By Dana Puga

The “Bicycle Boom” refers to a period during the 1890s when cycling was at its height. There seems, however, to be another bicycle boom taking place in Richmond these days. And the Library of Virginia is in the thick of the action.

Located in the heart of downtown Richmond, the Library of Virginia houses the most comprehensive resource in the world for the study of Virginia history and culture.  Bikes, of course, play a big part of our community’s story.

Cycling helped shape cultural reform.  During the “Bicycle Boom” period of the 1890s women achieved mobility for the first time. The boom also brought about radical reform in women’s clothing, with bloomers being invented to make bike riding easier for women. Susan B. Anthony stated in 1896 that the bicycle “has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.”

The bicycle boom kicked off a boom in manufacturing as well. We owe the creation of the pneumatic tire, the hollow steel tube frame, ball bearings, and wire spokes to the bicycle; which were created as a push to standardize production.

Today the Library of Virginia boasts a colorful banner inviting people to “Discover the Library of Virginia” that is flanked by windows and an invitation to continue the boom in an entirely new way with the library on social media using @LibraryofVA. Visitors are encouraged to take their photo with a face-cut-out photo board with a historic bike image from the library’s collection and tag their social media posts with #lvabikehistory. In the lobby, images captured with the #lvabikehistory tag, plus images from the Library’s collections, are displayed proudly.

Taking to other forums, the Library of Virginia has also ramped up their sharing of bike images on Instagram from the Library’s collections. Included in the black and white shots of bikes from a different era, the Library includes images submitted by the public. The images are lighthearted and fun and showcase how cycling, since its’ inception, has been a form a recreation and a great equalizer.

You can learn more about the bicycle as an agent of reform through the Library of Virginia’s Google Cultural Institute exhibit, “Wheels of Change.”

Photos courtesy of the Library of Virginia