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Virginia Archives Month 2025
Lights! Camera! Pose! It’s Virginia Archives Month 2025! In addition to the value of the words found in traditional archival collections, historic images have the special ability to connect people to the past visually. This is particularly true of photographs. While only a second in time, so much information that can be contained in a single photograph. To celebrate the value of photographs, this year’s Virginia Archives Month theme is Oh Snap! : Photography in the Archives .
Whether it’s cackling over hairstyles found in Library of Virginia’s yearbook collections , gaping over the clarity of a Civil War tintype in the VMHC’s CMLS Image collection , or studying costumes in the GMU Federal Theater Project photograph collection , you’re sure to find an archival photo collection that is picture perfect!
CHECK IT OUT !
Archives Month 2025 Zine
This years Archives Month zine Oh Snap: Preserving Your Photographs provides basic information on caring for photographs.
Download a copy and learn more about the preservation, handling, and physical storage of photographs. The zine even folds out into a useful timeline of historic photography to assist in determining what you have and how to care for it!
Folding Instructions
To fold this zine:
1) With How to Identify Common Types of Photographs poster facing up, fold left side to center. Displaying and Physical Storage sections should be visible.
2) With How to Identify Common Types of Photographs poster facing up, fold right side to center. Oh Snap cover and back cover sections should be visible.
3) Flip whole piece over. Conservation vs. Preservation, Handling, and Captioning sections should be visible.
4) Fold in half widthwise, taking the right side to meet the left side. Displaying and Physical Storage sections should be visible.
5) Fold in half lengthwise, taking the top to meet the bottom. Oh Snap cover should be visible, if flipped, back cover should be visible
DIGITAL ARCHIVING!
Learn how to care for your digital photographs
Use this one pager to prepare, organize, and manage your own photographs
DIY FUN!
Make Your Own Archives Month Buttons
Use this template to make your on 2" buttons
ACTIVITY IDEA !
Make Your Own Silhouette Portraits
This downloadable pdf provides all the information you will need to create silhouette portraits by yourself or with a group. You can also learn a little about the history of Silhouette Portraits.
Archives Month Events
Events Across the State
- No events found.
Events at the Library of Virginia
- No events found.
PHOTOGRAPHY TIMELINE
Archives Month Flickr Album
In celebration of our 2025 theme Oh Snap: Photography in the Archives the images submitted this year consist of examples of various photographic mediums, artistic styles, and most importantly showcase the the importance photography places in connecting us to the past.
Institutions represented in the album include:
- Shenandoah Valley Public Library
- George C Marshall Foundation
- George Mason University
- Laurel Ridge Community College
- Library of Virginia
- Old Dominion University
- Rockbridge Historical Society
- University of Mary Washington
- Washington and Lee University
- Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
- Virginia Museum of History & Culture
RESOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT & CARING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY
TIMELINES
CARE AND PRESERVATION
Care, Handling, and Storage of Photographs
Library of Congress
Photograph Conservation and Preservation Resources
Northeast Document Conservation Center
Photo-storage, Display, & Labeling Materials
Rochester Institute of Technology: Image Permanence Institute
Guide to Preservation of Digitally-Printed Images
Rochester Institute of Technology: Image Permanence Institute
Q&A: LSU Archival Research Gives Expert Advice on Protecting Family Treasures Ahead of Hurricane Season
LSU Media Center
Personal Archiving: Preserving Your Digital Memories
Library of Congress
Caring for Your Photographs
University of Chicago
How Do I Care for Photographs?
American Institute for Conservation (AIC)
Digital Databases
Personal Archiving for Photographs
Have You Inherited a Messy Box of Family Photos?”
Dawn A. Roode
“How to Date Photos When Even Your Family Can’t Remember Them!”
Curtis Bisel
“How to Identify Mystery Faces in Old Family Photographs”
Lisa Lisson
“Dating Photographs by the Costume and Jewellery Worn”
Pauline Weston Thomas
“Standout Census Stories: Who Are You? Using the Census to Add Context to Family Photos”
Editorial Staff at the National Archives News
“Old Photo Identification”
BYU Library Family Center
“Preserving Early Digital Photographs: Organizing, Converting, and Storing Your Memories”
Backlog Archivists
Blogs
Books
Dressed for the Photographer
Joan Severa
Hidden Witness: African American Images from the Birth of Photography to the Civil War
Jackie Napoleon Wilson
Photography: A Cultural History
Mary Warner Marien
Photography in Virginia
Jeffrey Ruggles
Mass Photography: Collective Histories of Everyday Life
Annenella Pollen
Videos
Virtual Exhibits & Tours
VIRGINIA ARCHIVES MONTH COMMITTEE 2025
- Meghan Glasbrenner, George Mason University
- John Owens, Laurel Ridge Community College
- Vince Brooks, Library of Virginia
- Mary Ann Mason, Library of Virginia
- Ella Swain, Library of Virginia
- Sarah Appleby, University of Mary Washington
- Steve Bookman, Old Dominion University
- Kristin Alexander, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
- Kathryn Kalunzy, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
- Laura Stoner, Virginia Museum of History & Culture
- Mattie Clear, Washington & Lee University
CONTACT US
Virginia Archives Month
Follow us on Instagram: @virginia_archivists
Email: archivesmonthva@gmail.com