
Where Our Roots Meet: Concert Release
Earlier this year, following International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a crowd gathered in Fairfax for an evening of Sephardic music from the Balkans, led by Trio Sefardi and the Elias Ladino Ensemble.

Forging Connections with Bristol’s Tyler Hughes
Old-time musician Tyler Hughes is now co-managing a new funding opportunity for traditional arts in and around Bristol. “People in the Appalachian region deserve to have the fullest life that they can achieve,” he says.

Sephardic Music Traditions In Virginia — Folklife Fieldnotes Episode 13
Exploring the folk music of the Sephardim, from the songs of Flory Jagoda and “Shorty” Elias to the new sounds of Minnush and beyond in this episode of Folklife Fieldnotes.

Dividing 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.

The 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.

That’s a Wrap!
Well y’all, that’s a wrap on our 29th Annual Virginia Festival of the Book! Thank you SO MUCH to our amazing community that showed up with excitement, curiosity, and an …

Rosel Schewel’s Enduring Legacy in Virginia
To celebrate reaching our milestone goal for the Rosel Schewel Fund, we’re taking a look back at Rosel’s decades-long legacy of activism in Lynchburg and beyond.

Save 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.

Elizabeth LaPrelle & Elsa Howell
Appalachian Ballad Singing On a farm outside of Rural Retreat, tucked into a bend of small, winding White Rock Creek and down the hill from the home she grew up …

8 Great Virginia Festival of the Book Reads
It’s time to clear off space on your bookshelf, because from March 23-26, the 29th annual Virginia Festival of the Book is happening right here in the Charlottesville area. The …

HotSeat: Kalela Williams
Get to know the new director of the Virginia Center for the Book Last fall, Kalela Williams hit the ground running as the new director of the Virginia Center for …

Revolutionary Letters
When is a letter revolutionary? That’s the question at the heart of our new entry on the Virginia Committee of Correspondence, the first in EV’s new section on the American Revolution in Virginia. It was 250 years ago, on March 12, 1773, that the House of Burgesses created a permanent committee to correspond with other […]
The post Revolutionary Letters appeared first on Encyclopedia Virginia.