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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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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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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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Jacob L. "JL" Morewitz

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Jacob L. “JL” Morewitz was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1896 but raised in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1916, at the age of...

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James Jones Archive (1870s-1960s)

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With a coat of faded red paint and a crude hand-forged hasp to secure its lid, the simple pine chest – once used to...

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Jim Crow to Civil Rights in Virginia

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Following the Civil War, black Virginians struggled to assert their independence and make freedom meaningful. In the...

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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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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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Nancy Langhorne Shaw Astor

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Viscountess Astor (1879–1964) was the first woman to take a seat in the British House of Commons. Nancy was born in...

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Political Sheet Music

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Politicians have long appreciated the value of a campaign song during an election year. A popular tune can rally the...

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Proud American Day program

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Learn about the beginning of Black History Month.

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Ripped from the Headlines

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In 1885, the sensational murder trial that made headlines throughout Virginia and across the United States (The New York...

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Round Robins of the Pollard Family

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The basic letter was the normal way to communicate throughout most of history, but the idea of having people use a...