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Library’s exhibit on Newport News history wins statewide award

Program centered on the development of Newport News by the Old Dominion Land Company

A new exhibit and program about the development of Newport News by the Old Dominion Land Company was named the Outstanding Adult Program for libraries serving a population of more than 100,000 from the Virginia Public Library Directors’ Association last week.

Mayumi Machida views the exhibit, “Old Dominion Land Company and the Development of the City of Newport News,” as the Peninsula Youth Orchestra performs period music during the opening celebration for the exhibit, Feb. 26 at Main Street Library.

A new exhibit and program about the development of Newport News by the Old Dominion Land Company was named the Outstanding Adult Program for libraries serving a population of more than 100,000 from the Virginia Public Library Directors’ Association last week.

The exhibit, “The Old Dominion Land Company and Development of Newport News,”  was developed and presented by the staff of the Newport News Public Library System’s Main Street Library. The online version of the exhibit provides an invaluable resource to teach students about local history, and includes lesson plans and activities for both middle- and high-school teachers.  It is free and available on the Newport News Public Library System’s website, www.nngov.com/library, by clicking on “exhibit.”

The exhibit was created using more than 94,000 maps, blueprints, documents, and photographs of the Old Dominion Land Company. These records were given to the city of Newport News in 1979 by the son of the last president of the company. Today the records are housed at the Main Street Library’s Virginiana Room, where all the library’s documents and books related to local history, as well as genealogy resources and rare books, are kept.  The exhibit provides original documentation of how the area that is now Newport News evolved from a rural community in 1880 to a major maritime city by the turn of the century.

The online exhibit was adapted from a freestanding, traveling exhibit, which opened at Main Street Library on Feb. 26 with a youth orchestra performing period music, and scholars discussing historic Newport News. The exhibit has been displayed at the Main Street Library and the Newport News Economic Summit. It is currently at the Newport News City Hall and will be available for loaning.

The exhibit was funded by the Library System’s Dr. Herbert H. Neisser Fund, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, and the Friends of the Newport News Public Library. It was developed and presented by Main Street Library staff, including Gregg Grunow, senior librarian; Judy Condra, exhibit coordinator; Sherin Henderson, supervising librarian; and Leandra DeFeo, research assistant.

The Virginia Library Association is a statewide organization meant to develop, promote, and improve library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to advance literacy and learning and to ensure access to information in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is a non-partisan organization composed of libraries, librarians, trustees, friends, and other interested individuals. About 1,300 individual and institutional members represent a cross-section of educational, commercial, and professional interests.

The award was presented to Newport News Public Library System Library Director Izabela M. Cieszynski at the annual meeting of the Virginia Public Library Directors Association, April 30 and May 1. 

For more information about the exhibit, including how to host it, please call 757-591-4858 or email ggrunow@nngov.com.

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