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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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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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John Randolph Dueling Pistols (c. 1820)
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![John Randolph Dueling Pistols John Randolph's Dueling Pistol](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/JohnRandolphDuelingPistols_DuelingPistols_1961.35_v1.jpeg.webp?itok=lHDss51V)
The death of former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton — resulting from his famous 1804 duel with Vice President...
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Juneteenth
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![Juneteenth Flag Juneteenth Flag](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/PopCiv_Juneteenth_Flag.png.webp?itok=zFWtlf45)
Pop Civ is a series developed by the John Marshall Center for Constitutional History & Civics at the VMHC. By connecting...
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Letterhead
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![Letterhead engraving, c. 1860, of Richmond, Va., by Louis A. Ramm Letterhead engraving, c. 1860, of Richmond, Va., by Louis A. Ramm](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_Letterhead_Mss1.R7243a29.jpg.webp?itok=t1eWtOzZ)
Correspondence between individuals plays an important role in our understanding not only of how people communicated in...
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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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Maggie Lena Walker
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![VHE_MaggieLWalker_Teaser.jpg VHE_MaggieLWalker_Teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_MaggieLWalker_Teaser.jpg.webp?itok=LGIwISLy)
Maggie Lena Walker (1864–1934) was the daughter of Elizabeth Draper, a former kitchen slave and then cook in the Civil...
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Men of Color To Arms?
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![Gold Soldier Identification Disc Gold Soldier Identification Disc](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Men%20of%20Color%20To%20Arms_VHE_ATP_TurnerIDdisk.PHP_.verso_silhouette.jpg.webp?itok=-Gmic8kn)
When the war began, many black Americans—North and South—volunteered to serve as soldiers. United by a belief in black...
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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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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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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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Richmond in the Midst of the Civil War
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![Mss1.J8586b225.007_cropped.jpg Mss1.J8586b225.007_cropped.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Mss1.J8586b225.007_cropped.jpg.webp?itok=WpzUMJso)
As the Confederate capital, Richmond experienced waves of change that saw the city lurch from the untidy influx of...
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Separate and Unequal: The Breakdown of Segregation in Virginia Schools
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![Teenagers protesting school closings Historic photograph of two black teenage girls protesting school closings](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Farmville%2BProtest%20%28002%29%20v2.jpg.webp?itok=vR6ip63v)
The Virginia Constitution of 1869 established a statewide system of free public schools. The schools evolved in the...
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Silver in Virginia
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![SilverService.2003.390.57.A_C.jpg SilverService.2003.390.57.A_C.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/SilverService.2003.390.57.A_C.jpg.webp?itok=3h2z90ki)
Colonial Virginians acquired much of their important silver from London. After the Revolution, population growth, a...
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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 Battle of Five Forks
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![VHE_BattleofFiveForks_Teaser.jpg VHE_BattleofFiveForks_Teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_BattleofFiveForks_Teaser.jpg.webp?itok=zBNMvFFS)
Learn about the Battle of Five Forks during the Civil War.
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The Battle of Five Forks
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![BattleOfFiveForks.2006.190.jpg BattleOfFiveForks.2006.190.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/BattleOfFiveForks.2006.190.jpg.webp?itok=dnioiQBa)
Union victory at the Battle of Five Forks resulted in the capture of the Southside Railroad and ushered in the final...
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The Brook Hill Collection
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![The Brook Hill Collection Books from the Brook Hill collection](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/BrookHillCollection_New-Book-Images-001_edited.jpeg.webp?itok=dOOK5X9w)
In 2018, the VMHC was gifted an extraordinary collection of books, documents, and art associated with the Stewart and...
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The First Modern War?
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![The First Modern War? Painting of the Battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/TheFirstModernWar_VHE_ATP_MonitorMerrimac.1998.53_2.jpeg.webp?itok=ESsQ1wUE)
The technology of the industrial revolution applied to the science of killing made the Civil War a turning point between...
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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...