oysters in Virginia
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![VHE_Oysters_OysterCan_Teaser.jpg VHE_Oysters_OysterCan_Teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_Oysters_OysterCan_Teaser.jpg.webp?itok=2BC7sR7V)
Learn about the history of oyster in Virginia's food culture, tourism, and economy.
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Patrick Henry Arguing the Parsons’ Cause
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![79295e56bc070b2a46410264f019e5ec.jpg 79295e56bc070b2a46410264f019e5ec.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/79295e56bc070b2a46410264f019e5ec.jpg.webp?itok=2gN652fQ)
The Parsons’ Cause was a legal conflict rooted in the volatility of the tobacco-based economy and the state-sponsored...
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Pocahontas Remembered… An Ocean Away
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![Pocahontas A statue of Pocahontas next to a tall brick tower](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/PocahontasAnOceanAway_P2_PocahontasChurch_CMYK.jpg.webp?itok=OnPW4Vc7)
Though it was certainly the longest journey of her life, and she was already exposed to English ways, nothing could have...
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Robert Edward Lee
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![Robert E. Lee A painting of Robert E. Lee in military dress](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_RobertELee.1957.29_medium-CROP.jpg.webp?itok=qb8IWjkJ)
Robert Edward Lee (1807–1870) was born at Stratford in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1807, the son of Revolutionary...
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The Abduction of Pocahontas
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![VHE_AbductionofPocahontas_Teaser.jpg VHE_AbductionofPocahontas_Teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_AbductionofPocahontas_Teaser.jpg.webp?itok=kqq6M1fT)
Learn about the abduction of Pocahontas in 1613.
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The History of Virginia's Natural Bridge: "So Beautiful an Arch"
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![The History of Virginia's Natural Bridge Hand-colored Lithograph of Natural Bridge](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/TheHistoryOfVirginia%27sNaturalBridge_VHC_SU21_NaturalBridge.199.161.jpeg.webp?itok=EUIe6WK1)
In the late eighteenth century, when Thomas Jefferson “discovered” Natural Bridge and purchased it from the King of...
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The Peaceful Transfer of Power: Oaths and Inaugurations
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The Regions of Virginia
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![VHE_RegionsOfVirginia_Map_full.jpg VHE_RegionsOfVirginia_Map_full.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_RegionsOfVirginia_Map_full.jpg.webp?itok=-LWw7Gwu)
The geography of Virginia has shaped both the history and economy of the state.
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The Resurrection of Henry "Box" Brown
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![VHE_HenryBoxBrown_Teaser.jpg VHE_HenryBoxBrown_Teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_HenryBoxBrown_Teaser.jpg.webp?itok=Md-vto04)
Learn about Henry "Box" Brown and one of the most memorable escapes from enslavement.
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Thomas Sully's Portrait of Pocahontas
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![VHE_PocahontasSully_Teaser.jpg VHE_PocahontasSully_Teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_PocahontasSully_Teaser.jpg.webp?itok=RPSI9Zc7)
Learn about the life of Pocahontas.