Featured Events
Featuring award-winning speakers, tours, and family activities for all ages and interest levels. To browse all upcoming events, please click through to our calendar.
Lafayette Bicentennial Farewell Tour Dinner
Lecture: You’ll Do: A Southern History of Marrying for Reasons other Than Love
Black History Highlight Tours
Lecture: A Perfect Frenzy
First Fridays at VMHC
Class: Oral Histories & Veteran Writing Projects
Black History Highlight Tours
Lecture: Julius Rosenwald—Investing in People
Black History Highlight Tours
Lecture: The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon
Black History Highlight Tours
Virginia Journeys: Patrick Henry
First Fridays at VMHC
Virtual Curator Conversation: Give Me Liberty Preview
Lecture: Roses in December - Black Life in Hanover County from Civil War to Civil Rights
Give Me Liberty Member Preview
Give Me Liberty Member Preview
Give Me Liberty Member Preview
First Fridays at VMHC
Lecture: Diplomats at War
Collections Up Close: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow — Hair Jewlery in Virginia History
Collections Up Close: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow — Hair Jewlery in Virginia History
Stuart G. Christian, Jr. Lecture: Glorious Lessons
Member Tours: Give Me Liberty
Member Tours: Give Me Liberty
First Fridays at VMHC
Lecture: A Soldier's Life — A Black Woman's Rise from Army Brat to Six Triple Eight Champion
Member Tours: Give Me Liberty
Member Tours: Give Me Liberty
Lecture: Always Order the Pie (and Sometimes You Should Order It First)
Member Event: Garden Party
First Fridays at VMHC
Lecture: Cold War Virginia
First Fridays at VMHC
First Fridays at VMHC
First Fridays at VMHC
First Fridays at VMHC
First Fridays at VMHC
First Fridays at VMHC
Our Commonwealth
This signature exhibition provides an in-depth, multi-sensory journey through the five major regions of Virginia and features stories and artifacts from across the state to reveal that place is not only about geography, but also the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves.
Featured Collections Items
The VMHC has a collection of more than 9 million items. Here are just a few them (please note that not all of them may be on display to the public). Search the Library or Museum Objects Collections databases to learn more.
Tennis Items, Arthur Ashe
Tennis racquet,bag, and wrist band, all belonged to Arthur Ashe.
Drawing, Natural Bridge
Pastel drawing depicting Natural Bridge in Snow by George Brewerton in 1872.
Painting, George Washington
Portrait in oils of George Washington by Charles Peale Polk, nephew of Charles Willson Peale, whose 1787 portrait of the general was the basis for this image.
Bowie Knife
Bowie knife taken from John Brown at Harper's Ferry in 1859 by J.E.B. Stuart.
Desk circa 1780-1805
Chippenale slant-front desk with bracket feet, Eastern Virginia, probably Richmond, based on Williamsburg prototype.
U.S. Navy WAVES Uniform
Complete WAVES uniform from World War II worn by Nancy E. Bailey (Bon Cogsdale).
Equal Suffrage League of Richmond Photograph
1915 Photograph show a group of women gathered in Capitol Square holding large banners which read "Equal Suffrage League and Richmond, Virginia" and "Votes for Women."
Program, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 1962
Program from the Virginia State Unit of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference meeting, includes a black and white photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and five signatures (clockwise from
Photographic print, No. 3, Pocahontas [train], barrels by Shawsville on its night run to Cincinnati, 1955
Image depicting Norfolk and Western Train No. 3, the Pocahontas, in a shroud of exhaust with 13 cars of Christmas mail and passengers.
Tintype Portrait of Robert Thaxton
Tintype portrait of Pvt. Robert Thaxton, a Confederate soldier killed at the battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, in May 1863.