EXHIBITIONS BY TOPIC

African Americans

• 

  Remaking Virginia
  (July 6, 2015—March 26, 2016)

  Marking the end of the 150th commemoration of the American Civil War, Remaking Virginia: Transformation through Emancipation explores how the end of slavery and emancipation affected every Virginian, forcing people to renegotiate and transform their relationships. Remaking Virginia focuses on how African Americans made the change from property to citizens and explores the societal transformation experienced by all Virginians through labor, church, education, families, political rights, military service, and violence.
  
  Remaking Virginia is on view in the Library of Virginia's lobby and gallery, July 6, 2015-March 26, 2016.
  
  Remaking Virginia online exhibition

• 

  To Be Sold
  (October 27, 2014—May 30, 2015)

  "To Be Sold: Virginia and the American Slave Trade offers a frank exploration of Virginia's role in the business of the second middle passage—the forced relocation of two-thirds of a million African Americans from the Upper South to the Cotton South in the decades before the Civil War. Anchoring the exhibition is a series of images created by English artist Eyre Crowe (1824–1910), who in March 1853 witnessed the proceedings of Richmond's largest business. Crowe turned his sketches and experience into a series of remarkable paintings and engravings that humanized the enslaved and spoke eloquently of the pathos and upheaval of the trade. The story of the American slave trade is one of numbers, but it is also the story of individuals whose families were torn apart and whose lives were forever altered. Please visit To Be Sold: Virginia and the American Slave Trade to view the beta version of our online exhibition.
  
  The March 21 symposium video is available at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMBxwRsuTIgikBGdpXQX70SiDlObcwJvU.
  
  Learn about two women caught in the domestic slave trade, visit Out of the Box http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/?s=hester+jane and http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/?s=lizzy
  
  Help transcribe documents from the domestic slave trade at Making History, http://www.virginiamemory.com/transcribe/"
  
  A version of the exhibition is traveling. Please visit http://www.virginiamemory.com/online-exhibitions/exhibits/show/to-be-sold/to-be-sold-traveling-exhibitio for more information.

• 

  You Have No Right: Law & Justice in Virginia
  (September 24, 2012—May 18, 2013)

  The actions of Virginians provide particularly good examples to learn about the role of the law and the courts in defining and protecting the rights and liberties of American citizenship. The state's legal culture and how Virginians interpret the concepts of law and justice are the results of the actions of private citizens and of men and women who hold public office or serve the public as officers of the courts. Legislators make the laws, and judges interpret and apply the laws, but voters, jurors, and citizens are in many ways influential participants in shaping the laws, the legal process, and how courts and other legal institutions function.

• 

  Union or Secession
  (December 6, 2010—October 29, 2011)

  What were Virginians thinking and discussing as the first Southern states withdrew from the United States following the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860? Why was Virginia’s decision critical to America’s fate in 1861 and key to the ultimate course and outcome of the sectional crisis?
  Virginia was central to American identity for its role in the founding of the United States and its political principles. Both the Confederacy and the Union wanted to claim Virginia’s historical legacy. Union or Secession explores what Virginians thought and debated as the crisis unfolded. Explore the choices Virginians faced as they decided their fate and the lasting consequences of their decisions for Virginia and the nation.

• 

  The Land We Live In, The Land We Left
  (January 11, 2010—October 30, 2010)

  The Land We Live In, The Land We Left explores over 400 years of immigration to Virginia—the people drawn here and brought here—sometimes against their will—and the traditions and customs of their homelands that came with them, helping to shape both their communities and the commonwealth.

• 

  Freeing Art From Wood: The Sculpture of Leslie Garland Bolling
  (July 24, 2006—October 21, 2006)

  Through timing, perseverance, and sheer good fortune, Leslie Garland Bolling (1898–1955) captured the attention and imagination of the art public from 1926 to 1943 with more than eighty portrait busts and sculptures of working people and nude figures. He faced obstacles: he was African American, he was self–taught, and he lived in the segregated South. The web exhibition includes descriptions and, where available, illustrations of works discovered after the physical exhibition closed. The catalog, Freeing Art from Wood, is available from the Virginia Shop.

• 

  Brown v. Board of Education: Virginia Responds
  (December 29, 2003—July 31, 2004)

  Marking the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down segregation in school, Brown v. Board of Education explored Virginia's reaction to the ruling through the letters and petitions of individual citizens and organizations sent to elected officials and through the adoption of the policy of "Massive Resistance."

• 

  Death or Liberty: Gabriel, Nat Turner, and John Brown
  (January 10, 2000—November 8, 2000)

  Drawing from the archival collections at the Library, Death or Liberty explored three dramatic events in Virginia that focused America's attention on the problem of slavery: Gabriel's Conspiracy in 1800, Nat Turner's Rebellion in Southampton County in 1831, and John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. Examine the documents online.

Art and Architecture

• 

  No Vacancy: Remnants of Virginia's Roadside Culture
  (October 15, 2013—February 22, 2014)

  The next time you drive along Route 1, glance out the window and look for an old motel. Some are now disguised as antique malls, others are abandoned and exist as haunting reminders of a bygone era, and those still operating don't look as inviting as they may once have appeared. Imagine these tourist cottages and motels in their heyday, however! Bright neon signs flashed "No Vacancy." Families unloaded cars for a night's rest. Hungry travelers ordered hot chicken dinners in the motel's restaurant before turning in for the night.

  From October 15, 2013–February 22, 2014, a photography exhibition at the Library of Virginia, “No Vacancy: Remnants of Virginia's Roadside Culture,” focused on a selection of motels and tourist courts found along Virginia's historic Route 1, weaving the individual stories into their historical context. The more than 25 historic and contemporary photographs and accompanying text in the exhibition shed light on historic architectural elements, presented the significance of race and class in the history of travel, and demonstrated how the perception and operation of motels had changed over time. The motels were also explored through an array of ephemeral items including travel guides, postcards, and advertisements.

  "No Vacancy" promoted nostalgic memories of family road trips, shared the tales of the Virginians who operated the motels, and inspired us to pay attention to our cultural landscape. From campsites to quaint cottages to sleek modern accommodations, motels tell the story of travel and society in Virginia during the 20th and 21st centuries.

