Lena Nagle explores the grim and the grand of Richmond history

By Liz DeFluri

A family vacation in Salem, Massachusetts – site of the infamous witch trials in the 1690s – sparked Lena Nagle’s passion for both the macabre and the past. They have continued to intersect during her undergraduate years at Virginia Commonwealth University, where the senior and art history major in the School of the Arts has found varied outlets for her research and storytelling.

“Art is a good way of seeing an ordinary person’s reactions to life. It really humanizes different events throughout history,” said Nagle, noting how the past is often filtered through governmental and military lenses.

This summer, Nagle delved into local history as a research intern with the St. John’s Church Foundation. The Episcopal church, dating to 1741 and giving the Church Hill neighborhood its moniker, is the oldest church in Richmond and the site of Patrick Henry’s pre-Revolutionary “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech in 1775.

She had met St. John’s archivists through a project she completed for a Richmond Cemeteries class taught by history professor Ryan Smith, Ph.D., about the recent burial of the church’s beloved cat, Charlie.

“When I visited the welcome center, they were all so inviting,” Nagle said. “I quickly became connected with everyone there.”

Reflecting her passions, Nagle also has been a storytelling guide for Strange Richmond Tours, whose walks explore Hollywood Cemetery, Shockoe Bottom and the city’s haunted history. Her summer work might have seemed less colorful, but it still went deep in Richmond’s past, including its tragedies.

She extensively examined historical records, vestry records and inscriptions on headstones in the church’s graveyard. Nagle also created educational content for the foundation, including a presentation on the first Church Hill tunnel collapse of January 1873.

While the final collapse of October 1925, which killed at least four men, is more historically well-known, the first collapse has a connection to St. John’s: the church’s rectory was destroyed in the incident.

“I looked at all the primary sources and compiled the evidence to support what took place. While examining old property records, I was able to determine exactly where the rectory was at the time,” Nagle said. “It’s very interesting to provide [the foundation] with research and information they might not have found otherwise.” 

Nagle has served as a volunteer docent at the Poe Museum in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom, which celebrates the American writer and macabre master Edgar Allan Poe, and she first visited St. John’s Church to see the gravesite of Poe’s biological mother. Elizabeth “Eliza” Arnold Poe is among the many notable burials and stories of the church’s historic graveyard.

For her St. John's internship, Nagle received financial support from VCU’s Internship Funding Program, which helps students cover costs related to summer internships. The assistance allowed her to focus on her work at the church without needing additional jobs to pay rent.

“This is a really amazing and life-changing experience,” Nagle said. “It feels like reconstructing the past and understanding how different the city was throughout time.”

VCU’s Internship Funding Program is supported by a combination of VCU funds from the Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success and the School of Business, donor funds from the Student Life and Learning Fund, and grant funds from the State Council for Higher Education of Virginia.