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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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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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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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Colored Knights of Pythias Helmet (c. 1890)

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Race has been a divisive issue throughout American history, and this impressive helmet tells part of the story.

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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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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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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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How Did Enslaved People Support the Confederacy?

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Enslaved and free black people provided even more labor than usual for Virginia farms when 89 percent of eligible white...

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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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Maggie Lena Walker

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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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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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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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Snatched from his Ibo village in Nigeria at the age of eleven, Equiano (c. 1745-1797) was transported to Barbados...

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Richmond in the Midst of the Civil War

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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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The Virginia Constitution of 1869 established a statewide system of free public schools. The schools evolved in the...

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United States Colored Troops Muster Rolls

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Organized at Camp Stanton in Benedict, Maryland, in February 1864, the 30th USCT served in spring campaigns in Virginia...

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Urbanization in Virginia

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Learn about the process of urbanization in Virginia.

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Who Freed the Enslaved People?

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Two years of fighting changed what the war was about. Beginning in 1863, the North no longer fought only to save the...