Browse Items (66 total)

Using the data from the 1860 census, this map was created in 1861. It shows the distribution of enslaved Virginians in each of the state's counties, with the darker shades showing the counties with the highest percentage of enslaved men, women, and…

Between 1877 and the mid-1960s, authorities enforced racial segregation throughout Virginia. In 1902, the Virginia State Constitution, authorized by the Virginia General Assembly, instituted a poll tax in which all Black and persons of color would…

Lawrence Douglas Wilder (1931–) was sworn in as governor of Virginia on January 13, 1990. Wilder, a grandson of enslaved peoples, made history in 1985 when he became the first Black person elected to statewide office in Virginia.  Wilder was a…

In 1896 the United States Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that racial segregation did not violate the "equal protection of the laws" clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Virginia and other southern states employed the doctrine of "separate…

On May 17, 1954, after nearly two decades of legal challenges against racial segregation in public schools and higher education, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that school segregation was…

On October 16, 1957, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited Virginia during the commonwealth’s 350th anniversary celebration of the founding of Jamestown. The Queen’s visit prompted intense interest from citizens, government officials, and the…

In 1902, Louisiana became the first state to pass a statute requiring mandatory segregation of passengers on streetcars. Mississippi followed with similar legislation in 1904. Also in 1904, Virginia authorized, but did not require segregated…

At the close of the Civil War and after the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment, all male citizens, regardless of their race or previous status, were supposed to be able to vote.  However, many states, including Virginia, found ways to exclude Black…

When the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling on May 17, 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, it declared that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. The ruling overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine…

Late in the 19th century, some Virginians became interested in preserving historic buildings and landscapes that documented the state's illustrious past. White women led the effort to establish the Association for the Preservation of Virginia…