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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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Advice and Etiquette Books
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Studying etiquette books offers researchers a glimpse of how people interacted and how they adapted to their changing...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Robert Edward Lee
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Robert Edward Lee (1807–1870) was born at Stratford in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1807, the son of Revolutionary...
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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 Honor of Membership
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The governing body of the museum has elected close to 200 honorary members in its 175-year history. The long list...
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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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Tom Molineaux
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Born into enslavement on a Virginia plantation, Tom Molineaux (1784–1818) fought fellow enslaved people while plantation...
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Transportation in Virginia
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Transportation began to change early in the nineteenth century with the introduction of steam power and the development...
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Writing the Declaration of Independence, 1776
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Learn about Thomas Jefferson and his role in writing the Declaration of Independence.