The search results below contain listings from our website. To search our library and museum collections catalogs, please visit the Collections page.
Article
Audubon's The Birds of America
Image
In the VMHC collections are several rare editions of his work, including a first edition of Viviparous Quadrupeds and...
Article
Audubon's Viviparous Quadrapeds
Image
Following the success of his Birds of America, John James Audubon began to gather material for an equally ambitious...
Article
Bookplates
Image
The use of bookplates is almost as old as printing itself. They were used to record ownership and to reassure the owner...
Article
Broadsides
Image
Broadsides, or broadsheets, are items printed on one side of a sheet of paper and generally posted or distributed as...
Article
Clarise Sears Ramsey
Image
Charlotte Clarise Sears Risley Harrold Ramsey (1867–1922), whose parents were Joseph Henry Risley and Mary Elizabeth...
Article
Colored Knights of Pythias Helmet (c. 1890)
Image
Race has been a divisive issue throughout American history, and this impressive helmet tells part of the story.
Article
Confederate Love Poems
Image
The most prominent Civil War poetry is poetry of the battlefield.
Article
Double Take
Image
Daguerreotypes are the earliest form of permanent photographic imagery. They are made by capturing an image on a...
Article
Fore-edge Painting
Image
Rarely are books prized as objects of art; often the content of the text, or the plates accompanying the text, are...
Article
Glee Clubs
Image
The VMHC has several glee club items in its collection. The earliest item, an 1848 broadside entitled “Rally Whigs”...
Article
Indian Tribes of North America
Image
In the museum's rare book collection, a remarkable compilation of images exists in History of the Indian Tribes of North...
Article
Industrialization in Virginia
Image
The 1920 census revealed that, for the first time, more Americans were living in urban areas than rural ones. However...
Article
Jefferson’s Desk
Image
There are many reproductions of the desk on which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Some have even...
Article
John Marshall Speculates on America’s Second Bank
Image
A question on the minds of politicians and voters in 1832 America was whether the Second Bank of the United States, the...
Article
Letterhead
Image
Correspondence between individuals plays an important role in our understanding not only of how people communicated in...
Article
Life Portrait of Pocahontas
Image
The only life portrait of Pocahontas (1595–1617) and the only credible image of her, was engraved by Simon Van de Passe...
Article
Maggie Lena Walker
Image
Maggie Lena Walker (1864–1934) was the daughter of Elizabeth Draper, a former kitchen slave and then cook in the Civil...
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.