Faculty & Staff Services: Commonwealth of Virginia - Resources

This website is provided by a consortium of the Public Libraries in the Commonwealth of Virginia. To access the databases available from this site, users must have a current Public Library Card from a Virginia Library. Databases cover a wide variety of topics - full text is available for many articles. Available resources are subject to change.

The LVA is located in Richmond. It contains a vast array of materials that would be useful in the study of Virginia History, among other things. The website provides information about a number of the collections available in the Library. Some of these collections are available online, but be aware that not all of the collections are indexed or made available online. It is possible to contact the Library to see if they would have information of use before making plans to visit.

"Virginia Memory is part of the online presence of the Library of Virginia, the state archives and reference library at the seat of government for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Established in 1823, the Library maintains vast and varied collections of print materials, manuscripts, archival records, newspapers, photographs and ephemera, maps and atlases, rare books, and fine art that tell the history of the commonwealth and its people. Since the mid-1990s, the Library has digitized parts of the collections in an effort to make our materials more widely available to our online users."

The Library of Virginia’s collections are rich with records documenting the lives of African Americans in Virginia. However, access to those materials dating from before the American Civil War is limited at best. These limitations are the result of period perspectives on the identities of enslaved and disenfranchised populations, as well as sheer volume. Due to this, the individual stories form a narrative of a people that has not been fully told.

The Library’s African American Narrative project aims to provide greater accessibility to pre-1865 African American history and genealogy found in the rich primary sources in its holdings. Traditional description, indexing, transcription, and digitization are major parts of this effort. However, and perhaps more importantly, this project seeks to encourage conversation and engagement around the records, providing opportunities for a more grassroots and diverse narrative of the history of Virginia’s African American people.

Through an agreement with Ancestry.com, the commonwealth's citizens can access digitized and indexed records and materials that would otherwise require a paid Ancestry.com subscription.

A list of holdings of Virginia African American Newspapers at the Library of Virginia.