Virginia Vignettes

John Buchanan Floyd was born on the Smithfield plantation in Montgomery County, Virginia, on June 1, 1806, the son of John Floyd, who was governor of Virginia (1830–1834).  The younger Floyd was governor of Virginia (1849–1852), secretary of war in the administration of United States president James Buchanan (1857–1860), and a Confederate general during the [...]

Claude A. Swanson was a powerful Democratic Party leader and one of the most successful Virginia politicians of his era. He served seven terms in the United States House of Representatives (1893–1906), was governor of Virginia from 1906 until 1910, and U.S. senator from 1910 until 1933. In addition, Swanson served as secretary of the [...]

James H. Price was a governor of Virginia (1938–1942) who advocated for a series of progressive policies designed to help those hurt by the Great Depression of the 1930s. His most notable achievement came in 1938 with the enactment of an Old Age Assistance Plan that enabled Virginians to receive federal Social Security benefits. Throughout [...]

Henry A. Wise was a lawyer, a member of the United States House of Representatives (1832–1844), U.S. minister to Brazil (1844–1847), governor of Virginia (1856–1860) during John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, and a brigadier general in the Confederate army during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Born in Accomack County on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Wise [...]

Actually, Virginia has many watersheds. All the land that drains to a particular body of water is called a watershed. A river’s watershed is made up of smaller watersheds as creeks and streams filter into larger ones before finally flowing into a single river. Virginia has 13 major watersheds, with the most dominant being the [...]

Yes, five major ones. A geological region is a specific land area, each differentiated by rock strata and elevation. The environmental character of Virginia’s regions has led to differences in agricultural planning, energy resource availability, and workforce and industrial opportunities.
The sand, silt, and clay of the Tidewater region on the coast of Virginia and the [...]

Virginia’s modern history has been shaped by its nonhuman natural environment. The state’s climate, geology, waterways, fisheries, wildlife population, flora and fauna, and soil content have provided the conditions for economic, cultural, and recreational possibilities across the state.
A review of the state’s bioregions reveals subtle examples of nature acting to shape Virginia’s modern history. Watersheds [...]

In late 1751, at the age of 19, George Washington made his only lifetime trip outside of the continental colonies.  He accompanied his older brother Lawrence, who sought relief for his tuberculosis in the climate of Barbados.  The choice of this Caribbean island was not fortuitous.
Barbados was a major British sugar and slave colony and [...]

In 1909 a few Virginia women organized the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia to educate Old Dominion citizens on the issue of woman suffrage. They were following the path blazed by two unsuccessful late nineteenth-century efforts to obtain the vote for women in Virginia. Rejecting radicalism for a more moderate approach, the suffragists capitalized on [...]

The war effort and its repercussions demanded much of Virginia women. Many sent husbands off to war and assumed some if not all of the duties of running their family plantation, farm, or business. Homespun clothes became a mark of patriotism, and by 1777 Virginia women and their slaves were making much of the clothing used by [...]