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Time Period
16,000 BCE to 1622 CE
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At the time of the great northern glaciers, Native Americans followed the game they hunted to Virginia. Ten thousand years later, as the cold of the Ice Age gave way to a warmer, drier climate, they relied also on foraging and farming. After about 900 CE they settled into villages that united into chiefdoms. In 1607, in pursuit of opportunity in a new world, English settlers intruded into an eastern Virginia chiefdom of thirty-two tribes (15,000 to 20,000 people). Its leader then was Wahunsenacawh, whom the new settlers called by his title, Powhatan.
Time Period
1825 to 1860
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The decades following the presidency of Virginian James Monroe (1817–1825) saw populations shift, the economy expand, and attitudes about slavery harden. More and more families migrated from the soil-depleted Tidewater and Piedmont, while new and diverse peoples in the Shenandoah Valley prospered. The beginnings of the Industrial Revolution encouraged the growth of industry, urban centers, and “internal improvements” (transportation by road, rail, and canal). Those “improvements”––funded by taxes––became a subject of political debate. Slavery was as vehemently attacked by abolitionists as it was defended by proponents.
Time Period
1877 to 1924
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After the Civil War, Virginia remained largely rural, but Virginians embraced economic development and the new technologies that were revolutionizing everyday life. At the same time, however, they resisted political and social change––especially racial and gender equality. Living standards improved and income rose, but the political system became less democratic and society was rigidly segregated by race. “The New South” brought economic renewal but little reform. The Virginia legislature rejected a woman’s right to vote in 1919, and it passed a regressive Racial Integrity Act in 1924.
Time Period
1925 to Today
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A century of foreign wars expanded the presence of both the federal government in Northern Virginia and the military in the Hampton Roads area. Growth in those regions helped transform the state from a rural to a primarily urban one, from a poor to a relatively affluent one, and from a state with few non-natives to one with many. Only painstakingly, however, have minorities gained equality. Since 1960, the population has doubled. The largest employer now is the government, next is agriculture, which adds billions of dollars to the state’s economy.
Exhibition
A Better Life for Their Children
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From 1912-37, the Rosenwald schools program built thousands of schools, shops, and teacher’s homes across 15 Southern...
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A Landscape Saved
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This exhibition celebrated the efforts in preservation and horticulture made by the Garden Club of Virginia during its...
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A Material World
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Featuring 43 iconic images from the archives of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and accompanied by historical objects that...
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Agents of Change
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Organized in conjunction with the statewide Women’s Suffrage Centennial, this exhibition featured artifacts from the...
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Apollo: When We Went to the Moon
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Through objects and artifacts from the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s archives, this exhibition explored the social and...
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Artists4ERA
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Artists4ERA is part of ongoing efforts to ensure that the ERA becomes the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution...
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Coming Out, Affecting Change
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For centuries, social and legal discrimination forced most lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+)...
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Determined
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This exhibition examined the long history of black Americans in North America as they have fought for freedom, equal...
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Fresh Paint
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This unprecedented exhibition explored the power of murals to encourage reflection on Virginia’s past by inviting...
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Inside Looking Out
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The first exhibition of its kind in that it displays nearly all of artist Queena Stovall’s work in one place, this...
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Mending Walls RVA
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This pop-up exhibition and community collaboration featured a diverse group of artists creating public artwork as a tool...
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Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!
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This exhibition examined the making of this animated classic and celebrated the anticipation, joy, and pitfalls of the...
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Oh, Shenandoah
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PRAISE YOUR MOTHER / AMA A LA MAMÁ – InLight 2020
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The VMHC was excited to be a host location in November 2020 for the art installation, PRAISE YOUR MOTHER / AMA A LA MAMÁ...
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The Commonwealth and the Great War
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This exhibition explored the role Virginians played in World War I and highlighted the stories of individual Virginians...
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The League of Wives
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Featuring artifacts, photographs, and oral histories, this exhibition illustrated the dramatic story of how the spouses...