Encyclopedia Virginia

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History Under Our Feet

1 month ago | encyclopediavirginia.org | Patricia Miller

Sometimes history is right under our feet and we don’t even realize it. When I lived in Old Town Alexandria, I frequented the quaint brick Kate Waller Barrett branch of the Alexandria Library. Not only was it around the corner from my house, but it contains the city’s local history and special collections reading room, where I spent many hours poring through old newspapers and documents as I worked on various projects.
Jefferson the Weatherman

Jan 17, 2025 | encyclopediavirginia.org | Patricia Miller

Whether it’s ferocious Santa Ana winds howling through Los Angeles or a polar vortex holding much of the country in its icy grip, it’s impossible to ignore the weather or how it affects everyday life. Human civilizations have long sought to make sense of the weather, to seek patterns that make it more predictable. But it was only with the invention of instruments like the thermometer and barometer in the seventeenth century that studying the weather became a scientific discipline.
How Deadly Was the Civil War in Virginia?

Dec 11, 2024 | encyclopediavirginia.org | Patricia Miller

No one disputes that the American Civil War was the bloodiest conflict in American history. But for decades historians and demographers have had difficulty pinpointing the exact number of casualties, especially on the Confederate side, due to poor record-keeping and records that were destroyed when Richmond fell at the end of the war. The long-standing consensus figure of 618,222 dead was reached by applying the percentage of Union soldiers lost to Confederate forces.
"Liberty to Slaves" - Encyclopedia Virginia

Nov 20, 2024 | encyclopediavirginia.org | Patricia Miller

This November marks the 249th anniversary of Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation, the effort by Virginia’s last royal governor John Murray, fourth earl of Dunmore, to arm enslaved Black people to fight the mounting Patriot rebellion. The idea of enlisting enslaved men to fight for the Crown had been brewing for some time, partly to play on fears of slave rebellion that regularly coursed through a colony where just over 40 percent of the population was held in bondage.
How Dunmore Won a War but Lost the Fight

Oct 16, 2024 | encyclopediavirginia.org | Patricia Miller

This week we’re marking the anniversary of an obscure treaty that ended an equally obscure war that proved to be one of the most consequential conflicts in early American history. It’s not surprising, as Dunmore’s War, which our contributor Glenn Williams calls the last conflict of the colonial era, was fought in the shadow of the American Revolution.
Decades of Destruction: Urban Renewal in Virginia

Oct 1, 2024 | encyclopediavirginia.org | Patricia Miller

Encyclopedia Virginia has been working for more than a year on a special section on the impact of urban renewal across the Commonwealth. Last week we debuted the entire package at an EntryPoint event dedicated to the history of urban renewal in Virginia and the devastating effects of “redevelopment” on Black communities in Richmond, Roanoke, Norfolk, Northern Virginia, and Charlottesville.
Urban Renewal in Roanoke

Sep 19, 2024 | encyclopediavirginia.org | Mary Bishop

Roanoke, which was first known as Big Lick for the nutritious salt marshes that drew game to the area, was incorporated as a city in 1884, making it one of Virginia’s younger municipalities. At the turn of the twentieth century, some 30 percent of Roanoke’s population was African American.
Urban Renewal in Charlottesville

Sep 19, 2024 | encyclopediavirginia.org | Jordy Yager

Race was used as a tool of housing discrimination in Charlottesville since at least 1893, when racial covenants barred Black residents from owning homes or living in the Locust Grove neighborhood. In 1912, the Charlottesville City Council passed a citywide racial segregation ordinance, but this became inoperative after a similar law in Louisville, Kentucky, was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1917.
Back to School with Encyclopedia Virginia

Sep 3, 2024 | encyclopediavirginia.org | Patricia Miller

It’s that time of year, as students and teachers head back to the classroom. Autumn has a “back to school” feel for us at Encyclopedia Virginia, too, as our traditionally slow summer web traffic comes surging back with the cooling temperatures and new assignments to pursue. To mark the start of the school year, we’d love to hear from educators about how you use EV in the classroom.
Hannah Lee Corbin: Forgotten Feminist Foremother

Jul 8, 2024 | encyclopediavirginia.org | Patricia Miller

A forgotten feminist foremother hides amid the members of the Virginia gentry who helped to shape the ideals of the American Revolution. When pioneering women’s suffrage leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton spoke at the “First Foremothers’ Celebration” in New York City in 1892, she reached back to the Virginia Tidewater of the Revolutionary era to place Hannah Lee Corbin alongside of Abigail Smith Adams and Mercy Otis Warren as among the earliest advocates for women’s rights in the new nation.