Browse Items (222 total)
The Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution, December 15, 1791
The struggle for the ratification of the United States Constitution convinced some political leaders that amendments were needed to protect individual liberties from the strengthened national government created by the Constitution. During the First…
Act for Establishing Religious Freedom, January 16, 1786
When the first English settlers arrived in 1607, the Church of England served as the official church of the Virginia Colony. Under the 1689 English Act of Toleration, Protestants who were not members of the Church of England were still required to…
Legislature of Virginia, Photograph, 1871
The end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery in 1865 led to important changes in American politics, especially in the former slave states. The most dramatic were changes to state constitutions and the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment…
Terrorist Attack on the Pentagon, Photograph, September 11, 2001
On the morning of September 11, 2001, members of the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda launched a coordinated attack against the United States. They hijacked four planes scheduled to be cross-country flights from the East Coast to California. American…
Cuban Missile Crisis—Strategic Consideration, October 1962
The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred during John F. Kennedy’s presidency. In October 1962 a United States spy plane captured evidence that the Soviet Union was moving nuclear missiles into Cuba. Located just 90 miles off the coast of Florida, Cuba had…
The Crime of Being Married, Loving v. Virginia, 1967
The Loving v. Virginia case ended a long history of banning marriage between white and Black Virginians dating back to the 17th century. In 1878 the General Assembly enacted a law punishing both parties in an interracial marriage with prison…
Guide Map of Shenandoah National Park, Map, 1937
In 1924, the federal government began looking for land in the southern Appalachian Mountains to create a large national park which would be easily accessible to cars and hikers. The park opened in 1936 and was officially completed in 1939. The…
Opening of the Skyline Drive, Photograph, 1934
Skyline Drive is the main road that traverses the length of Shenandoah National Park. Shenandoah National Park was created in 1926 to preserve the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains for recreational use and for future generations. The creation of…
Application for Marriage License Under the Racial Integrity Act, 1924
This application for a marriage license was used after Virginia's General Assembly passed the Racial Integrity Act in 1924. On the form, individuals had to indicate that he or she was not "a habitual criminal, idiot, imbecile, hereditary epileptic or…
Maggie Lena Walker, Photograph Portrait, ca. 1930
Maggie Lena Mitchell Walker was an entrepreneur, a banker, and a community leader. In 1903, she was the first African American woman to establish a bank in the United States, the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, in Richmond. She was also the first…