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…
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.…
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…
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."
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 1924, the Richmond Area Community Council created the Community Fund, later known as the Richmond Area Community Chest. This trust centralized fundraising and fund distribution to the Council’s more than thirty member organizations.
Nurse Lucille Meador walks through the snow wearing snowshoes at the Beth Sholom Home of Virginia, 5729 Fitzhugh Avenue, Henrico County, Virginia The Beth Sholom Home of Virginia opened in 1945 as Virginia’s first Jewish nursing home. Originally…
Black and white photograph of people preparing for an anti-busing demonstration. A woman stands holding an American flag, and a man standing with her wears a hand-lettered anti-busing sign, "Forced bussing & consolidation of schools will lead to…
Black and white photograph showing a Ku Klux Klan rally held near Darbytown Road in eastern Henrico County, Va. The rally, sponsored by the United Klans of America - Realm of Virginia, was held on July 4, 1967. The photograph shows a line of white…
Black and white photograph showing a man wearing a military-style Ku Klux Klan outfit with Klan symbol on sleeve. The man was participating in a parade on Broad Street in Richmond, Va., in support of the Klan and possibly to drum up attendance at an…
Wearing white robes and hoods, members of the Ku Klux Klan, a right-wing extremist organization, parade on Grace Street in Richmond circa 1925. This photograph was taken at the intersection of Grace and Fifth streets, just a few blocks from the…
Black and white photograph showing a woman wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood and a man wearing a military-style Klan outfit; the pair wave while riding in back of a vehicle in downtown Richmond, Va. Taken during a parade on Broad Street in support…
Calling card of the Ku Klux Klan. Text reads, "Invisible Empire / Knights of the Ku Klux Klan / YOU HAVE BEEN PATRONIZED BY THE KKK / For Free Information Write / P. O. Box 700 Shelton, CT 06484"Also printed on the card is a black and white cross…
After the influenza virus was finally identified in 1933, researchers immediately started to develop a vaccine. The first flu vaccine was approved for U.S. military use in 1945 and for civilian use in 1946. Unfortunately, the flu has several types,…
"I've Had My Chest X-Ray" button with red double-bar cross that was the emblem of the National Tuberculosis Association anti-TB crusade.
People can be exposed to tuberculosis bacteria and become infected. Some who are infected go on to develop…
Lucy Goode Brooks (1818–1900) and members of the Ladies Sewing Circle for Charitable Work established the Friends Asylum for Colored Orphans in 1871. These formerly enslaved women enlisted the support of the Cedar Creek Meeting Society of Friends…
The Memorial Foundation for Children’s story began in 1805, when a homeless girl supposedly presented herself at the door of Jean Moncure Wood, wife of Governor James E. Wood. Realizing that the city lacked a shelter for needy girls, Mrs. Wood worked…
Report by Mrs. W. T. Richardson, recording secretary for the Exchange for Woman's Work. This excerpt (pp. 9 - 14) is taken from the Fourth Annual Report of the Exchange, 1887.Text (excerpt)Annual Report. The Richmond Exchange for Woman’s Work has now…