Richmond's first Underground Comics: The Fan Free Funnies, 1973.

From VCU Libraries' Digital Collections: "The Fan Free Funnies were an illustrative example of the growing influence of "underground comix" on young comic artists in the early 1970s. Underground comix first appeared on the United States' West Coast in the mid to late 1960s and were small press or self-published works whose themes were tied closely with the counterculture concerns and ideology of the time. Beginning in the 1970s, a number of Fan District residents and VCU fine arts students began creating comic art inspired by the popular underground comix scene. In the spring of 1973, VCU's student newspaper The Commonwealth Times took advantage of this phenomenon and produced three issues of an all-comics black-and-white tabloid called Fan Free Funnies. All three issues are presented here in their entirety."

Elvis Presley in Richmond at the Mosque, 1956 - Here he is inches away from Main St.

Elvis and fans on the backstage ramp at the Mosque
- June 30, 1956 - photo by Alfred Wertheimer.

I've past this spot a million times - Have You? It's behind the Mosque -- about 10 feet from Main St. - in the heart of the VCU Monroe Park Campus - across the street from the VCU Main Street Parking Deck.

This image is from a great site about Elvis' appearances at the Mosque (now the Landmark Theater) in Richmond, Va. It's full of photos of Elvis in the Mosque including that famous Kiss photo. This site is really a musical history of the Mosque. Check it out - it's part of a larger site about guitarist Scotty Moore.

Here's a view of that spot today from Google Maps.

- Ray B.

Richmond's Kline Motor Car Corp. 1907-1923

Neat little site on the
Kline Motor Car Corp. of Richmond, Virginia HERE.

- Ray B.

Film of VCU's Monroe Park Campus from ca. 1977 - Over 30 Years Ago.

VCU's Monroe Park campus, ca. 1977

Top: Corner of W. Grace and N. Harrison street; Bottom: Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and the James Branch Cabell Library. Notice the cars that are parked on Park Avenue. That section of the street is now closed to traffic.

Above are some stills from a film of VCU's Monroe Park campus (and environs - from Monroe Park to Grace Street) made circa 1977. The footage was filmed by VCU art professor Glenn B. Hamm (1936-1980). He taught at VCU from 1969 until his death in 1980. The video on YouTube was posted by his son Carl Hamm. Part one of the film can be accessed here and part two here. Carl is a local Richmond DJ (he added some great music to the film) -- his work can be accessed here.

Does anyone have any more old films of Richmond that they would like to share?

-- Ray B.

The Library of Virginia Gets It

Anyone who has ever seriously researched state or local history has probably been to the Library of Virginia to avail themselves of invaluable records and research tools. Chances are you have flipped through the extensive card catalogue by the map desk, wrestled with a microfilm reader that didn’t want to load properly, and waited patiently as the mysterious staff on the third floor locates the items you have requested and sends them downstairs. If you don’t conveniently work right beside the Library like I do, it can be a struggle to find time during the week to get your research done. The Library understands.

We realized that increasingly our users would visit us virtually, rather than physically, and their expectations for their online visits would be influenced by and change according to the Web technologies available on other sites they use every day for work, research, and entertainment.

They launched Virginia Memory in 2009 to help the public navigate online content. While there is something thrilling about touching the fragile pages of a manuscript that has survived through the years and has made it into the Library’s archives, I am ecstatic about the increasing number of digitized collections that the Library has to offer. Here are a few of my favorites:

WPA Life Histories: This collections provides a fully–searchable index with images to approximately 1,350 life histories, social–ethnic studies, and youth studies plus more than 50 interviews with former slaves which were created by the staff of the Virginia Writers' Project.

Stereograph Collection: Stereoscopic views were a popular 19th century recreational pastime that enabled photographs to be viewed in three dimensions. What appear to be two identical images adjacent to each other on a cardboard support are actually slightly different. When viewed through the lenses of a stereoscope, they "merge" to form a single 3-D image. The Library of Virginia's Stereograph Collection contains 318 images from many prominent and well-known photographers from the early 1860s to the early 20th century.

"Bird's Eye View of Richmond," from the stereograph collection, courtesy of the Library of Virginia

S Bassett French Biographical Sketches: This collection of digital images provides biographical information on almost 9,000 men, compiled by French between 1890 and 1897.

Chancery Records Index: The Chancery Records Index (CRI) is a result of archival processing and indexing projects overseen by the Library of Virginia (LVA) and funded, in part, by the Virginia Circuit Court Records Preservation Program (CCRP). Each of Virginia's circuit courts created chancery records that contain considerable historical and genealogical information. Because the records rely so heavily on testimony from witnesses, they offer a unique glimpse into the lives of Virginians from the early 18th century through the First World War.

Revolutionary War Bounty Warrants: Accumulated documents intended to verify dates of service of officers, soldiers, and sailors in a Virginia or Continental army or naval unit during the Revolutionary War.

