The contributions of African Americans to the politics, life, and culture of the Commonwealth of Virginia have often been ignored in traditional histories and textbooks. Historian Luther Porter Jackson (1892–1950), however, researched and wrote numerous books, newspaper columns, and articles detailing what could be called a “hidden” history of Black Virginians. Beginning in the 1920s, he promoted the annual Negro History Week in Virginia, the precursor to today's Black History Month. For years, scholars and historians have turned to Jackson’s work for reliable and well-documented information that challenged racist stereotypes about Black Virginians in American history.
A history professor and chair of the History Department at Virginia State University, Jackson had degrees from Fisk University, Columbia University, and a doctorate from the University of Chicago. Throughout his career he made extensive use of primary source materials in local courthouses and in state and national archives, including birth, marriage, and death records, tax records, property deeds, legal and court records, military records, and other government documents. He also researched in newspapers and family papers, and he interviewed family descendants to carefully document the life and work of Black Virginians. Some of his most significant works include:
Beyond his teaching and research, Luther P. Jackson was active in advancing civil rights. He wrote a weekly newspaper column for the Norfolk Journal and Guide during the 1940s on “Rights and Duties In a Democracy.” In it, he regularly advocated registering to vote and voting as well as using the courts to fight segregation laws. He also shared inspirational examples of Black Virginians in history. In this column, published on August 21, 1943, Jackson describes the participation of Black soldiers and sailors in the American Revolution, including William Flora, at the Battle of Great Bridge, and James Lafayette, who spied on the British at Yorktown. He wanted his readers to understand that the Black Virginians then serving in Europe and the Pacific during World War II were part of a long tradition of fighting "for liberty and democracy" in American history.
Citation: Luther P. Jackson, Virginia Negro Solders and Seamen in the American Revolution," Norfolk Journal and Guide, 21 August 1943.
Related Entry: Petition of James Lafayette, New Kent County, 1786.
The Skyline Drive was created and designed to be a scenic driving road as part of Shenandoah National Park. The Shenandoah National Park was created in 1926 to preserve the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains for recreational use and for future generations. The creation of the Shenandoah National Park represented one of the biggest land seizures using eminent domain in Virginia state history. The park is composed of about 190,000 acres of donated and state purchased land that was later given to the federal government for the creation of Shenandoah National Park, the Skyline Drive, and the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway.
The groundbreaking for the Skyline Drive happed July 18, 1931. The construction of the roadway was considered a pioneering effort given the topography of the region. Designers had to develop new techniques in landscape architecture and engineering to create a safe roadway through the mountains. The funding for the roadway was originally allocated by the Federal Drought Relief Administration which encourages the employment of Virginia farmers and apple pickers who were suffering from the economic impacts of a severe drought. Other workers were provided by the Civilian Conservation Corps who graded the slopes of the roadway, built guardrails and wall, constructed overlooks, made signs, built a variety of structures needed for visitation, and planted hundreds of thousands of plants as part of the landscape design. In 1932, the Marys Rock Tunnel was bored through solid granite. The tunnel is 670 feet long and became one of the most iconic visual features of the roadway. The last potion of the Skyline Drive was completed in 1939.
Today the park has grown to about 200,000 acres and serves as one of the most popular parks in the country.
Citation: Heinemann, R. L. Shenendoah National Park, Skyline Drive, Prints and Photoprgaphs Collection, Library of Virginia.
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the photograph, what details in the photo tell you about the opening of the Skyline Drive? Be specific
Post Activities
Current Connections: How does the right to private property vs. the state's use of eminent domain laws create conflict? Can you cite a current or past issue that illustrates this conflict?
Artistic Expression: You are an artist creating an advertisement for the opening of the Skyline Drive. Based in the photograph, create an image that would encourage visitors to visit the Skyline Drive.
