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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 Connected Legacy: John Marshall and George Washington

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Both the first object acquired by the Virginia Historical Society and arguably one of the best objects in the VMHC...

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A House Built of Virginia Stone

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Approximately forty miles south of Washington, D.C., the Aquia sandstone quarry on Government Island sits quietly in the...

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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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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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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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Care Beyond National and Color Lines: Filipino Nurses in Virginia Across the 20th Century

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As of Winter 2021, Virginia remains among the top ten states for largest Filipino American populations, and by no...

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Clementina Rind

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Clementina Rind was Virginia’s first female printer and newspaper publisher, publishing important official documents for...

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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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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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Dolley Madison

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Dolley (Payne) Todd Madison (1768–1849) lived through three wars, knew eleven presidents, and was a gracious and...

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Education in Virginia

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The Virginia Constitution of 1869, passed during Reconstruction, established a statewide system of free public schools...

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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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Ella Fitzgerald's False Eyelashes

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Legendary singer and Virginia native Ella Fitzgerald, dubbed “The First Lady of Song,” exhilarated audiences with her...

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Equal Suffrage League of Virginia

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Learn about how the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia helped women gain the right to vote.

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Flag Day

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Although it is not a national holiday, in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially...

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Founding Frenemies: Hamilton and The Virginians

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This exhibition examined how critically important relationships between Alexander Hamilton and three Virginians shaped...

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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...