  You can now view some of the vintage motel postcards used in the exhibit over on the LVA Pinterest account: http://www.pinterest.com/libraryofva/vintage-motel-postcards/.

• 

  American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print
  (December 5, 2011—February 4, 2012)

  Exhibition: December 5, 2011 — February 4, 2012 "Advertising without posters is like fishing without worms."
  — The Hatch Brothers This sentiment was certainly true in 1879 when brothers Herbert H. and Charles R. Hatch opened Hatch Show Print, a printing shop in Nashville, Tennessee. Their handcrafted posters screamed slogans such as "More Power, More Pep," "So Many Girls You Can't Count Them All," and "Always Clean, Always Good." Almost 130 years later, Hatch posters hold their own, offering a stirring and refreshingly tactile contrast to the digital advertising world. The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in partnership with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum celebrates this time-honored graphic art tradition. American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print opened at the Experience Music Project in Seattle on Oct. 11, 2008, and has traveled to additional museums over the last few years, including the Austin Museum of Art (Texas), Tulane University's Newcomb Art Gallery in New Orleans, and the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens.

• 

  Never Built Virginia
  (January 11, 2008—January 26, 2008)

  From Thomas Jefferson's design of the Virginia State Capitol to Northern Virginia's soaring post-modern structures of glass and steel, the commonwealth's architectural triumphs are well-documented. But what of those that never made it beyond the drawing board? Never Built Virginia explored a variety of proposed architectural projects from around the commonwealth that remained unbuilt because the architecture was too radical, because funding collapsed, or because they lost favor with their patrons.

• 

  Freeing Art From Wood: The Sculpture of Leslie Garland Bolling
  (July 24, 2006—October 21, 2006)

  Through timing, perseverance, and sheer good fortune, Leslie Garland Bolling (1898–1955) captured the attention and imagination of the art public from 1926 to 1943 with more than eighty portrait busts and sculptures of working people and nude figures. He faced obstacles: he was African American, he was self–taught, and he lived in the segregated South. The web exhibition includes descriptions and, where available, illustrations of works discovered after the physical exhibition closed. The catalog, Freeing Art from Wood, is available from the Virginia Shop.

• 

  Legacies of the New Deal in Virginia
  (April 14, 2003—December 6, 2003)

  Legacies of the New Deal in Virginia offered overviews of two major components of Roosevelt's New Deal—the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Work Projects Administration—whose achievements continue to enrich our lives. New Deal-related collections at the Library that were highlighted in the exhibition are still available in genealogical, historical, sociological, and cultural research.

• 

  Jefferson and the Capitol of Virginia
  (January 7, 2002—June 15, 2002)

  Jefferson & The Capitol of Virginia examined how Jefferson, the founder of monumental civic architecture, began his achievements in civic design with the Virginia State Capitol in which he united the lofty principles and grand scale of the Classical tradition with established Virginia customs.

• 

  Block. Ink. Paper. The Prints of J.J. Lankes and Charles W. Smith
  (June 4, 2001—December 1, 2001)

  In the 1930s, New York-born Julius John Lankes and Virginian Charles William Smith both worked in woodcut, an old style of printmaking, and in Virginia. Explore how these two artists created different views of Virginia in the same medium.

• 

  Father and Son: The Works of John Gadsby Chapman and Conrad Wise Chapman
  (October 16, 1998—March 22, 1999)

  Father and Son: The Works of John Gadsby Chapman and Conrad Wise Chapman presented more than one hundred sketches, watercolors, engravings, and oils by these two Virginia artists for the first time since the 1960s. The exhibition consisted of three sections: John Gadsby Chapman's work as a leading illustrator in the 1830s and 1840s; scenes of Italy and France by both Chapmans; and oils and watercolors of Mexico by Conrad Wise Chapman.

• 

  WPA Historic Houses Drawings Collection
  (Online Exhibition)

  The WPA Historic Houses Drawings Collection includes 140 drawings in pen-and-ink, pencil, and watercolor of houses, courthouses, churches, mill houses, and taverns, representing 39 Virginia counties. From 1932 to 1937, the Virginia State Commission on Conservation and Development's Division of History and Archaeology received funds from the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) Federal Art Project to commission five artists—including Rex M. Allyn, Edward A. Darby, Dorothea A. Farrington, E. Neville Harnsberger, and Elsie J. Mistie—to create drawings for a publication on historic Virginia shrines. Although the drawings were never published, likely due to diminishing funds, the collection presents an important record of Virginia architecture, both traditional and vernacular, and includes images of structures that are no longer standing today. The photographs from which the drawings were based are part of the WPA Photograph and Negative Collection at the Library of Virginia.

• 

  Wonder of Architecture
  (Online Exhibition)

  Take a tour of classic components of architecture and the realization of these marvels coming together to create some of the world's most iconic buildings in Wonder of Architecture. The beautiful plates in this exhibit are from Encyclopaedia Londinensis, part of the Library's Rare Book Collection. Compiled by John Wilkes of Milland House between 1810 and 1829, this volume explores the mathematical balance and proportion required for many components of architecture, such as the five classical orders of columns. It also depicts the evolution of architectural forms and components, leading finally to plates depicting iconic structures in Europe. St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Parthenon, and Salisbury Cathedral are just some of the notable architectural wonders that can be found.

Legal

• 

  We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia
  (January 13, 2020—December 5, 2020)

  
  Exhibition Gallery & Lobby | January 13, 2020 - May 28, 2021
  
  We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia

  In 1920, Virginia's General Assembly refused to ratify the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution to grant women the right to vote. The suffragists lost. Or did they? We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia reveals for the first time how women created two statewide organizations to win the right to vote. Virginia suffragists were a remarkable group of talented and dedicated women who have almost all been forgotten. They marched in parades, rallied at the state capitol, spoke to crowds on street corners, staffed booths at state and county fairs, lobbied legislators and congressmen, picketed the White House, and even went to jail. At the centenary of woman suffrage, these remarkable women are at last recognized for their important achievements and contributions.
  
  Items on display include suffrage postcards and memorabilia such as pinback buttons and badges, as well as suffrage banners from the Congressional Union Party's Virginia branch. This exhibition is a project of the Task Force to Commemorate the Centennial Anniversary of Women's Right to Vote.

