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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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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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Audubon's The Birds of America

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In the VMHC collections are several rare editions of his work, including a first edition of Viviparous Quadrupeds and...

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Audubon's Viviparous Quadrapeds

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Following the success of his Birds of America, John James Audubon began to gather material for an equally ambitious...

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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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Bookplates

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The use of bookplates is almost as old as printing itself. They were used to record ownership and to reassure the owner...

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Clarise Sears Ramsey

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Charlotte Clarise Sears Risley Harrold Ramsey (1867–1922), whose parents were Joseph Henry Risley and Mary Elizabeth...

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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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Double Take

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Daguerreotypes are the earliest form of permanent photographic imagery. They are made by capturing an image on a...

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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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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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Indian Tribes of North America

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In the museum's rare book collection, a remarkable compilation of images exists in History of the Indian Tribes of North...

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Let Us Commence: Graduating At A Distance

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Learn about the history of commencement ceremonies and traditions in Virginia.

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Letterhead

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Correspondence between individuals plays an important role in our understanding not only of how people communicated in...

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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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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 History of Virginia's Natural Bridge: "So Beautiful an Arch"

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In the late eighteenth century, when Thomas Jefferson “discovered” Natural Bridge and purchased it from the King of...