Virginia Archives Month

"Archives Week in Virginia celebrates those institutions and individuals that help preserve and make accessible the important records of our actions as citizens, businesses, religious groups, government and society. The work of these institutions and individuals give us a sense of being part of a larger picture and helps us begin to see ourselves connected to others -- family, community, nation or a group defined by ethnicity, religion, work or play. The result is a sense of belonging, direction and meaning. Far from focusing only on past accomplishments, those who care for our archives and special collections help provide us with a foundation for discussing the things that matter most in our communities today.

The interest in history is strongest at the local level. This is where history begins. There are over two hundred local historical societies and archival repositories in the Commonwealth, aided in their work by dedicated professionals and groups of active volunteers. During Archives Week in Virginia, take time to learn more about your local archival institutions and encourage others to recognize their contribution to the quality of life in our communities."

Conley Edwards
State Archivist

"This year marks the second annual state-wide celebration of Archives Week in Virginia. Once again, the Library of Virginia, in conjunction with the Virginia Caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) and the Library of Virginia Foundation, have produced a poster commemorating the commonwealth's archival and special collections repositories and the rich cultural record they protect. The poster, themed "A Commonwealth of Cultures," would not have been complete without the contribution of images from institutions across the state, including The Chrysler Museum of Art; the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; George Mason University; Historical Collections and Services, Clause Moore Health Sciences Library at the University of Virginia; Special Collections at the University of Virginia; Virginia Commonwealth University; Virginia State University; and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University."

This year's theme, "Playing with History: Recreation and Amusements in Archives," highlights the lighter, yet nonetheless important aspects of leisure time activities in our lives. The poster would not have been complete without the contribution of images from institutions across the state, including Arlington County Public Library; Colonial Williamsburg; Hollins University; The Mariners' Museum; the Medical College of Virginia; the National Sporting Library; the University of Virginia's Alderman Library; the University of Virginia Health Sciences Library; Virginia Military Institute; Virginia State University; and Virginia Tech.

This year's theme, "In Archives We Trust: Preserving Virginia History for Her People", reflects the role of archives in preserving the historical record and serving as the guardians of the Commonwealth’s rich history and cultural heritage. The poster would not have been complete without the contribution of images from institutions across the state, including Arlington County Public Library; Thomas Balch Library; Colonial Williamsburg; George Mason University; The Mariners Museum; Old Dominion University; Roanoke Public Libraries; University of Mary Washington; University of Virginia, Special Collections and Archives, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library and Law Library; Valentine Richmond History Center; Virginia Commonwealth University; Virginia Historical Society; and Wythe County Historical Society.

This year’s theme, "Exploring New Worlds: Virginia’s Archives in Our Lives," highlights the importance of archives in the documentation of all facets of our daily lives. Whether preserving family papers, the history of recreation, or the impact of World War II, Virginia’s archival institutions make it their goal to preserve and protect our historical records. Through their diligence, the records of the Commonwealth will be available for generations to come.

This year's theme, "Preserving the Past, Shaping the Future: The Archival Footprint on Society," explores how archives and archivists shape our understanding of ourselves by collecting and preserving records of changing social attitudes, from the American Revolution to the age of the Internet. Researchers often use evidence found in archives to question contemporary perceptions about the past. On many occasions, researchers have made use of archival records to document injustice and help bring about change. Archivists can serve as catalysts by publicizing collections with particular social, contemporary, or historical significance. Years after the fact, archival records can be used by journalists, historians, and activists to help bring publicity or even legal resolution to social issues long forgotten or ignored. Researchers delving into archival records must be prepared to allow their perceptions about the past to evolve.

“...We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." – President Barack Obama in his inaugural address

October is Archives Month in Virginia, and we'd like to invite you to join in the celebration, "To Choose Our Better History." Please enjoy and share the Archives Month poster, created from images submitted from seventeen archival repositories across the state. The poster highlights Virginians' rich history of public service, volunteerism, conservation, philanthropy, and civil protest, with images from Virginia archives and manuscript collections.

“Stern accuracy in inquiring, bold imagination in describing, these are the cogs on which history soars or flutters and wobbles.” -Thomas Carlyle

October is Archives Month in Virginia, and we'd like to invite you to join in the celebration, "Making Connections: Archives and Imagination" Please enjoy and share the Archives Month poster, created from images submitted from fifteen archival repositories across the state. The poster highlights Virginians' rich history of service, innovation, creativity, and artistry, with images from Virginia archives and manuscript collections.