  For more information on We Demand, visit its web page.
  
  For more information about the traveling version of this exhibition, please contact Barbara C. Batson, exhibitions coordinator, at barbara.batson@lva.virginia.gov. To view the current itinerary for this exhibit, please click here.

• 

  You Have No Right: Law & Justice in Virginia
  (September 24, 2012—May 18, 2013)

  The actions of Virginians provide particularly good examples to learn about the role of the law and the courts in defining and protecting the rights and liberties of American citizenship. The state's legal culture and how Virginians interpret the concepts of law and justice are the results of the actions of private citizens and of men and women who hold public office or serve the public as officers of the courts. Legislators make the laws, and judges interpret and apply the laws, but voters, jurors, and citizens are in many ways influential participants in shaping the laws, the legal process, and how courts and other legal institutions function.

• 

  Union or Secession
  (December 6, 2010—October 29, 2011)

  What were Virginians thinking and discussing as the first Southern states withdrew from the United States following the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860? Why was Virginia’s decision critical to America’s fate in 1861 and key to the ultimate course and outcome of the sectional crisis?
  Virginia was central to American identity for its role in the founding of the United States and its political principles. Both the Confederacy and the Union wanted to claim Virginia’s historical legacy. Union or Secession explores what Virginians thought and debated as the crisis unfolded. Explore the choices Virginians faced as they decided their fate and the lasting consequences of their decisions for Virginia and the nation.

Civil Rights

• 

  We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia
  (January 13, 2020—December 5, 2020)

  
  Exhibition Gallery & Lobby | January 13, 2020 - May 28, 2021
  
  We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia

  In 1920, Virginia's General Assembly refused to ratify the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution to grant women the right to vote. The suffragists lost. Or did they? We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia reveals for the first time how women created two statewide organizations to win the right to vote. Virginia suffragists were a remarkable group of talented and dedicated women who have almost all been forgotten. They marched in parades, rallied at the state capitol, spoke to crowds on street corners, staffed booths at state and county fairs, lobbied legislators and congressmen, picketed the White House, and even went to jail. At the centenary of woman suffrage, these remarkable women are at last recognized for their important achievements and contributions.
  
  Items on display include suffrage postcards and memorabilia such as pinback buttons and badges, as well as suffrage banners from the Congressional Union Party's Virginia branch. This exhibition is a project of the Task Force to Commemorate the Centennial Anniversary of Women's Right to Vote.

  For more information on We Demand, visit its web page.
  
  For more information about the traveling version of this exhibition, please contact Barbara C. Batson, exhibitions coordinator, at barbara.batson@lva.virginia.gov. To view the current itinerary for this exhibit, please click here.

• 

  Remaking Virginia
  (July 6, 2015—March 26, 2016)

  Marking the end of the 150th commemoration of the American Civil War, Remaking Virginia: Transformation through Emancipation explores how the end of slavery and emancipation affected every Virginian, forcing people to renegotiate and transform their relationships. Remaking Virginia focuses on how African Americans made the change from property to citizens and explores the societal transformation experienced by all Virginians through labor, church, education, families, political rights, military service, and violence.
  
  Remaking Virginia is on view in the Library of Virginia's lobby and gallery, July 6, 2015-March 26, 2016.
  
  Remaking Virginia online exhibition

• 

  You Have No Right: Law & Justice in Virginia
  (September 24, 2012—May 18, 2013)

  The actions of Virginians provide particularly good examples to learn about the role of the law and the courts in defining and protecting the rights and liberties of American citizenship. The state's legal culture and how Virginians interpret the concepts of law and justice are the results of the actions of private citizens and of men and women who hold public office or serve the public as officers of the courts. Legislators make the laws, and judges interpret and apply the laws, but voters, jurors, and citizens are in many ways influential participants in shaping the laws, the legal process, and how courts and other legal institutions function.

• 

  Freeing Art From Wood: The Sculpture of Leslie Garland Bolling
  (July 24, 2006—October 21, 2006)

  Through timing, perseverance, and sheer good fortune, Leslie Garland Bolling (1898–1955) captured the attention and imagination of the art public from 1926 to 1943 with more than eighty portrait busts and sculptures of working people and nude figures. He faced obstacles: he was African American, he was self–taught, and he lived in the segregated South. The web exhibition includes descriptions and, where available, illustrations of works discovered after the physical exhibition closed. The catalog, Freeing Art from Wood, is available from the Virginia Shop.

• 

  Brown v. Board of Education: Virginia Responds
  (December 29, 2003—July 31, 2004)

  Marking the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down segregation in school, Brown v. Board of Education explored Virginia's reaction to the ruling through the letters and petitions of individual citizens and organizations sent to elected officials and through the adoption of the policy of "Massive Resistance."

• 

  Mapping Inequality
  (Online Exhibition)

  Where you live makes all the difference, but that difference has a history. The current circumstances of Richmond's neighborhoods have roots in state and federal policies that have had lasting effects on concentrations of poverty and growth, lending patterns, homeownership, and educational outcomes for children. Neighborhoods that received a D grade in the 1950s now have a high concentration of federal housing subsidies and high levels of poverty. Children in these same neighborhoods score lower on SOL tests than their peers in neighborhoods with low poverty rates. During the foreclosure crisis, these neighborhoods featured high rates of default. We can use historic and current maps and data to better understand the connection between public policy and economic development in the Richmond region.

Education

• 

  You Have No Right: Law & Justice in Virginia
  (September 24, 2012—May 18, 2013)

  The actions of Virginians provide particularly good examples to learn about the role of the law and the courts in defining and protecting the rights and liberties of American citizenship. The state's legal culture and how Virginians interpret the concepts of law and justice are the results of the actions of private citizens and of men and women who hold public office or serve the public as officers of the courts. Legislators make the laws, and judges interpret and apply the laws, but voters, jurors, and citizens are in many ways influential participants in shaping the laws, the legal process, and how courts and other legal institutions function.

• 

  Virginia Library Association: Honoring the Past, Building Our Future; One Hundred Years of the Virginia Library Association
  (December 4, 2004—March 15, 2005)

  Learn more about the Virginia Library Association (VLA) which has developed, promoted, and improved library and information services and the profession of librarianship to advance literacy and learning and to ensure access to information for all Virginians.

