The search results below contain listings from our website. To search our library and museum collections catalogs, please visit the Collections page.
Article
John Randolph Dueling Pistols (c. 1820)
Image
![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...
Article
Martha (Dandridge) Custis Washington
Image
![VHE_MarthaWashington.1857.3_teaser.jpg VHE_MarthaWashington.1857.3_teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_MarthaWashington.1857.3_teaser.jpg.webp?itok=MvRERM1q)
This portrait of Martha Washington (1731–1802) is the work of Charles Willson Peale, who also painted the sitter several...
Article
Mexican-American War: 175 Years Later
Image
![Mexican-American War: 175 Years Later A photograph of a gold medal.](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Mexican-AmericanWar175YearsLater_VHC_SU21_WScottMedal.1939.1_type.jpeg.webp?itok=sKovdnOq)
Of the five Americans who were most involved in the War with Mexico, four were Virginians. They were politicians and...
Article
Murals Inspired by the Story of Virginia
Image
![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...
Article
On Dueling
Image
![](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Dueling_duelpleasantsritchie-2001-230-17311.jpeg.webp?itok=4k3CvTib)
In the United States and elsewhere, traditional and patriarchal conceptions of honor prescribed that men could respond...
Article
Oysters in Virginia
Image
![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.
Article
Political Sheet Music
Image
![Never Swap Horses When You're Crossing a Stream Never Swap Horses When You're Crossing a Stream](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_Political%20music_NeverSwapHorses.jpg.webp?itok=wXxa00If)
Politicians have long appreciated the value of a campaign song during an election year. A popular tune can rally the...
Article
Robert Edward Lee
Image
![Robert E. Lee A painting of Robert E. Lee in military dress](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_RobertELee.1957.29_medium-CROP.jpg.webp?itok=qb8IWjkJ)
Robert Edward Lee (1807–1870) was born at Stratford in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1807, the son of Revolutionary...
Article
Stamp Act Spoon, 1766
Image
![Stamp Act Spoon A spoon](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Stamp-Act-Spoon_stampactspoon-1972-12_front_0.jpg.webp?itok=FhfU0jgh)
In order to help fund the expense of defending its American colonies, Great Britain instituted a tax on printed paper...
Article
Surrender of the English Army at Yorktown
Image
![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.
Article
The Media General Papers and Thomas Jefferson's Letters
Image
![The Media General Papers Statue of George Washington at the Virginia State Capitol.](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/TheMediaGeneralPapers_GW-Houdon_01.jpeg.webp?itok=7Vm-d2l-)
Richmond-based Media General and its predecessors were led and grown by four generations of the Bryan family.
Article
The Peaceful Transfer of Power: Oaths and Inaugurations
Article
Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
Image
![VHE_ThomasJefferson_teaser.jpg VHE_ThomasJefferson_teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_ThomasJefferson_teaser.jpg.webp?itok=EUHGdBq-)
Jefferson sent a paper to the Virginia Convention of 1774, later published as A Summary View of the Rights of British...
Article
Thomas Jefferson’s 1774 Summary View of the Rights of British America
Image
![A Summary View of the Rights of British America A sepia-toned detail of the typeset A Summary View of the Rights of British America](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/SummaryViewOfRights_e211-j45-1774-rare_Crop.jpg.webp?itok=iz80LRmg)
The importance of Summary View is proven by the reappearance in the Declaration of most of its ideas, beginning with...
Article
Thomas Sully's Portrait of Pocahontas
Image
![VHE_PocahontasSully_Teaser.jpg VHE_PocahontasSully_Teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_PocahontasSully_Teaser.jpg.webp?itok=RPSI9Zc7)
Learn about the life of Pocahontas.
Article
Tiny Tomes
Image
![](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/TinyTomes_z1033-m6-a7-rare_open.jpg.webp?itok=w5B2CpJX)
Defined as no more than three inches in height or width, miniature books were first produced with convenience in mind...
Article
Virginia and Presidential Politics
Image
![Virginia and Presidential Politics Letter of James Monroe to George Graham](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VirginiaAndPresidentialPolitics_VHC_FW20_Mss1.G7605.a104_v1_0.jpeg.webp?itok=G-0CeCWf)
Soon after the Revolutionary War, American leaders realized that they differed in their visions of what the nation...
Article
Virginia’s Sweet History – Chocolate-Making in the Commonwealth
Image
![VHE_Chocolate_2019-12-14_Chocolate-Demo001.jpg VHE_Chocolate_2019-12-14_Chocolate-Demo001.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_Chocolate_2019-12-14_Chocolate-Demo001.jpg.webp?itok=q1IV_d0S)
Production methods and flavorings have changed in the 4,000 years since chocolate was consumption began, but it remains...
Article
Why We Need to Talk About James Armistead Lafayette
Image
![James Armistead Lafayette An 1824 engraving of James Armistead Lafayette, after a painting by John B. Martin. The print reproduces the handwritten text of a 1784 testimonial by the Marquis de Lafayette.](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/JamesLafayette_jamesalafayette-1993-215_crop.jpg.webp?itok=1yhFWQLq)
James Armistead Lafayette was an enslaved man who, during the American Revolution, volunteered to join the Continental...
Article
Writing the Declaration of Independence, 1776
Image
![VHE_WritingDecofIndependence_Teaser.jpg VHE_WritingDecofIndependence_Teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_WritingDecofIndependence_Teaser.jpg.webp?itok=LpjuRAZT)
Learn about Thomas Jefferson and his role in writing the Declaration of Independence.