Browse Items (37 total)

Members stand outside the Exchange for Woman's Work at 203 East Franklin Street, Richmond, Va.

Boys standing outside the Richmond Male Orphan Society at Amelia and Meadow Streets, Richmond, Va. The Richmond Male Orphan Society began in 1846 when the director of the Female Humane Association was approached by a homeless boy begging for coins.…

Pinback button In 1885, Methodist minister William Booth established the Christian Mission Center in East London for the city’s poor and homeless.  Booth changed the name to The Salvation Army in 1878, using military terms to organize the evangelical…

Promotional materials for "Stop Polio Sunday. Second Dose Jan. 19." A hand drops the vaccine onto a sugar cube.Text: "everyone needs Sabin Vaccine. For complete protection against polio, EVERYONE over two months old needs ALL THREE TYPES of Sabin…

Students from the old Cary Street School (Madison School) in Richmond, Va., demonstrate handwashing before having lunch. Washing hands regularly with soap and water remains one of the most important steps in preventing the spread of many…

Publication of The Defenders of State Sovereignty and Individual Liberties,a grassroots political organization dedicated to preserving strict racial segregation in Virginia's public schools. The group was establishedin Petersburg in October 1954…

Anti-suffrage postcard showing female letter carrier opening and reading other people's mail. She is walking a small dog while going about her rounds. Caption reads, "The Suffragette Letter Carrier. Would you trust your wife as letter…

Drawing of an angry man wearing patched and ripped clothing. His suspenders and collar are unfastened, and he looks over his shoulder to examine a tear in his sleeve. The caption reads,"This is how it will be when the Woman's Suffrage get in power."

Lantern slide. Image taken in Richmond, Va in 1907. The Richmond Health Department formed in 1906. One of its early initiatives (1907) was to investigate 433 cases of typhoid fever, creating the city’s first systematic study of infectious disease. In…

Metal lapel badge for the United Way

In 1894, Mary Tinsley Greenhow, who as a teenager was paralyzed during a horse riding accident, founded the Virginia Home for Incurables. Disabled Richmonders needing life-long care lived at the home near Capitol Square. In 1898, the home moved to W.…

Pinback button The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) first met in New York City in 1858. While based in Christianity, the YWCA was more focused on social issues, initially affordable housing for working women. It later was active in the…