History & Culture

After being mere spectators at the war's early battles, civilians both near and far from the battlefields became unwilling participants and victims of the war as its toll of blood and treasure grew year after year. In response to the hardships imposed upon their fellow citizens by the war, civilians on both sides mobilized to provide comfort, encouragement, and material, and began to expect that their government should do the same.

The Racial Integrity Act of 1924 banned interracial marriage in Virginia. It also required Virginians to register their race as either "white" or "colored." One of the many consequences of this discriminatory policy was the erasure of the Indigenous identity from public records. To this day, Indigenous people in Virginia have difficulty tracing their lineage due to this century-old policy.

The National Park Service is working to clear the views at two sites vital to the Battle of Second Manassas. Overgrown shrubs and trees have been hiding the sightlines used by Civil War commanders, and park managers are pulling out some unusual tools to address the situation.

Portici is a cultural landscape within Manassas National Battlefield Park that demonstrates the development of agriculture in Virginia since European contact and up to the present day. The landscape history reflects the changing industry, labor practices, and environment before and after the Civil War.

The Robinson House site was the home of a free African-American family, the Robinsons, from the late 1840s through 1936. James Robinson, also known as "Gentleman Jim," was a free African-American born in 1799. James and a slave named Susan Gaskins had six children, all born into slavery.

Using photographs, illustrations, and maps, this article focuses on the African-American experience, in slavery and freedom, in the immediate vicinity of Manassas National Battlefield Park.

The investigation of a Confederate winter camp site at Manassas National Battlefield Park by professional archeologists found the remains of 20 Civil War-era structures.

The Civil War showed the cracks in the loosely held peace between the North and South. As the end of slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation established a reason for African Americans to join the fight, the stage was set for African American men to fight for their own freedom and rights as citizens of America.

The story of African American’s fight for equality did not begin or end with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. In the National Capital Area, dedicated activism and self-determination has been documented since the Revolutionary War through the present day. This series consists of six articles that outline distinct timelines of resistance and activism in the fight for freedom.

The Mary Jane Dogan house is located near Groveton, the site of the Second Battle of Manassas. It was erected between 1878 and 1880 for Mary Jane Dogan by noted Alexandria, Virginia, builder Alexander Lyles. The house incorporates building components salvaged from earlier structures on site. Many residents faced with deprivations after the Civil War rebuilt using the remnants of previous structures. Explore the house via HDP’s animation and archival HABS documentation.