Virginia Historical Society

The mission of the historical society is to connect people to America's past through the unparalleled story of Virginia. By collecting, preserving, and interpreting the Commonwealth's history, the society links past with present and inspires future generations.

On December 29, 1831, twenty-eight Virginians—consisting of political, economic, and social leaders—met in the House of Delegates chamber of the Virginia State Capitol to establish a state historical society.^[4] Christened the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society, the new institution's mission was to preserve the memory of the commonwealth's prominent colonial and Revolutionary past at a time when Virginia was experiencing the movement of many of its citizens out of the state, which contributed to a growing sense of social upheaval and a perceived disconnection with Virginia's “golden age.” To give the new historical society a boost from the very beginning, its founders elected Chief Justice John Marshall as its first president and former president James Madison its first honorary member.

In its early years, the historical society gathered an eclectic collection of natural history specimens, historical artifacts, and printed and written material. From time to time, it published the texts of historic documents and the addresses delivered at its annual meetings. This was hampered, however, by having virtually no endowment and no permanent home. In 1848, the institution shortened its cumbersome name to the Virginia Historical Society to reflect a primarily historical focus as it became more active in publishing historical material.^[4] The society gained its first permanent headquarters building in Richmond in 1893. The society's journal, the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, has published on a quarterly basis without interruption since 1893.

In the 1950s, increasing resources allowed the addition of a professional staff. Over the next several decades the society's collections grew. The publications program also increased as the institution gained a significant role in the academic community.

In 1959, the historical society relocated from its headquarters in the Lee House on Franklin Street to Battle Abbey (constructed in 1912) on the Boulevard. To accommodate the society, a four-story wing was added to the west side of the previously expanded Battle Abbey. Since 1959, the headquarters building has been renovated and expanded several times—including a new west wing to house the extensive society research library (1992); a north wing to expand its gallery space and house offices of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (1998); a new south wing to add additional gallery space, storage, offices, and a nearly 488-seat auditorium (2006); and new spaces for public use on the north and south sides of the building (2015).

In 1992, the society opened the Center for Virginia History, increasing its display and archival resources. Shortly thereafter, it entered into a partnership with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources,^[5] an agency of the state government, which also had significant historical holdings (both artifacts and archives), forming a unique private-public partnership.

In 2018, after nearly a year of research, community conversations, and strategic planning, the Virginia Historical Society announced a new name for its headquarters facility at 428 N. Boulevard in Richmond, Virginia—The Virginia Museum of History & Culture.^[6]

In 2019, the street on which the Virginia Museum of History & Culture is located was renamed Arthur Ashe Boulevard in honor of Arthur Ashe. Ashe grew up in Richmond, but was barred from playing tennis at the white-only courts in Byrd Park. Ashe went on to become the first black man to win major championships at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Australian Open.^[7]

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Virginia State Capitol

Virginia State Capitol

The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. It houses the oldest elected legislative body in North America, the Virginia General Assembly, first established as the House of Burgesses in 1619.

John Marshall

John Marshall

John Marshall was an American politician, lawyer, and Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longest serving justice in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court, and is widely regarded as one of the most influential justices ever to serve. Prior to joining the court, Marshall briefly served as both the U.S. secretary of state under President John Adams, and a representative, in the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia, thereby making him one of the few Americans to serve on all three branches of the United States federal government.

James Madison

James Madison

James Madison Jr. was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.

Virginia Department of Historic Resources

Virginia Department of Historic Resources

The Virginia Department of Historic Resources is the State Historic Preservation Office for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The agency maintains the Virginia Landmarks Register. It also holds historic property easements, administers the state's historic tax credit program, and approves official highway historical markers for the state. Its headquarters are leased from and shared with the Virginia Historical Society.

Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe

Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the United States Davis Cup team, and the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. He retired in 1980. He was ranked world No. 1 by Rex Bellamy, Bud Collins, Judith Elian, Lance Tingay, World Tennis and Tennis Magazine (U.S.) in 1975. That year, Ashe was awarded the 'Martini and Rossi' Award, voted for by a panel of journalists, and the ATP Player of the Year award. In the ATP computer rankings, he peaked at No. 2 in May 1976.Ashe is believed to have acquired HIV from a blood transfusion he received during heart bypass surgery in 1983. He publicly announced his illness in April 1992, and began working to educate others about HIV and AIDS. He founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health before his death from AIDS-related pneumonia at the age of 49 on February 6, 1993. On June 20, 1993, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by United States President Bill Clinton.

Mann and Elizabeth Page, by John Wollaston, circa 1757.^[8]

The Virginia Museum of History & Culture offers a wide array of educational programs, especially for students and teachers. These include outreach programs that take place in school classrooms, guided tours of exhibitions, and workshops and week-long summer institutes for teachers.

The museum offers three members-only evening lectures and around 20 noontime lectures every year that are open to the public. Audio and videos of past lectures are accessible on the web site.^[9]

Current exhibitions include The Story of Virginia, a long-term exhibition that interprets 16,000 years of Virginia history from the earliest artifacts of Native Americans to Virginia at the beginning of the 21st century.^[8]

Virginia House, situated on a hillside overlooking the James River in Richmond, Virginia, was constructed by Alexander W. Weddell, U.S. ambassador to Spain and Argentina, and his wife, Virginia Weddell, in 1928 from the materials of a 16th-century English manor house previously standing in Warwick. It was a blend of three romantic English Tudor designs, and, for its time, was a thoroughly modern home complete with seven full baths, central heat, modern kitchen, and commodious closets.

Now owned and operated by the Virginia Historical Society as a museum, the house has been preserved much as it was when the Weddells resided there. The gardens and grounds of Virginia House provide a rich tapestry of texture and color throughout the year. Today, close to 1,000 types of ornamental plants thrive throughout formal and naturalistic gardens.

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Virginia House

Virginia House

Virginia House is a manor house on a hillside overlooking the James River in the Windsor Farms neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia, United States.

James River

James River

The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows 348 miles (560 km) to the Chesapeake Bay. The river length extends to 444 miles (715 km) if the Jackson River is included, the longer of its two headwaters. It is the longest river in Virginia. Jamestown and Williamsburg, Virginia's first colonial capitals, and Richmond, Virginia's current capital, lie on the James River.

Alexander W. Weddell

Alexander W. Weddell

Alexander Wilbourne Weddell was an American diplomat. He served as United States ambassador to Argentina from 1933 to 1939 and to Spain from 1939 to 1942.

Warwick

Warwick

Warwick is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is 9 miles (14 km) south of Coventry, and 19 miles (31 km) south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whitnash.