Stern accuracy in inquiring, bold imagination in describing, these are the cogs on which history soars or flutters and wobbles.” -Thomas Carlyle

October is Archives Month in Virginia, and we'd like to invite you to join in the celebration, "Celebrating Advocacy for Archives" Please enjoy and share the Archives Month poster, created from images submitted from fifteen archival repositories across the state. The poster highlights Virginians' rich history of service, innovation, creativity, and artistry, with images from Virginia archives and manuscript collections.

October is Archives Month in Virginia, and we'd like to invite you to join in the celebration, "Boxes to Bandwidth: Reconstructing the Past for the Future." Please enjoy and share the Archives Month poster, created from images submitted from nineteen archival repositories across the state. The poster highlights Virginians' rich history of service, innovation, creativity, and artistry, with images from Virginia archives and manuscript collections. 

October is Archives Month in Virginia, and we'd like to invite you to join in the celebration, "Homegrown: Celebrating Virginia’s Cultural Heritage in Its Archives & Special Collections!" Whether it’s agriculture, viticulture, aquaculture, horticulture, food culture, or film culture, Virginia has a wealth of diverse culture. During Archives Month 2013, the Commonwealth’s archives and special collections will be highlighting the historical records, photographs, and moving images that document Virginia’s many traditions. Within these customs and traditions are aspects of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and collective memory that tie communities to where they’ve been and where they are going.

Archives are for Virginians! This year, Archives Month in Virginia will celebrate all of the ways that archival and manuscript collections assist, educate, enrich, and enliven the lives of Virginians (and many others). 

Virginia Archives Month October 2015
Archival Treasures: Find Your Hidden Gem! This Archives Month in Virginia, we celebrate all of those glorious, unexpected discoveries, found and waiting-to-be-found, in archives and special collections all across the Commonwealth. We’ll revel in those unexpected, transformative manuscripts, film or audio clips, photographs, or artifacts that connect the genealogical dots, validate a research thesis, or open up new avenues of historical and cultural knowledge.
Again this year, we are using Flickr to display and share the images submitted by Virginia institutions.

Most archives and special collections repositories house art in some form or another—either within individual collections or as a distinct responsibility. To highlight this fact, “Art in the Archives” was chosen as this year’s Archives Month in Virginia theme. Archives and special collections all across the Commonwealth house art and artistry in conventional and unexpected collections. Archives are not always about serious research—they can be about serious (or not so serious) art, too! To that end, the Virginia caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) is holding a contest called REMIX | Art From The Archives through October 14th. The public is invited to create redaction poetry, GIFs, collages, coloring pages, memes, and other digital interventions using archival images found in the 2016 Virginia Archives Month Flickr album.

October is designated as American Archives Month, and what better time of year to explore the macabre or mysterious? This fall, Virginia is also marking the 100th anniversary of statewide alcohol prohibition, and colleges and universities are planning homecoming festivities. For those reasons, “Spirits in the Archives” was chosen as this year’s Virginia Archives Month theme. Archives and special collections all across the Commonwealth house photographs, printed materials, and manuscripts that touch on the various interpretations of “spirits.” And archives do not always have to be places of serious research—they can be about serious (or not so serious) creativity, too! To that end, the Virginia caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) is once again holding a contest called REMIX | Spirits in the Archives from September 1st through October 23rd. The public is invited to create redaction poetry, GIFs, collages, coloring pages, memes, and other digital interventions using archival images found in the 2017 Virginia Archives Month Flickr album.

Even in the most staid of archival repositories, there are collection materials that are just, well, odd. This October’s celebration of American Archives Month in Virginia is themed “Archival Oddities” and seeks to highlight those curious, quirky, peculiar, and downright odd items housed in archives and special collections across the commonwealth.

Every year during October, the archival community in the commonwealth celebrates American Archives Month to raise public awareness about the importance of preserving and sharing cultural and historical documents from families, communities, states, and the country at large. Archivists reach out to their communities during this month to make connections and educate the public about the value of archives and their work in caring for and making them accessible. Archives are unique assets that allow society to tell its story, hold governments accountable, and safeguard the rights of its citizens.

