Sounds like a wonderful exhibit. 

I hope that it includes the pre-revolutionary petitions to the House of Burgesses, petitions that played an important role in the development of American religious freedom (as outlined in my first book).

Thanks for putting-up these kinds of programs!

John A. Ragosta, PhD/JD
johnaragosta.com @johnragosta
Historian, Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello
Fellow,Virginia Humanities

> On 02/04/2022 9:48 AM Deal, John <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>  
> Your Humble Petitioner: Legislative Petitions Gave Voice to Virginians
> Monday, February 7, 2022–Saturday, November 19, 2022
> Exhibition Gallery and Lobby
> Free
> 
> Personal stories of Virginians can be found in the Library’s Legislative
> Petitions Collection. During the years between the American Revolution and
> the Civil War, Virginians submitted petitions to the General Assembly to
> bring local or personal issues to the attention of their legislators. The
> Library’s collection of nearly 25,000 petitions reveals how Virginians
> communicated their concerns on a wide range of topics. To obtain legal
> permission to operate a ferry, maintain a tavern, or carry out many other
> activities, residents of the commonwealth were required to introduce a
> petition into the House of Delegates to begin the process of acceptance or
> rejection. The right to petition was not restricted by class, race, or
> sex. *Your
> Humble Petitioner* highlights petitions that involved deeply personal
> issues such as divorce and requests by emancipated Black people to remain
> in the commonwealth, offering a glimpse into the realities of 18th- and
> 19th-century life.
> 
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