The cover image for "Virginians LIke Us." Clockwise from top left: William Campbell of the Overmountain Men, the spy James Amistead Lafayette, the publisher Clementina Rind, the soldier Billy Flora, the soldier Peter Francisco. Cover image drawn by Stan Webb.
The cover image for "Virginians LIke Us." Clockwise from top left: William Campbell of the Overmountain Men, the spy James Amistead Lafayette, the publisher Clementina Rind, the soldier Billy Flora, the soldier Peter Francisco. Cover image drawn by Stan Webb.

For the past three years, thanks in part to a grant from the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission, Cardinal has been telling monthly stories about little-known aspects of Virginia’s role in American independence.

Now, thanks to a grant from Acton Family Giving and the Hearthland Foundation, we have been able to turn some of those stories into a graphic history for Virginia students. “Graphic novel” is the industry lingo although the word “novel” might be misleading to some in this context; all these are true stories from Virginia history.

We commissioned 21 artists to turn 21 stories that Cardinal has published into a book intended for use in schools and libraries. “Virginians Like Us” is now available for free download here, either as a full book or the individual chapters. You can also read bios of the artists, find study guides for each chapter, and links to the previous stories Cardinal has published that inspired each chapter.

For now, “Virginians Like Us” is only available in a digital format. If you’d like to help us turn this into a printed version, let us know at dwayne@cardinanews.org.