The search results below contain listings from our website. To search our library and museum collections catalogs, please visit the Collections page.
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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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Children's Manuscripts
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Prominent Virginians are well represented in the many manuscripts housed at the VMHC. However, documents by individuals...
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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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How Did Enslaved People Support the Confederacy?
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Enslaved and free black people provided even more labor than usual for Virginia farms when 89 percent of eligible white...
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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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Industrialization in Virginia
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The 1920 census revealed that, for the first time, more Americans were living in urban areas than rural ones. However...
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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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Maggie Lena Walker
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Maggie Lena Walker (1864–1934) was the daughter of Elizabeth Draper, a former kitchen slave and then cook in the Civil...
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Men of Color To Arms?
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When the war began, many black Americans—North and South—volunteered to serve as soldiers. United by a belief in black...
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Oysters in Virginia
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Learn about the history of oyster in Virginia's food culture, tourism, and economy.
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Richmond in the Midst of the Civil War
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As the Confederate capital, Richmond experienced waves of change that saw the city lurch from the untidy influx of...
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Robert E. Lee after the War
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After the Civil War, Robert E. Lee left his life in the military and accepted the position of president of Washington...
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Rural Life in Virginia
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Learn more about rural life and agricultural history in Virginia.
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Silver in Virginia
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Colonial Virginians acquired much of their important silver from London. After the Revolution, population growth, a...
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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 Sully's Portrait of Pocahontas
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Learn about the life of Pocahontas.