These are only the tip of the iceberg, so do yourself a favor and check out the rest of the Library's digital collections.

- Catherine E.

Admit It - Uneeda Biscuit

I’m a fan of the old Uneeda Biscuit sign at 25th and East Broad Streets in Church Hill, and that got me to thinking about print ads that the National Biscuit Company used in the Richmond area. Here are a few of my favorites:

- Catherine E.

First Psychedelic Rock Concert in Richmond (and Virginia) took place 42 years (& 3 days) ago on W. Broad Street, August 4, 1967.

Click on image for a larger view.

The image above [which is a copy - an original is held by the Library of Virginia] is the poster for what was billed as the first psychedelic dance (rock concert) in Virginia - which took place in Richmond on August 4, 1967 at the Tantilla Gardens Ballroom on West Broad Street. The band was called the Actual Mushroom - made up of students from Richmond Professional Institute (now VCU). It featured a female singer. I believe this was the only time they performed together.

Colored lights provided by the crew that became the Air Flow Light Show (headed by Chuck Wrenn, Richmond's Rock-N-Roll impresario). I'm certain that Chuck did the artwork for this poster. Check out the places listed on the poster where you could buy tickets. All gone now.

Ross Mackenzie covered the event for the Richmond News-Leader and wrote that the band sounded like a “streetcar screeching to a stop.” Another account of the show (most likely the Richmond Times-Dispatch) stated that the dance was attended by “about 1000 people." Very Groovy.

Check out this site for more about Richmond and Virginia's Rock-N-Roll History. The Library of Virginia also has other images of posters from the Tantilla Gardens Ballroom.

- Ray B.

Image of Monroe Park, Richmond Dispatch, May 31, 1896.

From the May 31, 1896 issue of the Richmond Dispatch.
The train shown here is on Belvidere. The trolleys are on Main Street.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Check out the entire page of this issue of the Richmond Dispatch
- it includes another image of Monroe Park.

Another Worthy Richmond History Site Lands - So Says Buttermilk and Molasses.

Postcard view of the 700 and 600 blocks of
E. Broad Street, postmarked 1914. Click for larger view.

Our site got a very nice write-up in the Buttermilk and Molasses web site - Check them out checking us out. BTW - they are a great site on what's going on in Richmond today - you should visit them daily.

- Ray B.

Original Entrance to Hollywood Cemetery, ca. 1895.

This image of the original entrance to Hollywood Cemetery is from Richmond, Virginia: Her Advantages and Attractions... published ca. 1895 by J. L. Hill Printing Co., Richmond, Va.

Click on the image for larger view.

- Ray B.

The modernist design of VCU’s planned gallery was too
modern for two donors. Now it’s being relocated.
Rendering by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, Architects LLC

Below is a great letter about the proposed new art gallery for VCU. Let us hope that VCU does not raise enough money for this project and another building design is selected. The original article that Selden refers to can be found HERE.

VCU’s Aggressive Design Agenda Invades Richmond

[From Style magazine, 8/4/2009]

Thank you for printing an image of the proposed art gallery planned by Virginia Commonwealth University for a site near the Jefferson Hotel, and congratulations to the owners of the Jefferson for refusing to have this structure constructed near their historic hotel (“Design Clash,” Arts & Culture, July 22). The picture of the astonishingly unattractive gallery serves to remind Richmonders that, even in the post-Trani era of VCU, the cityscape of this town is still in danger from an entity that pays no real-estate taxes but still imposes wildly inappropriate building designs on our landscape.

The quotation from Richard Toscan, dean of the school of the arts, was as much a revelation as the image of the airplane hangerlike gallery: “I have always been very clear that if we built a gallery on my watch there would not be a single brick in the thing. We’ve got enough brick on this campus. … and we’re not going to hobble a major architect with brick.” Perish the thought that a new gallery should actually fit in with Richmond’s appearance or appear to be a part of the city as a whole. The strident cry of this functionary, reflecting the attitude so prevalent during the tenure of Trani, asserts that VCU will continue to dictate the path of our streets, the look of our buildings, and the atmosphere of our city with little regard for the existing fabric or sense of place.

The horrid irony is that, as Richmonders, we help pay the salary of bureaucrats like Toscan; we help pay for building projects like the ugly nuclear-plant art gallery; and we help finance the undoing of our city by an entity that cares little for the opinion of the residents of the place that has served as host to VCU for more than 50 years. In nature, the relationship between host and parasite is well known. Why the city of Richmond continues to endure the insensitive dictatorial policies of VCU, its aggressive and peculiar architectural design agenda and to indulge the personal and misguided whims of VCU officials is beyond comprehension.

Selden Richardson,
Richmond

[letter to the editor of Style magazine, 8/4/2009