• 

  Brown v. Board of Education: Virginia Responds
  (December 29, 2003—July 31, 2004)

  Marking the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down segregation in school, Brown v. Board of Education explored Virginia's reaction to the ruling through the letters and petitions of individual citizens and organizations sent to elected officials and through the adoption of the policy of "Massive Resistance."

Geography and Exploration

• 

  The Land We Live In, The Land We Left
  (January 11, 2010—October 30, 2010)

  The Land We Live In, The Land We Left explores over 400 years of immigration to Virginia—the people drawn here and brought here—sometimes against their will—and the traditions and customs of their homelands that came with them, helping to shape both their communities and the commonwealth.

• 

  From Williamsburg to Wills's Creek: The Fry-Jefferson Map
  (August 18, 2008—May 30, 2009)

  This exhibition focuses on the sources and sequels of the Fry–Jefferson map, created by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson in 1755. The exhibition examines the role of surveyors in colonial Virginia, the importance of the surveying experience for Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson in creating their important map, and the influence of their map on later cartographic representations of Virginia. The published map included Fry and Jefferson's completed border survey for the western bounds of the Northern Neck and the dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina. For the first time the entire Virginia river system was properly delineated, and the northeast-southwest orientation of the Appalachian Mountains was displayed.

• 

  Myth and Memory: Understanding 400 Years of Virginia History
  (January 8, 2007—January 15, 2007)

  Myth and Memory: Understanding Four Hundred Years of Virginia History examined how Virginians have remembered their past through public events, through writing about history, and through marking history on the landscape. Because Virginians are peculiarly interested in, and contentious about, their past, their historical memory often results in competing interpretations.

• 

  Maps, Charts & Atlases
  (March 1, 2004—July 3, 2004)

  Maps, Charts & Atlases honored the dedication and devotion of Alan M. Voorhees to the collection, preservation, and study of cartographic materials. An avid collector, Mr. Voorhees donated to the Library of Virginia maps that focus on the exploration of the Chesapeake Bay area and the development of Virginia within the context of both European and American history. The cultural perceptions, political aspirations, and extent of geographical knowledge of those who created these maps and atlases are evident in the lavish cartouches, or title areas, and the illustrations and land claims, many with bright hand-coloring. These maps are available for research use in the Library of Virginia's Nathalie P. Voorhees Map Room.

• 

  Virginia's Coal Towns
  (March 30, 2001—October 27, 2001)

  Through images and documents, Virginia's Coal Towns explored the history of coal as a significant part of Virginia's economy, as well as the lives of the miners, who spent so much time underground in dangerous, dirty jobs, and their families.

• 

  Mapping Virginia
  (April 23, 1999—December 15, 1999)

  Mapping Virginia offered a sampling of the many kinds of maps created by and for Virginians in the past 400 years. The history of cartography in Virginia reflects the pivotal role of the Old Dominion as a leader in much of the political, military, and economic history of the United States. In a rapidly changing society property ownership, political boundaries, economic resources, and the environment were best understood through the mapmaker's craft. Virginia in Maps, published in 1999 and the basis for the exhibition, is available from the Virginia Shop.

• 

  Mapping Inequality
  (Online Exhibition)

  Where you live makes all the difference, but that difference has a history. The current circumstances of Richmond's neighborhoods have roots in state and federal policies that have had lasting effects on concentrations of poverty and growth, lending patterns, homeownership, and educational outcomes for children. Neighborhoods that received a D grade in the 1950s now have a high concentration of federal housing subsidies and high levels of poverty. Children in these same neighborhoods score lower on SOL tests than their peers in neighborhoods with low poverty rates. During the foreclosure crisis, these neighborhoods featured high rates of default. We can use historic and current maps and data to better understand the connection between public policy and economic development in the Richmond region.

• 

  Geographia
  (Online Exhibition)

  The Alan M. Voorhees Map Collection extends from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle through the U.S. Civil War period with the bulk of the collection consisting of pre–20th century maps. Included are maps made by Schedel, Ptolemy, deBry, Mercator, and Smith among many others. In a variety of map formats, such as nautical charts and views, the collection focuses primarily on the Chesapeake Bay area and the development of Virginia within the larger geographical and historical contexts of Europe and America.

• 

  Washington
  (Online Exhibition)

  This online exhibit focuses on the evolution of the District of Columbia, Alexandria and Virginia as told through maps. Maps from several Library of Virginia collections show the District from the eighteenth century through the American Civil War, and when the Town of Alexandria was a part of the District from the 1790s until 1846, when it was retro–ceded to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Here, you will find maps from several collections that tell that story and were exhibited as part of the Library's 13th annual Alan M. and Natalie P. Voorhees Lecture on the History of Cartography on April 16, 2016, titled "Virginia's District of Columbia."

Literature and Music

• 

  The Land We Live In, The Land We Left
  (January 11, 2010—October 30, 2010)

  The Land We Live In, The Land We Left explores over 400 years of immigration to Virginia—the people drawn here and brought here—sometimes against their will—and the traditions and customs of their homelands that came with them, helping to shape both their communities and the commonwealth.

• 

  Poe: Man, Myth, or Monster?
  (July 20, 2009—December 5, 2009)

  Who is Edgar Allan Poe? An instantly recognizable American author and historical figure, his name calls to mind spine-chilling stories and melancholy poetry. He evokes the image of the tragic romantic poet, misunderstood and rejected by society. We are so familiar with his life and work that we already know him. Or do we?

• 

  Radio in Virginia
  (December 1, 2003—July 17, 2004)

  Radio in Virginia used the WRVA collection to explore the rise of radio in the Commonwealth. Established in 1925, WRVA was one of the earliest radio stations in Virginia. Listen to sample recordings from the Library's WRVA collection.

• 

  Virginia Roots Music: Creating and Conserving Tradition
  (July 8, 2002—March 22, 2003)

  Virginia Roots Music: Creating and Conserving Tradition explored the collecting and recording of Virginia music in the two decades before World War II. That music formed the bedrock of the country, blues, and gospel music traditions that exist today. Both the collectors and the recorders responded to fundamental changes in the economy, technology, and society of America and the South as phonographs and radio began to spread traditional musical forms to a wider audience. Listen to sound files of these early recordings of Virginia's music.

