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Ernie Gates

Ernie Gates is a longtime newspaper editor and a freelance writer and editor living in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Beyond Blackface

Beyond Blackface

Recent political scandals prompted Corks & Curls to look for a new name. They also had us looking through our own back issues.

Summer 2019

Serpentine Timeline

Serpentine Timeline

Study up on the twists and turns of UVA's history, from the laying of the cornerstone to the inauguration of the ninth president.

Winter 2018

Pardon Our French

Pardon Our French

Founder’s Day, Paris 1919, the great party after the Great War, where they sang the “The Good Old Song” in what passed for French.

Fall 2018

Antiwar Stories

Antiwar Stories

May Days 1970: The week that would change UVA forever, through the eyes of those who were there.

Spring 2018

Color Bind

Color Bind

Excavation uncovers a dilemma: Should the colonnade be the bright white of our time or the unpainted tan of Jefferson’s?

Spring 2018

Exactly what he didn’t want. Exactly what UVA needed.

Exactly what he didn’t want. Exactly what UVA needed.

Finding the University’s first president took 80 years—give-or-take, heeding Jefferson, or not.

Fall 2017

The First President

The First President

UVA’s first president introduced the modern era, but some of Edwin Alderman’s progressive notions were anything but.

Fall 2017

Enslaved Laborers Memorial Approved

Enslaved Laborers Memorial Approved

The Freedom Ring memorial, a representation of the University’s relationship with slavery, is expected to be completed by the Bicentennial in 2019.

Fall 2017

Integrating from Behind the Scenes

Integrating from Behind the Scenes

A look at the quiet effectiveness of Paul Saunier, an administrator who helped desegregate UVA.

Summer 2017

Theatre of the Macabre

Theatre of the Macabre

Jefferson’s Anatomical Theatre gave way to grave robbers, the student Cadaver Society and, eventually, the wrecking ball.

Spring 2017

The Nuances of Building a Better Congress

The Nuances of Building a Better Congress

Batten professor Craig Volden’s Legislative Effectiveness Project rates members of Congress according to their success in turning their ideas into laws.

Summer 2016

In the Name of God

In the Name of God

Jerry White and Peter Ochs see a world aflame with killing in the name of God, and they want to fight fire with fire—and with data.

Winter 2015