NewsThe Vanishing Schools of Franklin County, Virginia
Public Humanities Fellows William and Abraham Gibson discuss their project examining Franklin County’s efforts to provide its children with an education in the early 20th century.
NewsThe Oyster King of New York
Encyclopedia Virginia editor Patti Miller and Joanne Hyppolite of the National Museum of African American History and Culture discuss the remarkable life of culinary entrepreneur and activist Thomas Downing in …
NewsSupport Encyclopedia Virginia
Encyclopedia Virginia’s September fundraising campaign is underway to raise $10,000 to support free, public access to Virginia history.
News‘A Life-Sized Portrait of America’
Supported in part by Virginia Humanities, The People’s Recorder is a podcast on the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) and its lasting impact on American history, arts, and culture.
NewsA Confrontation With History
Is it appropriate to study fiction and poetry during times of crisis?
NewsTrapping Black Bears in the Great Dismal Swamp
PhD Candidate Perri Meldon shares her research into the cultural and ecological histories of Virginia’s Great Dismal Swamp.
NewsSafe in a Midwife’s Hands
Virginia Humanities Public Humanities Fellow and author Linda Janet Holmes delivers an inspiring talk on her latest book, Safe in a Midwife’s Hands. As a writer, independent scholar, and long-time …
NewsVisions of Style
How Black Virginians used the camera to define themselves at the turn of the 20th Century.
NewsFood for Thought
We all remember what it was like entering the social battleground known as the school cafeteria. Aside from the usual cliques, there were two types of students: those who brought their lunch and those who bought their lunch. Marcus Weaver-Hightower says public schools should offer free lunches to all students.
NewsDividing Lines
In 1990s South Africa, there were violent clashes between Xhosa and Zulu people. And the main way they understood how to define the other group–language. But Jochen Arndt says that 300 years earlier, Xhosa and Zulu didn’t even exist as distinct languages.
NewsThe Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Little is known about William M. Rittase. His work photographing the C&O Railway is now considered among some of the best and most artistic depictions of American industry. But he passed away in 1968 in near obscurity with a published obituary of only a few lines. His work is the subject of a new book published by the C&O Historical Society with the help of a Virginia Humanities grant.
NewsSave the Small Sums
In 1865, the Freedman’s Bank was written into law by President Lincoln to help newly freed enslaved people save money and buy land. But the bank collapsed less than 10 years after it was established – throwing many Black Americans into financial ruin. Justene Hill Edwards says the racial wealth gap can be traced back to the rise and fall of the Freedman’s Bank.