Military History

• 

  Union or Secession
  (December 6, 2010—October 29, 2011)

  What were Virginians thinking and discussing as the first Southern states withdrew from the United States following the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860? Why was Virginia’s decision critical to America’s fate in 1861 and key to the ultimate course and outcome of the sectional crisis?
  Virginia was central to American identity for its role in the founding of the United States and its political principles. Both the Confederacy and the Union wanted to claim Virginia’s historical legacy. Union or Secession explores what Virginians thought and debated as the crisis unfolded. Explore the choices Virginians faced as they decided their fate and the lasting consequences of their decisions for Virginia and the nation.

Nature

• 

  Flora of Virginia
  (March 17, 2014—September 13, 2014)

  Flora of Virginia highlights the botanical exploration of from colonial days through 2012's publication of Flora of Virginia, the first statewide flora published since the 1762 Flora Virginica by Johannes Gronovius. The 2012 book identifies nearly 3,200 plant species native to or naturalized in the commonwealth. Since the colonial period, Virginia's flora has been collected, described, and drawn. As a botanist uses language to describe plant, a botanical artist uses pen, ink, pencil, or watercolor to help the reader visualize a plant.

  This exhibition explores the important connection between the science and the art of the Flora and the history of botanical description and illustration.

  Flora of Virginia is on view from March 27, 2014 through September 13, 2014.

• 

  American Ornithology
  (Online Exhibition)

  Hand colored engravings of North American birds from American Ornithology by Alexander Wilson (1766-1813). This beautiful set of books, published from 1808 to 1825, is considered the first comprehensive work on American natural history and contains 76 full page illustrations.

• 

  Botanica
  (Online Exhibition)

  Take a stroll through our garden! Botanica is an exploration of botanical texts and art through the volumes of the Rare Book Collection at the Library of Virginia. Early herbals which describe plants for their medicinal value (Gerard's Generall Historie of Plantes, 1633 & Salmon's Botanologia: The English Herbal, 1710), textbooks and floras (Elements of Botany by Benjamin Barton Smith, 1804 & Flora Carolinaensis by John Linnaeus Edward Whitridge Shecut, 1806) which study plants scientifically based on their botany and taxonomic relationships. The exhibition also highlights the plant images as art objects that are not only beautiful but portray their subjects faithfully and timelessly.

Politics

• 

  We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia
  (January 13, 2020—December 5, 2020)

  
  Exhibition Gallery & Lobby | January 13, 2020 - May 28, 2021
  
  We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia

  In 1920, Virginia's General Assembly refused to ratify the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution to grant women the right to vote. The suffragists lost. Or did they? We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia reveals for the first time how women created two statewide organizations to win the right to vote. Virginia suffragists were a remarkable group of talented and dedicated women who have almost all been forgotten. They marched in parades, rallied at the state capitol, spoke to crowds on street corners, staffed booths at state and county fairs, lobbied legislators and congressmen, picketed the White House, and even went to jail. At the centenary of woman suffrage, these remarkable women are at last recognized for their important achievements and contributions.
  
  Items on display include suffrage postcards and memorabilia such as pinback buttons and badges, as well as suffrage banners from the Congressional Union Party's Virginia branch. This exhibition is a project of the Task Force to Commemorate the Centennial Anniversary of Women's Right to Vote.

  For more information on We Demand, visit its web page.
  
  For more information about the traveling version of this exhibition, please contact Barbara C. Batson, exhibitions coordinator, at barbara.batson@lva.virginia.gov. To view the current itinerary for this exhibit, please click here.

• 

  Remaking Virginia
  (July 6, 2015—March 26, 2016)

  Marking the end of the 150th commemoration of the American Civil War, Remaking Virginia: Transformation through Emancipation explores how the end of slavery and emancipation affected every Virginian, forcing people to renegotiate and transform their relationships. Remaking Virginia focuses on how African Americans made the change from property to citizens and explores the societal transformation experienced by all Virginians through labor, church, education, families, political rights, military service, and violence.
  
  Remaking Virginia is on view in the Library of Virginia's lobby and gallery, July 6, 2015-March 26, 2016.
  
  Remaking Virginia online exhibition

• 

  You Have No Right: Law & Justice in Virginia
  (September 24, 2012—May 18, 2013)

  The actions of Virginians provide particularly good examples to learn about the role of the law and the courts in defining and protecting the rights and liberties of American citizenship. The state's legal culture and how Virginians interpret the concepts of law and justice are the results of the actions of private citizens and of men and women who hold public office or serve the public as officers of the courts. Legislators make the laws, and judges interpret and apply the laws, but voters, jurors, and citizens are in many ways influential participants in shaping the laws, the legal process, and how courts and other legal institutions function.

• 

  Union or Secession
  (December 6, 2010—October 29, 2011)

  What were Virginians thinking and discussing as the first Southern states withdrew from the United States following the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860? Why was Virginia’s decision critical to America’s fate in 1861 and key to the ultimate course and outcome of the sectional crisis?
  Virginia was central to American identity for its role in the founding of the United States and its political principles. Both the Confederacy and the Union wanted to claim Virginia’s historical legacy. Union or Secession explores what Virginians thought and debated as the crisis unfolded. Explore the choices Virginians faced as they decided their fate and the lasting consequences of their decisions for Virginia and the nation.

• 

  The Land We Live In, The Land We Left
  (January 11, 2010—October 30, 2010)

  The Land We Live In, The Land We Left explores over 400 years of immigration to Virginia—the people drawn here and brought here—sometimes against their will—and the traditions and customs of their homelands that came with them, helping to shape both their communities and the commonwealth.

• 

  Working Out Her Destiny: Women's History in Virginia
  (August 2, 2004—March 26, 2005)

  Working Out Her Destiny: Women's History in Virginia, 1600-2004 took a fresh look at the history of Virginia's women and the history of Virginia in the light of twenty years of innovative scholarship since the 1984-1985 Virginia Women's Cultural History Project presented the first ever exhibition and book on Virginia women's history, "'A Share of Honour,' Virginia Women 1600-1945."

