George Mason, a wealthy eighteenth-century Virginia planter, political figure, and delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, is the subject of this painting. Mason refused to sign the U.S. Constitution, one of only three delegates to do so. Among his objections to the document was the absence of a bill of rights. Read more about: George Mason| Encyclopedia Virginia
This is a virtual tour of the Jackson Ferry Shot Tower in Austinville. It is one of the few surviving shot towers in the United States designed for making spherical lead shot through what is called the “drop process,” where hot lead is dropped from a great height into a basin of water. Read more about: Jackson Ferry Shot Tower| Encyclopedia Virginia
One of the advantages of Encyclopedia Virginia being digital is that we can illustrate our entries with interactive media. We use Google technology to create tours of historic locations in Virginia so that our users can virtually step into the places we talk about in our entries. Right now, EV features 90 virtual tours, and that number is constantly growing. Read more about: Shooting the Shot Tower| Encyclopedia Virginia
For as long as there have been armies, there likely have been camp followers—the civilians, usually women, who tagged along providing goods and services to soldiers. And for just as long, camp followers have been derided as nuisances at best and prostitutes at worst—hangers-on looking to exploit the loneliness and wages of military personnel. Read more about: George Washington’s Women of the Army| Encyclopedia Virginia
“Encyclopedia Virginia’s mission is to provide a free, reliable, multimedia resource that tells the inclusive story of Virginia for students, teachers, and communities who seek to understand how the past informs the present and the future.” Encyclopedia Virginia’s mission statement was created in 2017 just after I became director of the project. Read more about: Delivering on Our Mission The post Delivering on Our Mission appeared first on Encyclopedia Virginia.| Encyclopedia Virginia
When I started to look for images to illustrate our new entry about the Fincastle Resolutions, I figured that a map was a good place to start. Where was Fincastle County? What part of Virginia did it represent? It turns out that Fincastle County, as a political entity, wasn’t just a portion of what I, or many of us, think of as “Virginia.” It sprawled into what is now the entire state of Kentucky and a big hunk of West Virginia. Read more about: What Was “Virginia” during the Revolu...| Encyclopedia Virginia
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. Read more about: Jefferson the Weatherman The post Jefferson the Weatherman appeared first on Encyclopedia Virginia.| Encyclopedia Virginia
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. Read more about: How Deadly Was the Civil War in Virginia? The post How Deadly Was the Civil War in Virginia? appeared first on Encyclopedia Virginia.| Encyclopedia Virginia
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. Read more about: “Liberty ...| Encyclopedia Virginia
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. Read more about: How Dunmore Won a War but Lost the Fight The post How Dunmore Won a War but Lost the Fight appeared first on Encyclope...| Encyclopedia Virginia
As media editor at EV, my job is to find the images, videos, and other media that bring our entries to life. In some cases, it can be very hard to find even one good image. For example, in our recent entry on Hannah Lee Corbin, I ended up with a picture that could possibly be Corbin, as a baby. Read more about: Picturing Urban Renewal The post Picturing Urban Renewal appeared first on Encyclopedia Virginia.| Encyclopedia Virginia
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. Read more about: History Under Our Feet| Encyclopedia Virginia
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) Early Years Fry-Jefferson Map Jefferson was born on April 2, 1743 (after the change in 1752 from the Julian, or Old Style, Calendar, the date was adjusted to April 13, which became common usage). He was the son of and Jane Randolph Jefferson and was born at Shadwell, on the in a part of that became Albemarle County in 1744. Read more about: Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)| Encyclopedia Virginia
Early Years Medallions Commemorating the Seven Years’ War Murray was born around 1730 probably at Taymount, the estate of his parents, William Murray and Catherine Nairne Murray, in Perthshire, Scotland. He served as a page to Charles Edward Stuart (often called Bonnie Prince Charlie) during the Jacobite rising of 1745–1746, in which his father also took part, but by 1750 he had nevertheless received a commission as an officer in the 3rd Foot Guards, of which his loyal uncle, the second e...| Encyclopedia Virginia
Early Committees Transatlantic legislative committees of correspondence had operated in the North American and Caribbean colonies since at least the 1690s. Colonial legislatures chose committees of correspondence from within their membership to communicate with the legislature’s agents in London. Legislatures hired these agents to represent their interests to the British government, most often in disputes with their own governor or with other colonies. Read more about: The Virginia Committe...| Encyclopedia Virginia
The passing of Daniel P. Jordan, the long-time head of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns and runs Monticello, is a good opportunity to reflect on the changes that have come to Thomas Jefferson’s mountaintop home and plantation, as well as the field of public history at large. Jane Kamensky, the current president of the foundation, called Jordan “the most consequential president on the Mountaintop since Jefferson himself.” Jordan received his PhD in history from the Unive...| Encyclopedia Virginia
We at Encyclopedia Virginia value accuracy and getting it right when it comes to telling the story of Virginia’s history and culture. Since we went online in 2008, we have continually refined our processes to ensure that we’re getting it right—or at least as right as is possible for a staff of fallible humans. Read more about: The Challenges of Getting the Past Right| Encyclopedia Virginia
As we celebrate Black History Month, it’s a good time to remember Carter G. Woodson, who is known as the Father of Black history and who in 1926 created the forerunner of Black History Month—Negro History Week. At the time, the idea that African Americans might have a history worth preserving and studying was radical. Read more about: Remembering the Father of Black History| Encyclopedia Virginia
As amazing as it seems for an area that was once home to numerous Native tribes that were part of Tsenacomoco, the Powhatan paramount chiefdom that stretched from the James to the Potomac rivers and west to the fall line, a new Virginia state park in the region is the first to honor Indigenous history in the Commonwealth. Read more about: A “Special Meeting Place” Focuses on Indigenous History| Encyclopedia Virginia
Call for a Convention Accomack County: All on Fire For Hancock and English and Garrison! The Progressive Era lasted from the 1890s to the 1920s and was marked by efforts to root out governmental corruption and waste, and to protect the rights of women, children, and the working-class. Not all progressive reforms were strictly democratic, however. Read more about: Constitutional Convention, Virginia (1901–1902)| Encyclopedia Virginia
Is history set in stone, like a statue, or is it fluid, more evolving process than petrified facts? At EV, we get to see history in motion, as with our entry on the Bray Schools. These schools were founded in Williamsburg and Fredericksburg, as well as in Philadelphia, New York, and Newport, Rhode Island, by the Associates of Dr. Read more about: History on the Move| Encyclopedia Virginia
