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A Beardless Boy of Seventeen Years

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Even before Aristophanes wrote of Lysistrata’s plan to end the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE) by convincing the women...

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A Life Rediscovered: The Story of Emily Winfree

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Emily Winfree, an African American woman who lived through slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow, never...

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A Spoon That Got Around...

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This silver serving spoon, labeled as “A Spoon That Got Around," was on view in The Story of Virginia exhibition in the...

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Abolitionist Pitcher

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Learn about how this pitcher based on Uncle Tom's Cabin was used as propoganda in the mid-1800s.

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Advice and Etiquette Books

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Studying etiquette books offers researchers a glimpse of how people interacted and how they adapted to their changing...

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Affidavit, 1693

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This affidavit informs the governor that Frank, a man of African descent enslaved by Henry Gibbs, has been jailed on...

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Arthur Ashe Jr.’s Family Tree: Tracing the Blackwell Family to 1735

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See a rare family tree, drawn by hand on canvas, tracing Arthur Ashe, Jr.’s family.

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Birthday Songs for George Washington

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Though you might not expect it, 1932 was a big year for George Washington. It marked the 200th anniversary of Washington...

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Booker T. Washington

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Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) was born enslaved on April 5, 1856, in Franklin County, Virginia. After emancipation...

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Children's Manuscripts

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Prominent Virginians are well represented in the many manuscripts housed at the VMHC. However, documents by individuals...

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Clarise Sears Ramsey

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Charlotte Clarise Sears Risley Harrold Ramsey (1867–1922), whose parents were Joseph Henry Risley and Mary Elizabeth...

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Colonial Cookbooks

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Food and dining were integral to social life in the eighteenth century, particularly among the upper class. The gentry...

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Convict Leasing

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For much of the twentieth century, convicts worked on Virginia’s roads. This practice grew out of the convict lease...

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Diary of William Gwathmey, 1859

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On October 16, 1859, John Brown led eighteen followers in a raid on the federal arsenal and armory at Harpers Ferry...

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Elizabeth Keckley

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Born a slave in Dinwiddie County, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (1818–1907) purchased her freedom in 1855 and supported...

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Fore-edge Painting

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Rarely are books prized as objects of art; often the content of the text, or the plates accompanying the text, are...

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Freedmen's Schools

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In the antebellum South, African Americans were generally prevented from receiving education. After Appomattox...

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Glee Clubs

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The VMHC has several glee club items in its collection. The earliest item, an 1848 broadside entitled “Rally Whigs”...

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Jefferson’s Desk

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There are many reproductions of the desk on which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Some have even...

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Murals Inspired by the Story of Virginia

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Richmond is now home to more than 100 outdoor murals, and this popular form of artwork reflects the city’s modernity and...