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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
1764 to 1824
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British taxation—introduced to pay for a British military presence in America—was unexpected by the Virginia gentry and resented. Those Americans began to view British policy as a plot against their liberty. They played leading roles in the Continental Congresses that debated independence, in the fighting of the American Revolution, and in the conception and implementation of a new government. Virginia also provided four of the new nation’s first five presidents. Virginia leaders advocated equality for all but they never considered extending it to women and African Americans.
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.
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...
Time Period Chapter
A New Virginia
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In the early twentieth century, the nation’s economy was becoming more industrialized and its population more urbanized.
Exhibition
Agents of Change
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Organized in conjunction with the statewide Women’s Suffrage Centennial, this exhibition featured artifacts from the...
Time Period Chapter
Causes of the Revolution
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After 1763, Great Britain underestimated the economic and political maturity of the Americans
Time Period Chapter
Contact and Conflict
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The first settlers were welcomed by the Indians with ceremony. However, following Capt. John Smith’s return to England...
Exhibition
Determined
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This exhibition examined the long history of black Americans in North America as they have fought for freedom, equal...
Article Set - Intro
Early Images of Virginia Indians: The William W. Cole Collection
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Explore engravings and illustration of early Virginia Indians.
Time Period Chapter
Establishing a Nation
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Three of Virginia’s Revolutionary era leaders played critical roles in the successful establishment of the nation’s...
Time Period Chapter
Exploration of the New World
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Initially, European nations were searching for a water route to the Far East, not a New World.
Article Set - Intro
Eye of the Storm: The Civil War Drawings of Robert Knox Sneden
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Through his 5,000-page personal memoir, Robert Knox Sneden takes us to the front lines of the Civil War.
Exhibition
Founding Frenemies
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This exhibition explored Alexander Hamilton’s relationships with the founding generation of Virginians through rare...
Article Set - Intro
Getting the Message Out: Presidential Campaign Memorabilia from the Collection of Allen A. Frey
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Buttons and banners, ribbons and posters, coffee mugs and whiskey flasks, match books and mouse pads. For nearly 200 years, presidential candidates and their supporters have used almost every means available to attract votes.
Article Set - Intro
Great things are expected from the Virginians
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Capt. John Chilton of the 3rd Virginia Infantry described his experiences in New York and New Jersey in 1776–77 in letters home to family and friends. Located in the society's manuscripts collection, Chilton's letters offer a fascinating glimpse of one Virginian's thoughts and experiences during a pivotal time in the Revolutionary War.
Exhibition
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...
Exhibition
John Marshall
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Highlighting objects like his Law Commonplace Notebook, spectacles and inkwell, writing desk, and even his hair, this...
Article Set - Intro
Lee and Grant
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By the end of the Civil War, most Americans considered either Robert E. Lee or Ulysses S. Grant to be a hero. The time has come for a reassessment of these two men, on whom fell the greatest responsibility for the survival or disintegration of the United States.
Exhibition
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...