STEM STAT: The Skyline Drive required engineers and Landscape architects use their problem-solving skills to design the Skyline Drive. If you were an early engineer or landscape architect, what would concern you most about designing a roadway in the mountains? Consider environment, changing weather conditions, erosion, and other factors which might influence design decisions
The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declared freedom to enslaved people within states that were in rebellion against the United States. All enslaved people in Virginia were to be free, but this could only be enforced in areas controlled by the Union army and as such, a small number of Virginian counties and parts of western Virginia were excluded from having to enforce emancipation efforts. In issuing the proclamation, it became clear that the western part of Virginia would become a separate state with a new name.
There were several localities in Virginia where enslavement continued under the laws of Virginia. These localities included: the upper Potomac River Valley County of Berkeley, two Eastern Shore counties of Accomack and Northhampton, the Hampton Roads counties of Princess Anne and York, and the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth. In many of these areas, the established presence of the Union army had already allowed people who ran away from enslavement to live in freedom. In the remainder of Virginia, when they were present, the Union Army did their best to enforce the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation. However, this did not free all enslaved Virginians. In most of Virginia, a majority of men, women, and children who were enslaved when the Civil War began, continued to live as such until the war ended in April 1865.
The Emancipation Proclamation had a direct impact on the governmental structure and created unusual legal problems -- two states of Virginia, each with its own governments within the Commonwealth. One remained loyal to the United States and was created in the summer of 1861, which restored part of Virginia to the Union. The capital lay in Wheeling until June 1863 when it was moved to Alexandria. The other part of Virginia was that of the Confederate States of America, with its capital in Richmond.
In 1944, a parade was held to mark the 81st Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Sections of the 3166th Quartermaster Service Company and 3167th Quartermaster Service Company, and the color guard unit from Camp Hill marched down Jefferson Avenue in Newport News. Shipyard workers' floats and the Camp Hill Band also marched in the parade.
Citation: U.S. Army Signal Corps. Parade Celebrating the 81st Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, 1944, Print & Photographs, Special Collections, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
VS.1, VS.9, USI.1, USI.9, USII.1, USII.3, VUS.1, VUS.7, GOVT.8
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the photograph. What appears to be happening in the photograph? What do you notice about the people who are the subject of the photograph?
Post Activities
Think About It: Why do you think Virginia was so divided by the Emancipation Proclamation? Provide examples and explain.
Virginia Validation: How do you think the Emancipation Proclamation affected other states? Do you think Virginia's experiences were similar to them?
Social Media Spin: Imagine you are attending and watching this parade, create a social media post in which you explain the experience and/or importance of the event.
Touted as the largest and most magnificent exposition of all time, the New York World’s Fair opened at Flushing Meadows in April 1939. In the Court of States, one exhibition was strikingly different from the rest: the Virginia Room, “an island of quiet” amid the fair’s raucous and more sensational attractions. Leslie Cheek, Jr., chair of the Department of Fine Arts at the College of William and Mary and designer of the Virginia Room, and his team of artists developed a plan for a spacious circular lounge with the visitor’s focus drawn to an ornamental fountain theatrically lit from above and below. The design offered tired fairgoers a place to sit, a chance to enjoy a complimentary glass of ice water served by a white-jacketed waiter, and an array of large photograph albums prepared by the Virginia State Chamber of Commerce.
The Virginia Room albums can be thought of as a sprawling infomercial for the state, promoting it as a place not just of historic shrines and natural beauty, but as one of scientific, artistic, and intellectual sophistication. A modern state of concrete highways, world-class museums, unversities, and business-friendly public policies. When the World’s Fair closed, it was estimated that more than one million people had visited the Virginia Room and viewed its photograph collection. The photograph of the Pocahontas statue was one of the images selected to be in the Virginia Room.
By this period Pocahontas had moved into mythological status as the daughter of paramount chief Powhatan, conversion to Christianity, and marriage to colonist John Rolfe. Her images frequently were incorporated to promote Virginia and Virginia made products.
