RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – The Library of Virginia will present a free talk by historian Charles H. Ford on the new work he co-edited with Jeffrey L. Littlejohn, “Queer Virginia: New Stories in the Old Dominion,” on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, from 12 to 1 p.m. Registration is required at https://lva-virginia.libcal.com/event/15187738.

The book provides a record of the courageous and creative ways that LGBTQ+ people across the Commonwealth have persevered and fought for their rights. The remarkable and illuminating history recovered includes the life of Hannah Nokes, a Black transgender woman who overcame severe discrimination in Loudoun County during the 1930s; the story of the Hershee Bar, a historic lesbian bar and longtime community focal point in Norfolk; and efforts to gather oral histories and produce a queer digital archive in the old capital of the Confederacy. Full of poignant and telling glimpses of LGBTQ+ life through the decades, the volume reveals generations of widespread prejudice and oppressive laws and the inspiring resilience that queer Virginians brought to this struggle.

Ford, a professor of history at Norfolk State University, is also the co-author with Jeffrey L. Littlejohn of “Elusive Equality: Desegregation and Resegregation in Norfolk Public Schools.”

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