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Letter from Cousin Annie to Mary
This letter, from Cousin Annie to Mary, was written in the early years of the Great Depression. The second paragraph depicts how Louisa was the victim of both terrible drought and frosts; the agricultural-based facets of Louisa’s economy suffered…
Tags: Great Depression
Price Comparison Sheet
This price comparison sheet from 1931 provides some insight into the value of items of the period. Below is a list of what these items would cost today, calculating for inflation:
100# Sugar $ 71.77
1 Bbl. Flour $ 50.24
10# Meat $ 11.48
1#…
Tags: economy, Great Depression
Alice's Letter to Lizzie #1
This hastily-written five-page letter is the first in a series of letters from Alice to Lizzie in December 1937. This particular letter sheds some light on the topics of family and death during the Depression. While little is known about the…
Tags: Great Depression
Alice's Letter to Lizzie #2
In this follow-up letter, Alice attempts to alleviate some of the tension by explaining how the previous letter's contents were based upon a misunderstanding. It is claimed that Lelia, the "she" referenced in both this letter and the previous one,…
Tags: Great Depression
Alice's Letter to Lizzie #3
In this final letter from Alice to Lizzie, dated December 17, 1937, the financial issues surrounding the arrangements for Uncle August's expenses have been settled. Just as a reference point, today's equivalent for the $10.00 check given to Alice by…
Tags: Great Depression
Page from McGuffey’s Eclectic Readers
McGuffey’s Eclectic Readers were written by William Holmes McGuffey and his brother Alexander in the 1830s and 1840s, and were used for decades throughout the US for primary-level students. The Readers emphasized spelling, vocabulary, and formal…
Tags: Education
Page from 'The New Fun With Dick and Jane'
Dick and Jane were the main characters in a series of basic readers written by William S. Gray and Zerna Sharp and published by Scott Foresman, that were used to teach children to read from the 1930s through to the 1970s in the US. This page is from…
Tags: Education
James Powell Mathematics Textbook
In rural parts of Central Virginia in the early 1800s children were home-schooled when there were few alternatives. These pages are from a home made mathematics textbook; the leather cover was home tanned, and the writing was done with a quill pen,…
Tags: Education
Letter to Josephine
This letter, written to Louisa County resident Josephine Neal by her mother during the Great Depression. It tells of the unusually warm weather's effect on the family and the many visitors passing through; she also tells of eating melons, family…
Tags: Great Depression
Stay at the Louisa Hotel
This metal sign, posted just a few miles outside of Louisa, was intended to lure tired travelers with the promise of meals and a night's lodging for $2.00 (plus the added attraction of a garage for those who arrived by automobile).
The Louisa…
The Louisa…
Tags: transportation
1938 Firemen's Fair
In spite of the Depression, large scale community events such as parades and fairs were among the most popular entertainments in communities large and small.
The Firemen's Fair was held each July 4th in the Town of Louisa and included…
The Firemen's Fair was held each July 4th in the Town of Louisa and included…
Tags: Great Depression
Rationing during World War II
Long time Town of Louisa resident Marjorie Woolfolk tells 2010 interns Kristin Hicks and Emily Seay her recollections of rationing during World War II.
Tags: rationing, World War II
Oral History of an Aircraft Spotter
Mary "E" Wright Mills Richardson narrates how the aircraft warning spotters identified and reported to Richmond any aircraft flying over their assigned sky space. Of course, since most of the spotters were young women, she shares a touch of romance…
Tags: World War II
Freedmen's Bureau Schools
In 1866, Lt. Jacob Roth, Assistant Superintendent at the Louisa field office of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Land (usually knows simply as The Freedmen's Bureau or B of R.F and AL) sent this report to his superior listing the…
Tags: African-American, Reconstruction
The Parrott School
This photograph, taken by Mrs. Virgie Bell, on February 7th 1910, is of the Parrott School in Greene County, its faculty and its students. The school was located on the north side of Amicus Road, opposite what is now the western entrance of the…
Tags: Education