HistoryFest - Coming May 17, 2025!

The VMHC is excited to announce HistoryFest, a daylong festival-meets conference, in partnership with Thoughtful Productions. Visitors can expect to immerse themselves in history through 15 multi-sensory presentations spanning musical and art revolutions, travel, food culture, American presidents, and generation-defining events. Presenters include renowned historians, professors, artistic directors, academic fellows, and more.

Tickets allow you to attend up to five presentations throughout the day. Doors open at 10:00 am. 

Learn more about the presenters

Sessions:

11:00-11:45 AM 

• Food That Changed America (Allen Pietrobon)
• Vistas of Democracy: The National Parks in American History (Richard Newman)
• Why Did They Call It “The Underground Railroad?” 
   

12:00-12:45 PM

• Travel in America (Allen Pietrobon)
• Inside The Mind of Abraham Lincoln (Louis Masur)
• Musicals That Changed Broadway Forever (Sean Hartley) 
   

1:15-2:00 PM

• The American Revolution: Stories You Never Learned In School (Richard Bell)
• The Black Founding Father Every American Should Know (Richard Newman)
• Thomas Jefferson: What I think Now (Steve Edenbo)
   

2:15-3:00 PM

• The History of Ice Cream (Leni Sorensen)
• The Rock Experience: The Music and Stories of Classic Songs (Louis Masur)
• The Artistic Genius of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci (Denise Budd) 
   

3:30 - 4:15 PM 

• Virginia in 10 Objects (VMHC)
• The Wines of World Leaders (Tracy Waldron)
• Films That Changed America (Will Kuhn)

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