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A complete view of the Native American signatories to the 1677 Articles of Peace agreement

Language, Identity, and Control: Print Culture and Early Native American History

August 23, 2019
Exterior of Articles of Peace, 1677 (E191 .G78)

We're publishing a series of blog posts written by students for the class HIST 211 Books: Technology and Culture. Their posts are based on materials in the Special Collections Research Center. Check out their bright insights every other week. Today's entry is written by Meghan Ward. Read on to learn more about the British colonialists' interactions with Native Virginia tribes and the intersections of early Native American history and print culture.

The year was 1676 and Nathaniel Bacon, a wealthy farmer who...

Previous Posts

Aug 2019

  • A hand-drawn black-and-white illustration of Queen Elizabeth I from the Elizabeth I, Queen of England document (SC 01561). Elizabeth wears a crown and royal robes. She appears to hold a mace or specter in one hand and a cross in the other.

    Making a Queen: The Symbolic Imagery of Elizabeth I's Reign

    August 7, 2019
    In 1574, as well as the rest of her reign, Queen Elizabeth I’s place as England’s monarch was continually challenged based on her mother’s reputation, her lack of a husband, her religion, and her gender. Even as one of the most powerful women in the 16th century, she still needed to prove herself.

Jul 2019

  • Sydney Miller. She stands in front of a white wall and smiles for the camera, hands clasped neatly at her waist. Her top is a burnt orange color, and she wears two long gold necklaces. Her hair is shoulder-length and dirty blonde.

    Libraries in the Library: How We Know What Early Virginians Liked to Read

    July 30, 2019
    Do you keep your receipts? Special Collections has a good number of receipts and these seemingly mundane documents can provide valuable insight into early Virginians’ lives.
  • The title page of The Mythology, by the abbé Banier. Volume 2. A small flower bouquet is printed below the title and author's name. There's a signature on this page: "James Thomson," with the two names separated between the "And" in the book's title.

    Explain’d From History: Euhemeristic Mythology and its Ties to Colonialism

    July 25, 2019
    L'abbé Antoine Banier and his Mythology are unique in the position they take on the historical nature of myth and legend. Banier was a proponent of euhemerism, a school of thought that claims myths, legends, and folklore all have real historical basis.
  • The northwest coast of France as illustrated on the Senex map. The newly drawn coast line is considerably different than the previous map projection. The previous coastline is outlined in black. The updated boundaries of France are colored in blue-green.

    Redrawing France with the "La Hire Map"

    July 18, 2019
    Joe Catanzaro explains a pivotal moment in cartography captured in our collections.
  • A close-up of Arthur Lee's pseudonym signature: "I am, Sir, your humble Servant, Philanthropos." From his 1767 "Address to Virginia General Assembly"

    Arthur Lee "Philanthropos" and 18th Century Abolitionism

    July 11, 2019
    Abolition was not a radical nineteenth century idea that miraculously emerged from the political ideologies of the Age of Revolution. A 1767 address from Arthur Lee of Virginia serves as a reminder that the abolitionist movement did not have a linear trajectory, and that individuals protested slavery throughout its existence.
  • Typed letter from a Frank R. Adams, dated May 1, 1955, addressed to Mr. Dolmetsch. Adams, a contributor to Smart Set, writes about Nathan and Mencken, who he calls "the most amusing characters to work with that I have ever met" and "highly respected and

    Iconoclasts in the Archives

    July 3, 2019
    Before Jon Stewart ’84 and Trevor Noah, before Stephen Colbert and John Oliver and Saturday Night Live, before Tina Fey and Samantha Bee and Andrea Gibson, there was George Jean Nathan and H.L. Mencken. A slice of the Nathan/Mencken story lives in the Special Collections Research Center at Swem Library.

Jun 2019

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