Library Seeks Civil War Era Documents to Archive

By Amber Lester Kennedy Tuesday, October 04, 2011

The Library of Virginia is hoping to get a peek at your family journals and letters from the Civil War era when archivists visit James City County later this month.

The Library of Virginia is visiting communities throughout the state to scan privately held materials to be included on the websites of both the Library of Virginia and the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission. Archivists will visit the James City County branch of the Williamsburg Regional Library on Oct. 22 to scan documents.

Items suitable for the Civil War 150 Legacy Project include: letters; military passes/discharge papers; diaries; photographs; hand-drawn maps; pension materials; hand-drawn sketches; claims for damages by the Confederate Army or Federal Army. The archivists are particularly interested in any materials that offer global or pacifist perspectives, or the viewpoints of individual African Americans and women.

The items presented for scanning must belong to the individual who brings them. Materials that are photocopied or subject to United States copyright law may not be submitted.

The scanning will be completed by appointment only, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. To schedule an appointment, contact Jason Purse at (757) 253-6689 or email jpurse@james-city.va.us. For more information, click here.