The statue of Pocahontas by William Ordway Partridge was erected at Historic Jamestowne National Park in 1922. The statue became an iconic image of Pocahontas that was often used in advertisments and for decades formed the basis for imagery of Indigenous women in major film and televison productions. Then as now, visitors photograph themselves holding hands with the staute as a momento of their visit to the park.After the United States entered WW I in 1917, young men who worked in agriculture left to join the military or find better jobs working for the government and the burgeoning defense industry. The departure of them men left farms without enough people to work the fields and tend the crops. Although the government offered incentives to encourage men remaining in the US to work in agriculture the effort was not successful.
Britain also struggled with food insecurity for the same reasons. The government created the Women’s Land War Army to recruit and train women to work in agriculture. In this capacity, women would provide needed food to their communities and nation. Inspired by this effort, several women’s colleges in the US began to train women to work in agriculture to meet the growing demand for food.
In 1917, the Women's Land Army of America (WWLA) was formed in order to provide essential labor to American farms and farmers. The director of the WWLA was Harriet Stanton Blatch, the daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton who was a leader of the suffrage movement. A number of the WWLA members were also suffragists who believed that their patriotic act of working in agriculture would bring attention to the suffrage movement. From 1943 to 1945 the Women's Land Army recruited, trained, and placed millions of women on American farms. This program sent both rural and urban women to the farms, where they assisted in providing the necessary food products and commodities for a nation at war. Women working outside of the home led to major changes in the societal roles of men and women which would be felt for years to come.
Inspirational, informative, instructive, imploring—posters were a major part of the war effort. Virginians would have seen many of these posters. The most common place to see such posters in Virginia would have been in train stations and other areas of transportation. Other types of posters in the period would have encouraged saving scrap materials, following restricted diets, contacting servicemen, and supporting the war effort through war bonds.
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the way the women are depicted in the poster. Why do you think the women portrayed in this image look the way they do? What are they doing?
Post Activities
Analyze: Women were not encouraged to work outside of the home before the war, but they became a critical part of the workforce during the war. Why would women, particularly those in college, choose to receive training in agriculture? What did they hope to gain?
Social Media Spin: Create a social media post in which you encourage women to be trained in agriculture to support the war effort. Be sure to include references to the WWLA and their mission.
Form an Opinion: Write a journal entry in which you describe how you would have felt if you were a woman recruited from the city to move to a rural agricultural community. What challenges might you face?
Lynchburg native Desmond T. Doss (1919-2006) was the first conscientious objector to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. A conscientious objector is one who is opposed to serving in the armed forces and/or bearing arms on the grounds of moral or religious principles. By law, only U.S. service members who distinguish themselves “through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty” can receive the medal.
Corporal Doss, a Seventh Day Adventist, objected to killing and refused to carry a weapon. He served as an Army medical corpsman, 1st Battalion, 307th Infantry Medical Detachment, 77th Infantry Division. Doss is credited with saving the lives of at least 75 wounded soldiers. Part of his citation states, "Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty."Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the photograph. What do you think is happening in the photograph? What do you notice about the man who is the subject of the photograph?
Post Activities
Think About It: Corporal Doss was a conscientious objector and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions as and Army Medic. Why might someone become choose to be a conscientious objector? Why might the be allowed in a time of war?
Current Connections: Today and throughout the last decade, there have been military actions taken around the world. Although being a conscientious objector is still permitted in all branches of military service, the public may not be aware of this option or how often it is used. Why might this be the case? Explain.
On April 14, 1945, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was buried in Hyde Park, New York following funeral services at the White House. Roosevelt had been elected four times to the office of President, a feat never matched, and now prohibited by the 22nd Amendment.
FDR was famous for several major decisions and policies. He regularly held "Fireside Chats" which were broadcasted on the radio. These radio programs changed the way the office of President addressed U.S. citizens. FDR’s New Deal programs and policies sought to alleviate and eradicate the hardships cause by the Great Depression. Programs created in the New Deal included the creation of Social Security, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Works Progress Administration. As a wartime President, FDR led the United States in its fight against Hitler in Europe and Japan in the Pacific during World War Two. He is remembered for his rousing address after the bombing of Pearl Harbor which stirred support for the US entry into the war.