• 

  Legacies of the New Deal in Virginia
  (April 14, 2003—December 6, 2003)

  Legacies of the New Deal in Virginia offered overviews of two major components of Roosevelt's New Deal—the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Work Projects Administration—whose achievements continue to enrich our lives. New Deal-related collections at the Library that were highlighted in the exhibition are still available in genealogical, historical, sociological, and cultural research.

• 

  Taking Office: Inaugurations of Virginia's Governors
  (October 29, 2001—June 22, 2002)

  Taking Office: Inaugurations of Virginia's Governors documents how the gubernatorial inauguration has evolved from a quiet ceremony to a public event.

• 

  John Marshall
  (January 8, 2001—March 31, 2001)

  Marking the 200th anniversary of his becoming the fourth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the exhibition John Marshall highlighted the life of Marshall (1755–1838).

• 

  "A full vote, a free ballot, and a fair count": Political Life in Virginia
  (January 10, 2000—November 13, 2000)

  "A full vote, a free ballot and a fair count" examined key events and issues in Virginia's political history and charted the gradual enlargement of the franchise. Since the founding of Jamestown in 1607, political life in Virginia has undergone many changes that have often involved debates about who could vote and who could not.

• 

  Death or Liberty: Gabriel, Nat Turner, and John Brown
  (January 10, 2000—November 8, 2000)

  Drawing from the archival collections at the Library, Death or Liberty explored three dramatic events in Virginia that focused America's attention on the problem of slavery: Gabriel's Conspiracy in 1800, Nat Turner's Rebellion in Southampton County in 1831, and John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. Examine the documents online.

• 

  Mapping Inequality
  (Online Exhibition)

  Where you live makes all the difference, but that difference has a history. The current circumstances of Richmond's neighborhoods have roots in state and federal policies that have had lasting effects on concentrations of poverty and growth, lending patterns, homeownership, and educational outcomes for children. Neighborhoods that received a D grade in the 1950s now have a high concentration of federal housing subsidies and high levels of poverty. Children in these same neighborhoods score lower on SOL tests than their peers in neighborhoods with low poverty rates. During the foreclosure crisis, these neighborhoods featured high rates of default. We can use historic and current maps and data to better understand the connection between public policy and economic development in the Richmond region.

Popular Culture

• 

  The Importance of Being Cute: Pet Photography in Virginia 1840-2013
  (June 10, 2013—March 1, 2014)

  Whether they bark, meow, chirp, squeak, or hiss, pets are an important part of their owner's lives and increasingly recognized as full-fledged family members. "The Importance of Being Cute: Pet Photography in Virginia" is an exhibition of more than one hundred historic and contemporary photographs exploring the complex and multi-faceted relationships that have existed between Virginians and their animals since the advent of photography.

  One of the remarkable aspects of the rapid spread of photographic portraiture is how soon and how often people brought animals, particularly dogs, into studios to have likenesses made. These early photographs not only document the practice of pet keeping but suggest a great deal about the range of relationships between people and their pets. By the 1890s, when photography was simplified enough to become an amateur pastime, owners began to document pets in both ordinary activities and more humorous situations. It was a short leap from those amusing early pet snapshots to I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER and other popular online pet photo sharing sites.

  Think your pet is cute? Of course you do! Add your pet's photo to our exhibit by emailing it to importnaceofcute@gmail.com For additional online content, please visit our Pinterest page (http://pinterest.com/libraryofva/).

• 

  Dark Side: Night Photography in Virginia
  (June 10, 2013—October 5, 2013)

  Night holds a special place in the heart of photography. The geometry of light and shadow creates an interplay of mystery, possibility, and the foreboding of the unknown. Rather than looking at night photography as an extension of daytime shooting with added complications, night photographers embrace the unique challenges of nocturnal photography for the tremendous creative opportunities it offers.

  Due to the limited sensitivity of early photographic processes, exposure times were exceedingly long, even in the daytime. It wasn't until 1878, when the first dry plate glass negative was introduced, with its greater sensitivity that opened the doors to night photography. While many amateurs experimented with night photography in the 1880s, the earliest, artistically considered bodies of night images were made by Paul Martin in London in 1895 and soon after by Alfred Stieglitz in New York. The timing of this work was, in part, a response to the beauty of electric lights - a relatively recent innovation that had transformed the look of the urban night. This fascination with incandescent street lighting can be seen in many of the night photos taken by Virginia photographer Harry C. Mann.

  Advances in night photography have paralleled advances in photographic technology for the last hundred years, and as night photography has become increasingly more accessible, an ever-increasing number of photographers engage in the practice on a regular, rather than occasional or experimental, basis. The exhibition shows how the art and technology of photography are linked, one often driving the other, and also explores some of the latest technologies of nighttime photography.

  Drawn from the Library's photograph collections, Dark Side: Night Photography in Virginia includes images ranging from the 1890s to the present.

  Inspired by these night scenes, we're inviting aspiring writers to interpret these works and submit to the Dark Side writing contest. Please see http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/dark-side/ for full details and eligible images.

• 

  Lost & Found
  (February 27, 2012—August 25, 2012)

  Fading black-and-white photographs and yellowing handwritten letters in a safe deposit box. The records of a historic African American business found in a dumpster. The conscious decision to destroy private papers. The destruction of archives by chance and nature. All illustrate what we collect and value in our cultural landscape.

  Lost and Found, a new exhibition opening at the Library of Virginia on February 27, examines the constantly changing fabric of our world. Things disappear, sometimes almost without notice-signs, buildings, even towns-and others go into attics, basements, and landfills. Some are saved and carefully stored and preserved; others intentionally destroyed, sometimes dramatically.

  Most of us collect something-baseball cards or autographs, books or family mementos. Many of us create scrapbooks that reflect our personal interests. Lost and Found showcases the personal and the professional, the ephemeral and the profound, examples of personal collections, scrapbooks, and time capsules. It tells large stories and small ones. The exhibition highlights items in the Library's vast collections that offer intriguing glimpses into our past and show the promise of new endeavors such as the Civil War 150 Legacy Project in garnering greater insight into our shared history.

  Lost and Found runs through August 25, 2012, and is free and open to the public Monday through Saturday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, excluding state holidays.

