Browse Items (193 total)
"The Bottle," Illustrated Panels, George Cruikshank, 1848
The temperance movement, or the movement to make alcohol consumption illegal, became widespread in nineteenth-century America. Since the European settlement of North America, alcohol consumption had been common. By the 1830s, Americans consumed an…
“Master Abraham Lincoln Gets a New Toy,” Political Cartoon, 1863
Illustrated periodicals like Harper's Weekly were popular with Americans in the middle of the 19th century. After southern states formed the Confederate States of America, residents there could not easily receive newspapers and magazines printed in…
“The Age of Brass: Or the Triumphs of Woman's Rights,” Lithograph, 1869
As women participated in the movement to abolish slavery during the first half of the 19th century, some of them also began to advocate for women's rights. In July 1848, a group of women and men held a convention in Seneca Falls, New York. They…
The Richmond Planet, Masthead, Richmond, 1893
The Richmond Planet was first published in 1882, seventeen years after the end of the Civil War. The thirteen founders (including James H. Hayes, James H. Johnston, E.R. Carter, Walter Fitzhugh, Henry Hucles, Albert V. Norrell, Benjamin A. Graves,…
Wireless Age Magazine Cover, 1924
Radio waves were harnessed to send the first transatlantic wireless transmission in 1901, revolutionizing communication throughout the world. Some entrepreneurs saw a future for widely transmitting voice and music over radio, and by the 1910s…
Citizenship Through Voting, Portsmouth, VA, circa 1950’s
Black men gained the right to vote when the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1870. Later in the 19th century, white men in Virginia passed laws requiring the payment of poll taxes. A new state constitution in 1902…
Governor Berkeley, Letter to the King about Silk Production, 1668
Silk has been produced and sold as a consumer good for thousands of years. Silk production originated in China and the earliest known examples date to 3000 B.C.E. For centuries, the trade routes known as the Silk Road stretched between East Asia and…
Jerry Armstrong, Registration of Free Status, 1840
Before the end of slavery, free Black Virginians found their liberty in constant jeopardy because they were not considered citizens. After Gabriel's attempted slave rebellion in 1800, the General Assembly passed an act in 1801 requiring county…
John Mitchell Jr. Obituary Announcement, Richmond, 1929
John Mitchell Jr., was the determined and pioneering force behind the success of the Richmond Planet newspaper. Mitchell was born into slavery at Laburnum near Richmond on July 11, 1863. He was the son of John Mitchell and Rebecca Mitchell, who were…
Jozsef Estéfan, Immigration Request, 1916
Early in the 20th century, thousands of European immigrants worked in the coalfields of southwestern Virginia. After the Civil War, rail companies had expanded westward as entrepreneurs and industrialists opened coal seams in the region. Beginning in…