20th century

Mac
LibraryPoint Blog, 1920s, 20th century, court cases, Dogs, Ferry Farm, films, Fredericksburg (Va.), History Feature Articles, Robert Hodge, Virginia History, History Blog
03/19/2010 - 10:49am

Long before Lassie became a famous film star there was another collie who was courted by movie directors. This remarkable "dog with a human brain" had his day in a Fredericksburg court room and escaped the death penalty.

Great Lives Series: Norman Rockwell
LibraryPoint Blog, Arts and Artists, Autobiography and Biography, Civil Rights Movement, Great Lives series, History, Illustrators, Virginia Johnson
02/25/2010 - 4:32pm

Twentieth-century illustrator Norman Rockwell reflected in his work much of what was good in America. He is known for his sweet depictions of small-town life—soda fountains, family scenes, Boy Scouts, town meetings, doctors’ offices, and boys with dogs—but one of his most touching images was a painful one from the Civil Rights Era: “The Problem We All Live With.”

Great Lives Series: Margaret Thatcher
LibraryPoint Blog, Reading Room Blog, 1980s, 20th century, Autobiography and Biography, Conservative, Great Britain, Great Lives series, Politics, Virginia Johnson, History Blog
02/12/2010 - 10:19am

For more than a decade, she was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and "Iron Maggie" Thatcher promoted a conservative agenda that focused on deregulation and anti-union policies.

Great Lives Series: Booker T. Washington
LibraryPoint Blog, Reading Room Blog, 20th century, African American, Autobiography and Biography, Education, Great Lives series, Reconstruction era, Slavery, Virginia History, Virginia Johnson, History Blog
02/03/2010 - 9:55am

Born a slave in Franklin County, Virginia, Booker T. (Taliaferro) Washington went on to become a nationally-known leader and educator. He shared his educational philosophy with U.S. presidents and served as the first president of Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University.

Shiloh Cemetery Graves
19th century, 20th century, African American, African Americans, Cemeteries, Fredericksburg (Va.), Genealogy, History Feature Articles, Robert Hodge, Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site), Shiloh Baptist Church (Old site), History Blog
01/11/2010 - 10:15am

Robert Hodge reported in 1981 that this is from a report prepared by a students of Germanna Community College in circa 1979. Report is not verified and was unsigned. Indeed, there is a variation in the name Bumbrey - represented as Bumbray here, but there are stones with Bumbrey in the cemetery. The original list was accompanied by the following statements:

"The following list of names is a list of people buried in an all black cemetery in the City of Fredericksburg at the corner of Monument Avenue and Littlepage Street.

Fredericksburg in the 50s
1950s, Fredericksburg (Va.), History, Lunch with History
11/04/2009 - 6:09pm

By Sue Willis, CRRL Staff

From the Central Rappahannock Regional Library

Coping with Jim Crow: Black Education in Fredericksburg by Constance Greer O'Brion.
Education and segregation in Fredericksburg from the 40's to the 70's.

A Different Story: A Black History of Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania, Virginia by Ruth Coder Fitzgerald.
Ms. Fitzgerald traces the area's black history from the colonial days to the 1970s. Includes photos of community leaders, past and present. Of particular interest are the following chapters: Moving into the Mainstream by the Reverend Lawrence Davies and "Let Him Speak" by Dr. Philip Y. Wyatt.
Fredericksburg's Wall of Honor: Honorees for 2000-2005
20th century, African American, Buildings, Civil Rights Movement, Factories, Fredericksburg (Va.), History Feature Articles, Hurkamp family, Ministers, Reconstruction era, Regional, Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site), Teachers, University of Mary Washington, Virginia History, Virginia Johnson, Wall of Honor
11/04/2009 - 5:50pm

Wanted: local leaders in education, medicine, civil rights, government, good works, patriotism, historic preservation, and other fields.

John Lee Pratt's Frigidaire
1920s, 1930s, Autobiography and Biography, Barbara Crookshanks, Chatham Manor, Cooking, History Feature Articles, Inventions, Virginia History
11/04/2009 - 5:48pm

 This sizzling summer seems a fitting season to recall the almost forgotten story of John Lee Pratt and the Frigidaire, one of the first "mechanical" refrigerators.

In 1919 Mr. Pratt, a King George County boy who would become a multi-millionaire and owner of Chatham Manor, was a General Motors engineer.

That same year GM had produced the Frigidaire, one of the first mechanical refrigerators for home use. They were called "mechanical" because some were powered by electricity, others by gas.

Fredericksburg in the 20th Century
20th century, Lunch with History, Virginia Johnson, History Blog
11/04/2009 - 11:32am

Four Mayors of Fredericksburg: An Oral History by Archer Williams.
Former mayors Charles Cowan, Josiah Rowe, Edward Cann, and Lawrence Davies give their impressions of the city's growth under their administrations, from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Toll Bridge Across the Rappahannock
18th century, 19th century, Battle of Fredericksburg, Bridges, Businesses, Depressions - United States - 1929-1933, History Feature Articles, King's Highway, Northern Neck, Old Indian Trail, Rappahannock River, Regional, Roy Butler, Seafood, Virginia History
11/03/2009 - 4:19pm

 Fredericksburg bridge toll token with cost given of eight centsSince the body of water known as the Rappahannock River separated two important areas of commerce and trade, it had, of course, to be crossed constantly. The Indians had their canoes and the early settlers had their boats and ferries. The first bridge was built about 1800 and was referred to as Scott's Bridge.