The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society

Collecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of our community!

Magazine

Albemarle County enjoys a rich Jewish tradition dating to the mid-18th century. Jews have been instrumental leaders in the social, commercial, political and religious life of the area. In 1882 Congregation Beth Israel, formerly the Hebrew Benevolent Society, laid the cornerstone on the region’s first synagogue, located in downtown Charlottesville at the northwest corner of Second and Market Streets. Only a decade later, the federal government bought the site for a new Post Office and Courthouse, which opened there in 1906 (and is today the home of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library). Congregation Beth Israel’s members painstakingly erected a new home (shown in this photo) only a few blocks to the north, at Jefferson and Third Streets, reusing much of the materials from the original temple. Unveiled in 1904, it survives today as the heart of the thriving and inspiring Jewish community of Central Virginia. (photo by Rufus Holsinger and courtesy of the Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia).

The Magazine of Albemarle Charlottesville History

The Magazine of Albemarle Charlottesville History is our flagship publication. Those who founded the Historical Society in Charlottesville in the spring of 1940 were united by a common goal to engage in and share original historic research about the region. In 1941, these founding members published their first collection of articles. Initially titled the “Papers of the Albemarle County Historical Society,” the Magazine has continued to maintain an incredibly high standard for its published works. It has rightfully earned a reputation as one of the best publications of its kind in the country. Topics have focused on exploring the history of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and the entire Central Virginia region. Authors have included PhD and lay historians alike, as well as graduate students, genealogists, and others. The Magazine is published annually, and is usually released towards the end of a calendar year. Copies will soon be made available online, in addition to being for sale in our Museum offices downtown. If you are interested in submitting an article or would like to query the Editor, please see the full Submissions Guidelines below.

Submission Guidelines

The Magazine of Albemarle Charlottesville History (MACH) welcomes submissions. Any topics that illumine local history will be considered, including brief biographies of individuals, accounts of events, histories of institutions or businesses, scholarly essays in art or architectural history, edited memoirs and diaries, transcribed documents and interviews, results of archaeological surveys, indexes of public records, genealogies, and abstracts of source material. In each volume, MACH aims to deliver fresh information and insight in a format that combines rigorous research with readable style.

Contributors may submit either finished manuscripts or editorial queries for consideration. In either case a letter or email must outline the topic, explain the subject’s relevance (and its timeliness), provide a brief summary of the sources consulted by the writer, list the writer’s relevant qualifications or expertise in the topic area, and offer suggestions for illustrations to accompany a potential article. Please note that a positive response to a query does not constitute a promise to publish a resulting manuscript.

Topic Choice: Submissions should not duplicate topics previously treated in MACH; indexes and back issues are available for review. The majority of narrative action in any manuscript should occur within Charlottesville and/or Albemarle County.

Originality/Exclusivity: All submissions must be original to the contributor. Submissions should neither have been published previously in any similar form, nor be under simultaneous consideration by any other publication.

Sources: Submissions must rely to the extent possible on primary sources rather than secondary or scholarly works. In manuscript submissions, source citations must be inserted into the document using Microsoft Word’s automated endnote function.

Images: Contributors must obtain written permission from proper authorities to reproduce any images as illustrations in MACH. Digital scans or photographs should be provided in high-resolution JPEG or TIFF format at 300 dpi or greater.

Length: Manuscripts submitted for consideration should not exceed 15,000 words.

Style: MACH uses the Chicago Manual Style (17th Edition). Manuscript submissions should be double-spaced, using Times New Roman 12pt font and 1-inch page margins.

Deadline: Manuscripts for each annual issue will be selected by April 1 of the year of publication.

Submissions: All manuscripts must be produced in Microsoft Word (or a compatible software equivalent) and submitted electronically as email attachments or on disk. Queries may be made by email or U.S. mail. If illustrations are included, they should be in the form of digital scans or photographs, following the criteria outlined above. Images should not be embedded within the manuscript. Do not send original print photographs or artwork.

Submit to: [email protected] with “Editor/MACH Submission” in subject line; or Editor, Magazine of Albemarle Charlottesville History, Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, 200 Second Street NE, Charlottesville, VA 22902-5245.

Shared Magazine Articles

MACH 58_2000, "Site of Slave Block?" by Gayle M. Schulman
MACH 78_2020, "An Oral History Interview with Paul M. Gaston"