The search results below contain listings from our website. To search our library and museum collections catalogs, please visit the Collections page.
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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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George Washington Portrait by Charles Peale Polk
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This depiction of George Washington (1732–1799) as commander of the Continental army was painted in the 1790s by Charles...
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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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Grace Sherwood: The "Witch of Pungo"
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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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There are many reproductions of the desk on which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Some have even...
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John Murray, fourth Earl of Dunmore
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John Murray, fourth Earl of Dunmore, was Virginia's last royal governor.
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Martha (Dandridge) Custis Washington
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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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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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On Dueling
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In the United States and elsewhere, traditional and patriarchal conceptions of honor prescribed that men could respond...
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Patrick Henry Arguing the Parsons’ Cause
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The Parsons’ Cause was a legal conflict rooted in the volatility of the tobacco-based economy and the state-sponsored...
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Shaving Kits
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Before the invention of the disposable double-edged safety razor in 1895, a straight razor was the easiest, most...
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Stamp Act Spoon, 1766
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In order to help fund the expense of defending its American colonies, Great Britain instituted a tax on printed paper...
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Surrender of the English Army at Yorktown
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View how the surrender at Yorktown was represented by artists.
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The Brook Hill Collection
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In 2018, the VMHC was gifted an extraordinary collection of books, documents, and art associated with the Stewart and...
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The Resurrection of Henry "Box" Brown
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Learn about Henry "Box" Brown and one of the most memorable escapes from enslavement.
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Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
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Jefferson sent a paper to the Virginia Convention of 1774, later published as A Summary View of the Rights of British...
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Thomas Jefferson’s 1774 Summary View of the Rights of British America
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The importance of Summary View is proven by the reappearance in the Declaration of most of its ideas, beginning with...
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Thomas Sully's Portrait of Pocahontas
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Learn about the life of Pocahontas.
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Tiny Tomes
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Defined as no more than three inches in height or width, miniature books were first produced with convenience in mind...