That said, archives do not always have to be places of serious research—they can be about serious (or not so serious) creativity, too! To that end, the Virginia caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) is once again holding a contest called REMIX | Archival Oddities from October 1st through October 31st. The public is invited to create redaction poetry, GIFs, collages, coloring pages, memes, and other digital interventions using archival images found in the 2018 Virginia Archives Month Flickr album.

Archives and special collections boast waaaaaay more than just papers and photographs. Many institutions house rare or one-of-a-kind print materials and art. Amazing illuminated manuscripts, detailed woodblock prints, creative pop-up books, pop culture lithographs, and much more are preserved in archival collections. That's why this year during American Archives Month, we have decided to celebrate "The Letterpress, the Woodblock, and the Watermark: Book Arts in Archives and Special Collections."

Though Virginia Archives Month arrives every autumn, there is truly no season of the year where you cannot find an archival item or collection to satisfy your research needs or pique your curiosity. Whether you're heading to the Tidewater or Eastern Shore for summer vacation, Fall apple picking in the Valley or the piedmont, heading over the snowy Blue Ridge to visit the old home place for the holidays, or spring strawberry picking in Southside, somewhere nearby is an archive with interesting, informative collections. That is why this year's theme for Archives Month in Virginia is "An Archive for All Seasons: Virginia's Archives & Special Collections."

t hardly needs to be said, but 2020 and 2021 have been landmark years for the United States, and the world at large. Not only did 2020 bring a global pandemic, it also brought forth focused attention on racism, bigotry, and institutional inequality like never before. This led to a groundswell of activism and a fight for intrinsic human rights - particularly those of BIPOC (Black and Indigenous People of Color) communities - that the U.S. has not seen since the 20th century. The activism of thousands of Americans, both past and present, inspired this year’s Virginia Archives Month theme - Activism and Archives.

How do archives intersect with activism? Well, not only do archives provide documentation of activists, activism, social movements, and social injustices through the decades, archives and archival collections are also used as tools in modern activism. Examples include: bringing a modern lens to past injustices, gathering information to support modern causes and research, and providing information and documentation to assist with reparations. We’ve included links to projects and news where archives supported these kinds of inspiring and necessary projects.

This year, we welcome you to explore records from Virginia repositories highlighting activism of the past and present on our Flickr page. Free coloring pages can be used in the classroom, both in person or virtually, to teach about activism and protest. We’ve also created some downloadable postcards for you to print off and send to your representatives so you can advocate for the causes you’re passionate about.

Virginia Archives Month is 20! For two decades, every October, the archival and special collections institutions around the commonwealth have been joining together to celebrate and raise awareness about the importance of our shared documentary history. What began modestly as Virginia Archives Week in 2002 has grown into a statewide celebration of the institutions and professionals who safeguard, preserve, and make accessible records of enduring value.

With this milestone in mind, this year's theme is Twenty Years of Virginia Archives Month and takes a look back to fondly reminisce about our past collective efforts to bring attention to archives. However, we aren't just looking back, the participating institutions will again be sharing information, videos, programs, tours, and resources to raise awareness about the importance of preserving and sharing cultural and historical documents from families, communities, states, and the country at large.

Truth be told, all archival work is a little DIY. While there are professional standards and best practices, at the end of the day, a lot of our day-to-day work is, well, homespun. Similarly, many users of archival collections come up with creative and innovative ways to utilize collections or share their research. To highlight the power and opportunity in the DIY efforts of both archivists and archives users, this year's Virginia Archives Month theme is Community Made: Zines and Self-Published Material.

From VCU's and VMFA's zine collections, the CCC newspapers available through Library of Virginia, the Gay Awareness and Mulberry Family newsletters found in the Stephen Lenton papers at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, or JMU's student newspaper "The Fixer" , self-published material is found throughout Virginia archives. Although the scope and contents vary, the fact remains that they are all self-made by and for members of a community.

Archival collections in repositories all over the commonwealth document different modes of self-expression. In the present, researchers and archivists alike often look to the archives for inspiration when exploring new modes of self-expression. They may be inspired by a cultural tradition documented in an oral history, by a sketch found in a manuscript, or by a photograph. To celebrate all of that expressiveness, this year’s Virginia Archives Month theme is The Art of Self: Expression in the Archives.

Whether it is in William R. Shields’ poetry found in Washington & Lee’s collections, designing a tattoo using a rare book on botanical prints from the Library of Virginia, or drawing fashion inspiration from a Sonia Delaunay design at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, expression and inspiration are everywhere in the archives!