In this proclamation, J.L. Bland, the Mayor of West Point, Virginia, calls for all businesses to close at 4:00 pm in recognition of the funeral services which were scheduled for that time.
Learn more about FDR from WhiteHouse.gov
Citation: Bland, J.L. Proclamation in recognition and honor of our beloved president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, West Point, Va., 1945. Broadside 1945 .B5 BOX, Special Collections, Library of Virginia
Preview Activity
Scan It: Scan the document. What is it announcing? Why would someone write such an announcement?
Post Activities
Up for Debate: Do you think that businesses should have closed to honor the time of the President's funeral? Why or why not?
Social Media Spin: Create a social media post announcing the funeral of FDR. Include information about his historical significance.
From September 1939 - December 1941, the United States was not officially at war with any of the Axis powers. While support was given to the Allies through programs such as Lend-Lease, there was a strong isolationist sentiment following World War I and the failure of the League of Nations.
Just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked Pearl Harbor, an American naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. The fleet was devastated, losing almost 200 airplanes and nearly 20 vessels, including eight battleships. Over 2,000 American soldiers and sailors lost their lives, including over 1,000 men who lost their lives when the USS Arizona sank into the harbor.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the nation soon after the attack and described it as "A date which will live in infamy." Congress swiftly approved his declaration of war against Japan. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. Pearl Harbor became a rallying point for the war effort. Across the nation, posters were created to show support for the troops being sent to fight the second World War.
Citation: Saalburg, Allen Russell. Remember Dec. 7th! Office of War Information, Washington, D.C. , 1942, Prints & Photographs, Special Collections, Library of Virginia
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the image. What emotions does it evoke? What event would have led to the creation of such an image?
Post Activities
Analyze: The quote on this poster comes not from FDR's rousing speech, but from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Why do you think the creators of this poster would have selected this quote?
Art Exploration: Design another version of this poster. Write a description of your poster in which you explain your design decisions.
Social Media Spin: Create a social media post, using this image to report on the anniversary the event.
James H. Dooley was a Virginia politician and businessman in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After the Civil War, he amassed a fortune by expanding railroad services. In 1869, he married Sallie May Dooley, a daughter of a prominent family who held romantic views of life in antebellum Virginia. In 1886, the Dooley’s acquired 100 acres of land along the James River where they planned to build their new estate. They hired architect, Edgerton Stewart Rogers, who designed the 12,000 square foot, 33-bedroom home in using a combination of Romanesque Revival and Queen Anne styles which gives Maymont House it’s unique appearance. They named their new home “May Mont” which combines Sallie Dooley’s maiden name, May, with the French word for hill “Mont”.
Maymont House was occupied by the family for 32 years and never had any other owners. Although no architectural drawings or early records of the construction of the house survive, ongoing research using the existing structure provides information about the unique features of the house. In 1925, after Mrs. Dooley’s death, the house was opened as a museum. The décor of the house is as Mrs. Dooly left it with the main parts of the house decorated in the finest of global fashions of the age and the lower half of the house presents as it was used as servants' quarters. Most the Dooley’s domestic servants were African Americans, and the quarters are segregated from the rest of the house with a separate entrance and staircase to access the main house.Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the photograph of the Dooley mansion. From the photo, what specifically can you conclude about the wealth of the occupants? Be specific as you cite architectural and size components.
Post Activities
Think About It: Why was Maymont House opened as a musuem? What might be learned from visiting a home from the guilded age?
Food For Thought: A common design in high end homes of the age was to have the servants be invisible to those attending events or parties. This was accomplished by having the living areas sepreated from the servants areas. Why do you you think this was a desireable design consideration? Explain.