Browse Items (16 total)

John Murray, fourth earl of Dunmore, was the last royal governor of Virginia. Briefly governor of New York in 1770–1771, he assumed a new role as governor of Virginia in 1771. He won the support of Virginians during the conflict known as Lord…

Alexander Spotswood served from 1710 to 1722 as lieutenant governor of Virginia, in the place of the royal governor who never came to the colony. During his tenure, Spotswood sought to improve the colony's security and economy and relations with…

In 1924, Virginia passed the Racial Integrity Act, which was designed to stop the “intermixture” of white people and Black people. The act banned interracial marriage by requiring marriage applicants to identify their race as "white," "colored," or…

Indigenous and Native American peoples, including Virginia Indian tribes were not considered American citizens even after ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. They often faced discrimination and were denied the equal protection of the laws.…

William Berkeley (1605–1677) was the longest-serving royal governor of Virginia. He served as a Crown governor (an appointee of the King of England) between 1642 until 1652 and again from 1660 until his death in 1677. In his late twenties, Berkeley…

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…

In the late 19th Century, interest in historic preservation was stirred by archaeological discoveries such as the remnants of Jamestown along the James River in James City County. A portion of the land on which Jamestown once stood was donated to…

The annual payment of tribute by Virginia's Indians has been a long-standing practice which still occurs today. In 1646 Necotowance, “the King of the Indians” as the English referred to him, signed a treaty to end the third Anglo-Indian War. Annual…

Thomas West (1576–1618), the twelfth Baron De La Warr, was appointed by King James I in 1606 to be part of the royal council that oversaw the Virginia Company of London. He monitored the situation in the Virginia colony from England and may have…

This photograph shows a deerskin mantle that was believed to have been presented by Paramount Chief Powhatan (whose given name was Wahunsonacock) to Captain Christopher Newport of the Virginia Company in 1608. The mantle is embroidered with shells…