Browse Items (98 total)

In the decades after World War II, many towns and cities across the United States considered plans to redevelop aging neighborhoods. Many of these neighborhoods suffered from substandard housing, including public housing that had been erected during…

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…

After a public notice appeared in a Richmond newspaper in October 1842 that a petition would be presented to the Virginia General Assembly to sell King William County property known as "Indian town lands," members of the Pamunkey tribe took action.…

Waterways provided the people of the Eastern Shore and Hampton Roads regions with access to food, supplies, and transport long before English colonists arrived in 1607. As English settlements displaced and removed Indigenous people from the land near…

Waterways provided the people of the Eastern Shore and Hampton Roads regions with access to food, supplies, and transport long before English colonists arrived in 1607. As English settlements displaced and removed Indigenous people from the land near…

Richmond's former city hall building, known as Old City Hall, is located on Broad Steet with one side facing Capitol Square and another facing the current city hall building. The building stands out as a remnant of the Gothic Revival style popular…

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…

John Murray, fourth earl of Dunmore, was the last royal governor of Virginia. Assuming office in September 1771, he won support during what became known as Lord Dunmore’s War in 1774. Ostensibly to protect white settlers in the Ohio Valley region…

A bookplate is a small-sized, decorative label that is adhered to the inside front cover of a book. They are used to identify the owner of a book for personal use or for use in a library. Bookplates are designed to reflect a person’s interests or to…

On February 1, 1960 the “Greensboro Four” sat down at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. By February 5th, hundreds of students had joined the movement to integrate the lunch counters. By the end of March, the movement had…