• 

  American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print
  (December 5, 2011—February 4, 2012)

  Exhibition: December 5, 2011 — February 4, 2012 "Advertising without posters is like fishing without worms."
  — The Hatch Brothers This sentiment was certainly true in 1879 when brothers Herbert H. and Charles R. Hatch opened Hatch Show Print, a printing shop in Nashville, Tennessee. Their handcrafted posters screamed slogans such as "More Power, More Pep," "So Many Girls You Can't Count Them All," and "Always Clean, Always Good." Almost 130 years later, Hatch posters hold their own, offering a stirring and refreshingly tactile contrast to the digital advertising world. The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in partnership with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum celebrates this time-honored graphic art tradition. American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print opened at the Experience Music Project in Seattle on Oct. 11, 2008, and has traveled to additional museums over the last few years, including the Austin Museum of Art (Texas), Tulane University's Newcomb Art Gallery in New Orleans, and the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens.

• 

  Poe: Man, Myth, or Monster?
  (July 20, 2009—December 5, 2009)

  Who is Edgar Allan Poe? An instantly recognizable American author and historical figure, his name calls to mind spine-chilling stories and melancholy poetry. He evokes the image of the tragic romantic poet, misunderstood and rejected by society. We are so familiar with his life and work that we already know him. Or do we?

• 

  Radio in Virginia
  (December 1, 2003—July 17, 2004)

  Radio in Virginia used the WRVA collection to explore the rise of radio in the Commonwealth. Established in 1925, WRVA was one of the earliest radio stations in Virginia. Listen to sample recordings from the Library's WRVA collection.

• 

  Virginia Roots Music: Creating and Conserving Tradition
  (July 8, 2002—March 22, 2003)

  Virginia Roots Music: Creating and Conserving Tradition explored the collecting and recording of Virginia music in the two decades before World War II. That music formed the bedrock of the country, blues, and gospel music traditions that exist today. Both the collectors and the recorders responded to fundamental changes in the economy, technology, and society of America and the South as phonographs and radio began to spread traditional musical forms to a wider audience. Listen to sound files of these early recordings of Virginia's music.

Transportation

• 

  No Vacancy: Remnants of Virginia's Roadside Culture
  (October 15, 2013—February 22, 2014)

  The next time you drive along Route 1, glance out the window and look for an old motel. Some are now disguised as antique malls, others are abandoned and exist as haunting reminders of a bygone era, and those still operating don't look as inviting as they may once have appeared. Imagine these tourist cottages and motels in their heyday, however! Bright neon signs flashed "No Vacancy." Families unloaded cars for a night's rest. Hungry travelers ordered hot chicken dinners in the motel's restaurant before turning in for the night.

  From October 15, 2013–February 22, 2014, a photography exhibition at the Library of Virginia, “No Vacancy: Remnants of Virginia's Roadside Culture,” focused on a selection of motels and tourist courts found along Virginia's historic Route 1, weaving the individual stories into their historical context. The more than 25 historic and contemporary photographs and accompanying text in the exhibition shed light on historic architectural elements, presented the significance of race and class in the history of travel, and demonstrated how the perception and operation of motels had changed over time. The motels were also explored through an array of ephemeral items including travel guides, postcards, and advertisements.

  "No Vacancy" promoted nostalgic memories of family road trips, shared the tales of the Virginians who operated the motels, and inspired us to pay attention to our cultural landscape. From campsites to quaint cottages to sleek modern accommodations, motels tell the story of travel and society in Virginia during the 20th and 21st centuries.

  You can now view some of the vintage motel postcards used in the exhibit over on the LVA Pinterest account: http://www.pinterest.com/libraryofva/vintage-motel-postcards/.

• 

  The Land We Live In, The Land We Left
  (January 11, 2010—October 30, 2010)

  The Land We Live In, The Land We Left explores over 400 years of immigration to Virginia—the people drawn here and brought here—sometimes against their will—and the traditions and customs of their homelands that came with them, helping to shape both their communities and the commonwealth.

• 

  Titanic in Black and White
  (Online Exhibition)

  With its worldwide newspaper coverage in April 1912, the sinking of the liner Titanic was one of the first truly international news events. Titanic in Black and White, an online exhibition from the Library of Virginia, explores the disaster and its cultural impact through newspaper coverage. A list of the Titanic crew and passengers is provided.

Women

• 

  We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia
  (January 13, 2020—December 5, 2020)

  
  Exhibition Gallery & Lobby | January 13, 2020 - May 28, 2021
  
  We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia

  In 1920, Virginia's General Assembly refused to ratify the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution to grant women the right to vote. The suffragists lost. Or did they? We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia reveals for the first time how women created two statewide organizations to win the right to vote. Virginia suffragists were a remarkable group of talented and dedicated women who have almost all been forgotten. They marched in parades, rallied at the state capitol, spoke to crowds on street corners, staffed booths at state and county fairs, lobbied legislators and congressmen, picketed the White House, and even went to jail. At the centenary of woman suffrage, these remarkable women are at last recognized for their important achievements and contributions.
  
  Items on display include suffrage postcards and memorabilia such as pinback buttons and badges, as well as suffrage banners from the Congressional Union Party's Virginia branch. This exhibition is a project of the Task Force to Commemorate the Centennial Anniversary of Women's Right to Vote.

  For more information on We Demand, visit its web page.
  
  For more information about the traveling version of this exhibition, please contact Barbara C. Batson, exhibitions coordinator, at barbara.batson@lva.virginia.gov. To view the current itinerary for this exhibit, please click here.

• 

  You Have No Right: Law & Justice in Virginia
  (September 24, 2012—May 18, 2013)

  The actions of Virginians provide particularly good examples to learn about the role of the law and the courts in defining and protecting the rights and liberties of American citizenship. The state's legal culture and how Virginians interpret the concepts of law and justice are the results of the actions of private citizens and of men and women who hold public office or serve the public as officers of the courts. Legislators make the laws, and judges interpret and apply the laws, but voters, jurors, and citizens are in many ways influential participants in shaping the laws, the legal process, and how courts and other legal institutions function.

