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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L. Douglas Wilder
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![VHE_DouglasWilder_teaser.jpg VHE_DouglasWilder_teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_DouglasWilder_teaser.jpg.webp?itok=7vI7a4fh)
Learn about L. Douglas Wilder, the first elected African American governor in United States history.
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Letters to Santa
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![Mss1.R5495b6810_Letter.jpg Mss1.R5495b6810_Letter.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Mss1.R5495b6810_Letter.jpg.webp?itok=Z4eDM9zk)
Take a closer look at letters to Santa in the VMHC's collections.
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Life Portrait of Pocahontas
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![VHE_PocahontasEngraving_Teaser.jpg VHE_PocahontasEngraving_Teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_PocahontasEngraving_Teaser.jpg.webp?itok=weL_dH2x)
The only life portrait of Pocahontas (1595–1617) and the only credible image of her, was engraved by Simon Van de Passe...
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Mark Catesby
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![VHE_Catesby_QH41.C292.1754.Rare_.OS_.Bluejay.jpg VHE_Catesby_QH41.C292.1754.Rare_.OS_.Bluejay.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_Catesby_QH41.C292.1754.Rare_.OS_.Bluejay.jpg.webp?itok=92Ar1teT)
The first accounts of the strange flora and fauna of the New World created a great demand among European scientists for...
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Martha (Dandridge) Custis Washington
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![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...
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Mexican-American War: 175 Years Later
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![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...
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Murals Inspired by the Story of Virginia
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![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...
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Nancy Langhorne Shaw Astor
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![VHE_NancyLanghorneShawAstor_Teaser.jpg VHE_NancyLanghorneShawAstor_Teaser.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/VHE_NancyLanghorneShawAstor_Teaser.jpg.webp?itok=VFAVF_yS)
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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On Dueling
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In the United States and elsewhere, traditional and patriarchal conceptions of honor prescribed that men could respond...
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Oysters in Virginia
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![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.
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Patrick Henry Arguing the Parsons’ Cause
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![79295e56bc070b2a46410264f019e5ec.jpg 79295e56bc070b2a46410264f019e5ec.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/79295e56bc070b2a46410264f019e5ec.jpg.webp?itok=2gN652fQ)
The Parsons’ Cause was a legal conflict rooted in the volatility of the tobacco-based economy and the state-sponsored...
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Phyllis Galanti: A Life of Personal Activism
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Phyllis Galanti's comprehensive collection of documents reveals her belief that the cooperative actions of private...
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Pocahontas Remembered… An Ocean Away
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![Pocahontas A statue of Pocahontas next to a tall brick tower](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/PocahontasAnOceanAway_P2_PocahontasChurch_CMYK.jpg.webp?itok=OnPW4Vc7)
Though it was certainly the longest journey of her life, and she was already exposed to English ways, nothing could have...
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Political Sheet Music
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![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...
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Religion and the Marriage of Bazile & Bowcock
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Contained in the VMHC collections are a series of letters between Bazile and his future wife, Virginia Hamilton Bowcock.
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Ripped from the Headlines
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![Cluverius.jpg Cluverius.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Cluverius.jpg.webp?itok=FP11NVJO)
In 1885, the sensational murder trial that made headlines throughout Virginia and across the United States ( The New...
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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...
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Separate and Unequal: The Breakdown of Segregation in Virginia Schools
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![Teenagers protesting school closings Historic photograph of two black teenage girls protesting school closings](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/Farmville%2BProtest%20%28002%29%20v2.jpg.webp?itok=vR6ip63v)
The Virginia Constitution of 1869 established a statewide system of free public schools. The schools evolved in the...
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Sisters in Law: Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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![Supreme Court of the United States of America, 2023 Supreme Court of the United States of America, 2023](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/PopCiv_SistersinLaw_SCOTUS2023.jpeg.webp?itok=r6CV-q2D)
Pop Civ is a series developed by the John Marshall Center for Constitutional History & Civics at the VMHC. By connecting...
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Speed or Strength?
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![Speed or Strength? Jedediah Hotchkiss's Compass](/sites/default/files/styles/fp_landscape_768x576/public/SpeedOrStrength_VHE_ATP_map-tools-photo-b-IMG_0297-%282%29-light-%282%29.jpeg.webp?itok=bzOLCTAb)
Early in 1862, Confederate general Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson decided to “move swiftly and strike vigorously” against...