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A Spoon That Got Around...
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![Silver Tablespoon with Custis Crest A silver spoon propped on a plastic block](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Spoon_2005.235.A-B_A_v1.jpg.webp?itok=y49Hm9he)
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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Affidavit, 1693
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![a10f6b49866028c13ab22264b04bf42c_medium.jpg a10f6b49866028c13ab22264b04bf42c_medium.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/a10f6b49866028c13ab22264b04bf42c_medium.jpg.webp?itok=qVEgwGTs)
This affidavit informs the governor that Frank, a man of African descent enslaved by Henry Gibbs, has been jailed on...
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Arming the Commonwealth
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![Exhibits_ArmingTheCommonwealth_CartridgeBox.1990.100.367.jpg Exhibits_ArmingTheCommonwealth_CartridgeBox.1990.100.367.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Exhibits_ArmingTheCommonwealth_CartridgeBox.1990.100.367.jpg.webp?itok=mGWliVR3)
From providing protection from enemy combatants to finding dinner for a family, weapons have played a significant role...
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Arthur Ashe Jr.’s Family Tree: Tracing the Blackwell Family to 1735
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![VHE_BlackwellFamilyTree_AsheDetail.jpg VHE_BlackwellFamilyTree_AsheDetail.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_BlackwellFamilyTree_AsheDetail.jpg.webp?itok=L_TH1RBs)
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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Céloron Plate
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![VHE_Celeron Plate_teaser.jpg VHE_Celeron Plate_teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_Celeron%20Plate_teaser.jpg.webp?itok=jgJOsCVL)
One of the most important artifacts to survive from Virginia’s colonial period, this lead plaque was placed at the...
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Colonial Cookbooks
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![TX705.F5.1750.Rare_frontispiece.jpg TX705.F5.1750.Rare_frontispiece.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/TX705.F5.1750.Rare_frontispiece.jpg.webp?itok=I6BVm633)
Food and dining were integral to social life in the eighteenth century, particularly among the upper class. The gentry...
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Fore-edge Painting
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![The poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed / with a memoir by the Rev. Derwent Coleridge. Pages ruffled farther apart show a painted landscape and city](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Foreedge%20Painting_Rare%20Books%20ND%202370%20.P8_v1_DSC3145_0.jpg.webp?itok=ARBwm3xq)
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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Founding Frenemies: Hamilton and The Virginians
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![Founding Frenemies Note issued by the National Bank in 1793](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/FoundingFrenemies_P6_Hamilton_BankNote_CMYK.jpeg.webp?itok=zH3BK0Gb)
This exhibition examined how critically important relationships between Alexander Hamilton and three Virginians shaped...
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George Washington Portrait by Charles Peale Polk
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![VHE_GeorgeWashington.1905.10_teaser.jpg VHE_GeorgeWashington.1905.10_teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_GeorgeWashington.1905.10_teaser.jpg.webp?itok=zW_zU62S)
This depiction of George Washington (1732–1799) as commander of the Continental army was painted in the 1790s by Charles...
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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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Let Us Commence: Graduating At A Distance
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![Let Us Commence: Graduating At A Distance Samantha Hukeless’s diploma from Van de Vyver Institute.](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/LetUsCommence_Screen%20Shot%202020-05-19%20at%2012.53.58%20PM.jpeg.webp?itok=MbIdG0xM)
Learn about the history of commencement ceremonies and traditions in Virginia.
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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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Olaudah Equiano
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![VHE_OlaudahEquiano_Teaser.jpg VHE_OlaudahEquiano_Teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_OlaudahEquiano_Teaser.jpg.webp?itok=pUL5Qd1M)
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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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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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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Surrender of the English Army at Yorktown
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![Surrender of the English Army at Yorktown A painting of the surrender of the English army.](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/SurrenderofTheEnglishArmyAtYorktown_SOV_BecAm_SurrenderAtYorktown.1993.213.jpeg.webp?itok=PaCHSd7L)
View how the surrender at Yorktown was represented by artists.
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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 College of William and Mary
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![BotetourtMedal.1918.1.jpg BotetourtMedal.1918.1.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/BotetourtMedal.1918.1.jpg.webp?itok=kbosTZzp)
The town developed around the college in the early eighteenth century once the General Assembly moved the seat of the...