• 

  Union or Secession
  (December 6, 2010—October 29, 2011)

  What were Virginians thinking and discussing as the first Southern states withdrew from the United States following the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860? Why was Virginia’s decision critical to America’s fate in 1861 and key to the ultimate course and outcome of the sectional crisis?
  Virginia was central to American identity for its role in the founding of the United States and its political principles. Both the Confederacy and the Union wanted to claim Virginia’s historical legacy. Union or Secession explores what Virginians thought and debated as the crisis unfolded. Explore the choices Virginians faced as they decided their fate and the lasting consequences of their decisions for Virginia and the nation.

• 

  Working Out Her Destiny: Women's History in Virginia
  (August 2, 2004—March 26, 2005)

  Working Out Her Destiny: Women's History in Virginia, 1600-2004 took a fresh look at the history of Virginia's women and the history of Virginia in the light of twenty years of innovative scholarship since the 1984-1985 Virginia Women's Cultural History Project presented the first ever exhibition and book on Virginia women's history, "'A Share of Honour,' Virginia Women 1600-1945."

• 

  Queen and Commonwealth
  (Online Exhibition)

  On October 16, 1957, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited Virginia during the commonwealth's 350th anniversary celebration of the founding of Jamestown. Then, as now, the Queen's visit prompted intense interest from the state's people and the media. To mark the 2007 royal visit, the Library of Virginia presented photographs, audio, newspaper accounts, and state records from the 1957 events.

Virginiana

• 

  The Importance of Being Cute: Pet Photography in Virginia 1840-2013
  (June 10, 2013—March 1, 2014)

  Whether they bark, meow, chirp, squeak, or hiss, pets are an important part of their owner's lives and increasingly recognized as full-fledged family members. "The Importance of Being Cute: Pet Photography in Virginia" is an exhibition of more than one hundred historic and contemporary photographs exploring the complex and multi-faceted relationships that have existed between Virginians and their animals since the advent of photography.

  One of the remarkable aspects of the rapid spread of photographic portraiture is how soon and how often people brought animals, particularly dogs, into studios to have likenesses made. These early photographs not only document the practice of pet keeping but suggest a great deal about the range of relationships between people and their pets. By the 1890s, when photography was simplified enough to become an amateur pastime, owners began to document pets in both ordinary activities and more humorous situations. It was a short leap from those amusing early pet snapshots to I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER and other popular online pet photo sharing sites.

  Think your pet is cute? Of course you do! Add your pet's photo to our exhibit by emailing it to importnaceofcute@gmail.com For additional online content, please visit our Pinterest page (http://pinterest.com/libraryofva/).

• 

  Dark Side: Night Photography in Virginia
  (June 10, 2013—October 5, 2013)

  Night holds a special place in the heart of photography. The geometry of light and shadow creates an interplay of mystery, possibility, and the foreboding of the unknown. Rather than looking at night photography as an extension of daytime shooting with added complications, night photographers embrace the unique challenges of nocturnal photography for the tremendous creative opportunities it offers.

  Due to the limited sensitivity of early photographic processes, exposure times were exceedingly long, even in the daytime. It wasn't until 1878, when the first dry plate glass negative was introduced, with its greater sensitivity that opened the doors to night photography. While many amateurs experimented with night photography in the 1880s, the earliest, artistically considered bodies of night images were made by Paul Martin in London in 1895 and soon after by Alfred Stieglitz in New York. The timing of this work was, in part, a response to the beauty of electric lights - a relatively recent innovation that had transformed the look of the urban night. This fascination with incandescent street lighting can be seen in many of the night photos taken by Virginia photographer Harry C. Mann.

  Advances in night photography have paralleled advances in photographic technology for the last hundred years, and as night photography has become increasingly more accessible, an ever-increasing number of photographers engage in the practice on a regular, rather than occasional or experimental, basis. The exhibition shows how the art and technology of photography are linked, one often driving the other, and also explores some of the latest technologies of nighttime photography.

  Drawn from the Library's photograph collections, Dark Side: Night Photography in Virginia includes images ranging from the 1890s to the present.

  Inspired by these night scenes, we're inviting aspiring writers to interpret these works and submit to the Dark Side writing contest. Please see http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/dark-side/ for full details and eligible images.

• 

  Lost & Found
  (February 27, 2012—August 25, 2012)

  Fading black-and-white photographs and yellowing handwritten letters in a safe deposit box. The records of a historic African American business found in a dumpster. The conscious decision to destroy private papers. The destruction of archives by chance and nature. All illustrate what we collect and value in our cultural landscape.

  Lost and Found, a new exhibition opening at the Library of Virginia on February 27, examines the constantly changing fabric of our world. Things disappear, sometimes almost without notice-signs, buildings, even towns-and others go into attics, basements, and landfills. Some are saved and carefully stored and preserved; others intentionally destroyed, sometimes dramatically.

  Most of us collect something-baseball cards or autographs, books or family mementos. Many of us create scrapbooks that reflect our personal interests. Lost and Found showcases the personal and the professional, the ephemeral and the profound, examples of personal collections, scrapbooks, and time capsules. It tells large stories and small ones. The exhibition highlights items in the Library's vast collections that offer intriguing glimpses into our past and show the promise of new endeavors such as the Civil War 150 Legacy Project in garnering greater insight into our shared history.

  Lost and Found runs through August 25, 2012, and is free and open to the public Monday through Saturday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, excluding state holidays.

• 

  Pleasure in the Garden: A Landscape Exhibit at the Library of Virginia
  (December 6, 2000—May 12, 2001)

  Pleasure in the Garden explored Virginia's history of gardening. Vegetable garden, flower garden, orchard, kitchen garden, pleasure garden-Virginians tilled and planted a variety of gardens from the beginning of settlement. Gardens not only provided food but also offered pleasing and colorful vistas as well as places for leisure. At the heart of gardening and landscape design was a desire to impose order on the landscape.

• 

  The Common Wealth: Treasures from the Collection of the Library of Virginia
  (September 4, 1997—September 19, 1998)

  This inaugural exhibition at the Library of Virginia's new headquarters on East Broad Street featured a small sampling of the vast collections at the Library. Since its founding in 1823, the Library of Virginia has been dedicated to the collection and preservation of the records of our commonwealth. The Library's collections span nearly 400 years of history and include a diversity of materials unmatched by any other institution in the United States. The Common Wealth: Treasures from the Collections of the Library of Virginia, a companion book complete with a history of the Library and illustrating more examples from the collections, is available from the Virginia Shop.