About the Project

Since 1907, the Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg, Va., has been collecting and preserving print, manuscript, photographic, cartographic and genealogical documentation of Loudoun County and Northern Virginia, also serving as a designated Underground Railroad Research Site. Beginning with this site's Collections page, the library's ongoing partnership with the Center for Mason Legacies seeks to widen the audience for these invaluable primary sources by making more of them individually available online, seeing them incorporated into new scholarship, and promoting insights into their meaning through CML-created digital exhibits on our region's people, history and development. 

About the Thomas Balch Library

One of the library’s missions is collecting and preserving printed, manuscript, photographic, cartographic and genealogical documentation of Leesburg, Loudoun County and the surrounding region. The library actively seeks and welcomes donations of original business records, diaries, correspondence and photographs documenting life, culture and history of Leesburg and Loudoun County. Library collections include over 32,000 books and periodicals, maps, visual collections, newspapers, government records, and manuscripts. The library is a designated Underground Railroad Research Site. The library offers lectures on history and genealogy, classes, and exhibits. Group tours and orientations are available on request and books about local history are available for purchase on-site. Please contact us to find out more about donating to the library, joining our mailing list, or scheduling a tour.

About the Center for Mason Legacies

The Center for Mason Legacies (CML) is an interdisciplinary and collaborative research center established by the University Libraries and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Our mission is to preserve and examine the legacy of George Mason IV (1725-1792), his ancestors and heirs, and the people he enslaved.

To accomplish this, we engage student researchers in studying the past and present influences of our university's namesake though a combination of scholarly research, public history, teaching innovation, and community outreach.

Project team

• Alexandra S. Gressitt, Library Director, Thomas Balch Library
• Laura E. Christiansen, Curator of Manuscripts and Archives, Thomas Balch Library
• George D. Oberle III, Director, Center for Mason Legacies
• Alyssa Toby Fahringer, Digital Scholarship Consultant, George Mason University Libraries