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Library exhibit on Newport News history wins regional award

Exhibit shows evolution of Newport News

An online exhibit on the history of Newport News created by the Newport News Public Library System has won a prestigious regional award.

An online exhibit on the history of Newport News created by the Newport News Public Library System has won a prestigious regional award.

“The Old Dominion Land Company and the Development of the City of Newport News” won the C. Herbert Finch Online Publication Award. The award was presented by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) at its fall meeting.

Given annually, the award recognizes online publications, including virtual exhibitions, web sites and web pages, devoted to the promotion and use of archival materials created by individuals or institutions in the MARAC region, which includes the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

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 created by Newport News Public Library System staff members Gregg Grunow, senior librarian; Judy Condra, exhibit coordinator; and Leandra DeFeo, research assistant; with assistance from the staff of Main Street Library.

“The Old Dominion Land Company and the Development of the City of Newport News” consists of a freestanding, traveling exhibit, as well as an online exhibit, which is available free on the Newport News Public Library System’s website at  http://www.nngov.com/library/resources/varoom.

The freestanding, traveling exhibit includes a collection of maps, photographs, blueprints that document 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. It was created using Old Dominion Land Company records that 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.

 “This kind of history is crucial for the community’s sense of roots,” said Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander, a member of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Board and Norfolk State University, who presented remarks at the exhibit’s opening on Feb. 26, 2009. “This exhibit does it beautifully.”

Adapted from the freestanding, traveling exhibit, the online exhibit offers an invaluable resource to teach students about local history, and includes lesson plans and activities for both middle- and high-school teachers. 

All graphics in the online exhibit can be enlarged by clicking on the picture, which allows viewers to read documents and maps, and see more detail in the images.  A bibliography listing all resources used to research the exhibit is also included on the website, so that students and researchers may find additional information. 

An extended lesson plan and PowerPoint presentation included in the online exhibit were prepared by Benjamin H. Trask, a social studies teacher at the Gildersleeve Middle School.  The PowerPoint presentation can be used as a supplement to the lesson plan to show students the history in a visual manner. Jessica Mitchell, an advanced placement and traditional United States history teacher at Menchville High School, prepared several projects and resources including:  “Timeline Project: History of Newport News,” “Mapping Project: Newport News Yesterday and Today,” “Document Analysis Lesson: Life in the Industrial City,” and “Suggested Uses for Selected ODLC Artifacts.”  All of these products can be downloaded free from the website, and they adhere to both federal and state education standards.

The C. Herbert Finch Online Publication Award was established to honor the memory of C. Herbert Finch, former Assistant Director of Cornell University Libraries, who died on April 27, 2005. For more information on the Old Dominion Land Company and the Development of the City of Newport News exhibit, please contact Main Street Library’s Virginiana Room at 757-591-4858.

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