Virginia Vignettes

No, not Thomas Jefferson. It was St. George Tucker. Tucker was one of the most influential jurists and legal scholars in the United States during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He served as judge on three different courts in Virginia: the General Court (1788-1804), the Virginia Court of Appeals (1804-1811) and the federal [...]

In 1935 Ida Mae Thompson, the executive secretary for Virginia’s League of Women Voters, took on extra work as a researcher for the Works Progress Administration’s Historical Records Survey. Under Thompson’s leadership, the survey collected more than 25,000 items concerning the suffrage movement, from correspondence and treasurers’ reports to “Votes for Women” buttons and ribbons. [...]

It depends on how fast you’re going. Established in 1926, Virginia’s Highway Historical Marker Program is one of the oldest in the nation. In 1930, there were 691 markers erected; by 1934 there were more than 1,200. But with more cars driving at faster speeds, it became difficult to read highway markers safely. Part of [...]

Yes. While not recommended, it’s how the ingenious Henry Brown gained his freedom from slavery. To help him escape, Brown sought the help of two men: James Smith, a black freedman, and Samuel Smith, a white shoemaker who, ironically, owned slaves himself. On March 23, 1849, Brown crawled into a tiny wooden box – it [...]