To tell the story of Virginia, one must know the history of Virginia. To know the history and its legacy, you must understand what happened and what influence it has had on the current endeavors. It may be something simple as a confirmation of what took place on a date in the Virginia State capital or even deeper when trying to see how politicians voted during a particular session. Through the usage of artifacts, archived papers, and paintings, the story is told.

On October 29, 2014, the Historian’s Workshop at the University of Richmond was given an insider’s look at the changes the Virginia Historical Society (VHS) had completed to date, and what was still in store before they reopen their galleries in 2015. We were given a guided tour that included walking the galleries in their incomplete status, as well as viewing the interpretive artistic drawings to help us understand the final vision of the renovations. To understand the interpretation of the tour, one must understand the remarkable history of the VHS as an archive, museum, and educational center.

The VHS was founded in 1831 and is the oldest cultural institution in Virginia. While remaining a non-profit entity, this public institution has been dedicated to collecting and interpreting Virginia’s eras and people and helping others interpret the history of the state and its significance. It is more than a place to store the state’s natural history collection; it is a place when one can step back in time and see a pair of eyeglasses that Patrick Henry donned, a portrait of Patrick Henry wearing the very same glasses, as well as a the bell from Saint John’s church where he famously declared “Give me Liberty, or give me Death”.  Representative objects like these allow one to visualize the spectacles being used to focus Henry’s vision as he drafted his speech, and the bell ringing as the congregation was called to order, It is possible to review history through primary source documents, but the imagery tied to physical effects sometimes deliver a message that words cannot.

The VHS was created with the support from membership and benefactors. Between 1831 and 1861, the society developed its collection through purchases and donations of rare manuscripts, portraits, and published works, as well the valuable collection of its own records.  To publicize various historical records and documents in the collection, they began publishing the text of historical documents and created a journal of scholarship.  During the Civil War, the society and its collection were placed in jeopardy not from wartime destruction or Federal troop looting, but due to the collection pieces disappearing and they held their endowment in Confederate currency that became worthless in 1865.

Following years of struggle after the Civil War , the VHS added buildings and expanded the scope of its mission throughout the twentieth century.  In 1893, they found a new home in the Lee House, better known as the wartime residence of General Robert. E. Lee and his family, adding to it  in 1933 a library and fireproof collections room.  The next building acquisition through merger in 1946, the Battle Abbey, would become the anchor and exemplification of what the society was becoming, a memorial to Virginia’s past. In 1948, the VHS finally had the endowment funds to expand its educational mission. In the years that followed, the collections grew, a publication division developed, and researchers began to refer to the VHS assets for expertise in southern and United States history, while it was becoming a “beacon of international scholarship”. In June 1992, the VHS opened the Center for Virginia History and expanded again to include more galleries, a conservation lab, and an education department.  The VHS now had   the capability to interpret various aspects of Virginia history and in 1995 opened the exhibition “The Story of Virginia, An American Experience” with assistance and materials from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR) collections.

Today, the VHS is undergoing a major renovation in its galleries that will allow them to focus more on the story, and depend less on materials.  This project is not a simple building expansion to add exterior square footage, or expanding the amount of archival material it can show, but is a way that allows a narrative via three objectives that were created from an online survey, audience evaluations, leadership retreats, and planning sessions that included staff and board members. These planned objectives lead to a “summary” that aims to create, in the words of VHS’s leadership, the “best historical organization in the country.” It is not just the national theatre they are hoping to draw an audience from, but “international attention” as well.

The overall impression from their mission statement, and the insight from the gracious tour is if the VHS is to become the “best historical society” and entice visitors like it has since 1995, the staff and leadership of the VHS needs to maintain an equal balance between virtual and physical reality. This new adaptation of the story is bringing education to the forefront via a greater focus on technology and at the same time trying to attract greater visitation online and in person. The objectives are specific and the message is advancement, yet the impression overall has the physical manifestation of becoming an online museum first, and then a repository of artifacts for people to analyze when they are able to visit. With everything that is happening at the VHS, it will be a new decade of challenges and rewards for their staff and leadership while allowing the public access to the past of Virginia.