Encyclopedia Virginia

Our mission is to provide a free, reliable, multimedia resource that tells the inclusive story of Virginia. Program of @VAHumanities.

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

ICYMI, we’ve moved to @VAHumanities! Join us over there to stay up-to-date on everything Encyclopedia Virginia. Plus, learn more about all the other exciting work Virginia Humanities is doing 💡💭

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

@VAHumanities This account will officially become an archive on November 30, so don’t drag your feet! You won’t want to miss what we’ve got in store.

See you over at @VAHumanities! 👋

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

WE’RE MOVING! 🚚 📦 But don’t worry: We aren’t going far...

Starting today, November 1, you can find us (and our posts) on @VAHumanities’ feed. We’ll still be sharing all the same content you love, just in a different place.

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

#OTD in 1676, several months into Bacon's Rebellion, Nathaniel Bacon died. Gov. William Berkeley, upon hearing of Bacon’s death, famously gloated, “Bacon is Dead/I am sorry at my hart/that Lice and flux/should take the hangmans part.”

https://t.co/Qov5J5ptBN
Source: @UVALibrary

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

#OTD in 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette greeted an old comrade in Richmond: James Lafayette.

James Lafayette was born enslaved and spied for General Lafayette in the Revolutionary War. The marquis later attested to James Lafayette's service and he was granted freedom in 1787.

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

How many cats 🐈 can you spot in this photograph of Hester Fringer's living room?

Now that you've done that... did you notice the train? 🚂

Learn more about O. Winston Link's railroad photography here: https://t.co/ywD92MLbCb

#trains #photography #cats #virginiahistory

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

#OTD in 1804, William Clark wrote in his journal that he "killed a fat Buffalow," although another member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, John Ordway, described it as only "Tollorable fat."

Learn more: https://t.co/4dQOL2eGtQ
Quote Source: https://t.co/GE8TAQQ1ZV

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

#OTD in 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette returned to Williamsburg for 3 days. Lafayette received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the College of William and Mary and attended a banquet in his honor at the Raleigh Tavern.

Credit: @colonialwmsburg

#Lafayette #VirginiaHistory

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

How did Virginia's last royal governor win a war you probably never heard of but lose everything in the process?

Find out here: https://t.co/H62sy5KUhH

Credit: Virginia Museum of History & Culture

#VirginiaHistory #Dunmore #PointPleasant

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

#OTD in 1774, the Treaty of Camp Charlotte ended Lord Dunmore's War, a conflict in the Ohio Country between Virginia militia and a confederation led by the Shawnee and Mingo tribes. The Virginians' victory opened Kentucky to white settlement.

Learn more: https://t.co/fuEYWjfiPH

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

#OTD in 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette arrived in Yorktown to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown. He received an enthusiastic greeting from a crowd of 15,000 people.

Credit: @colonialwmsburg

#Lafayette #RevolutionaryWar #Yorktown #VirginiaHistory

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

#OTD in 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette visited Mount Vernon. Lafayette walked alone to George Washington's tomb and emerged in tears. The two became close during the Revolutionary War and Lafayette named his son after Washington.

#Lafayette #RevolutionaryWar #VirginiaHistory

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

#OTD in 1859, John Brown and a biracial group of abolitionist activists stormed a federal arsenal in the northern Shenandoah Valley. They were quickly surrounded by the combined forces of local militias.

Credit: @metmuseum
Learn more: https://t.co/IL04tquexq

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

For over a decade, secretary Kathleen Vaughn Ross refused to leave her home until Roanoke gave a fair price.

From 1955–1974, Roanoke razed 1,600 homes, several historic schools, 24 churches, and at least 200 small businesses.

Learn more: https://t.co/glMZmXDhSc

#UrbanRenewal

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

Vinegar Hill was the first target of urban renewal in Charlottesville. From 1949–1978, two urban renewal projects displaced more than 1,000 residents in majority-Black neighborhoods.

Learn more: https://t.co/rHKqZO2nfV

#UrbanRenewal #BlackHistory #VirginiaHistory

[Aran Shetterly @aranshetterly]

Thank you Peter Hedlund, @TodayInVa and @VAHumanities for this stimulating conversation about MORNINGSIDE (launching October 15 @JSAAHC). https://t.co/NlovZM2Ium @NEHgov @VCCA

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

#OTD in 1774, about 800 Shawnee warriors led by Hokoleskwa (also known as "Cornstalk") battled with a larger force of Virginia militia in the Battle of Point Pleasant.

Be on the lookout for our upcoming entry on Dunmore's War!

Source: West Virginia Archives & History

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes you need to pay attention to what those words are actually saying. A new blog by Encyclopedia Virginia's media editor Katy Gehred talks about our new series of entries about urban renewal.

https://t.co/GcZOVI6X3S

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

Did you know Jackson Ward was once known as the “Wall Street of the South?”

Beginning in 1954, construction of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike bisected Jackson Ward and displaced about 10% of the city’s Black residents.

Learn more: https://t.co/7Go9FNMCBC

#UrbanRenewal

[Encyclopedia Virginia @encyclopediaVA]

Did you know Norfolk was the first city in the U.S. to receive federal funds for urban renewal?

From 1950–1970, thousands of acres of land were razed and tens of thousands of residents—mostly African American—were displaced.

Learn more: https://t.co/UtHgZnTdvt

#UrbanRenewal