Traveling Exhibitions

Explore the history of the Lantz Mills Deaf Village in Shenandoah County, Virginia. Between 1740 and 1970, Lantz Mills was home to many families with a mix of hearing and deaf parents and at least one or more deaf siblings. When both the hearing and deaf members of a locality use a shared visual language to communicate, that is known as a shared signing community. Those familiar with deaf culture may know that Martha’s Vineyard, in Massachusetts, was home to a shared signing community where 25% of the population was deaf. But few know about Virginia's deaf village and shared signing community in Shenandoah County.

Virginians imbibed their last legal drink on Halloween night in 1916-more than three years before national Prohibition was enacted. Teetotalers & Moonshiners: Prohibition in Virginia, Distilled tells the story of Virginia Prohibition and its legacy, including the establishment of Virginia's Department of Alcohol Beverage Control and NASCAR. Newsreels of still-busting raids, music from the Jazz Age, and vintage stills complement the archival record of the exploits of Virginia's Prohibition Commission. Supported in part by the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association. Style Weekly is the print media sponsor.

For more information about the traveling version of this exhibition, available in summer 2017, please contact Barbara C. Batson, exhibitions coordinator, at barbara.batson@lva.virginia.gov. To view the current itinerary for this exhibit, please click here.

Check out our blog "UncommonWealth" to read more about Prohibition records at the Library of Virginia.

The Library of Virginia and Dominion Energy Virginia honor distinguished Virginians during Black History Month. Our Strong Men & Women in Virginia History panel exhibition travels throughout the year to public libraries and local organizations around the state. Check the schedule to see if it will be on view near you.

Indigenous Perspectives at the Library of Virginia examines aspects of our collections through the lenses of the eleven federally and state-recognized Virginia tribes. In these interviews, tribal citizens offer reflections on our exhibition themes of retaining tribal culture, identity, resistance, tribal sovereignty, the land and environment, and the future of Virginia’s tribes that enlarge our understanding of documents in the Library’s collections.