Northern Virginia rush hour
Taken in February 1973 by Yoichi Okamoto, a photographer for the Documerica project, this picture of rush hour traffic on Shirley Highway in the Northern...
Petitioning the Freedmen's Bureau
James Hicks filed this petition with the Freedmen's Bureau for the return of seized land lots in the town of Hampton, Virginia. One of the major activities of the...
Reclaiming Property?
This is an arrest warrant for Moses Honnor, a slave from Virginia who escaped to Pennsylvania in August 1859. It is part of the court record documenting his owner’s...
Signed by Jefferson
The year was 1780. The British were launching an invasion of the South. And, like many states, Virginia was having problems raising troops. On January 24, Virginia...
“support all laws and proclamations . . .”
This oath was James Hicks's first step to reclaiming his land that was held by the Freedmen's Bureau. One of the major activities of the Bureau was the leasing of...
The surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia
On April 9, 1865, Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee met in Wilmer McClean’s home at Appomattox Court House, Virginia,...
There’s no doubt; they are redoubts
This aerial photograph, taken on October 31, 1953, shows a section of the York River bank at Yorktown, Virginia. Yorktown was the scene of the decisive victory by...