Virginia Humanities

Uncovering a Slave Narrative

You have two chances to join author and Virginia Humanities Fellow Kristen Green for a free, public talk about her research project on Mary Lumpkin, who was purchased as a child by the notorious Virginia slave trader Robert Lumpkin. This one takes place May 1 in Charlottesville.

Uncovering the Story of an Enslaved Woman at Lumpkin’s Jail

Virginia Humanities Fellow Kristen Green is working on a book that will tell the story of Mary Lumpkin, an enslaved woman who is believed to have given birth to at least five children fathered by Robert Lumpkin.

Honoring Sacred Ground

Over the past year, volunteers have recorded numerous African-American burial sites across Louisa County, many marked only with field stones. We invite you to join us as we remember and honor the lives and burial sites we have mapped and those whose resting places may never be known. Dr. Lauranett Lee, Virginia Humanities Board Member […]

Uncovering a Slave Narrative

You have two chances to join author and Virginia Humanities Fellow Kristen Green for a free, public talk about her research project on Mary Lumpkin, who was purchased as a child by the notorious Virginia slave trader Robert Lumpkin. This one takes place May 3 in Richmond.

#UnseenCville Public Art Installations Explore Race & History in Charlottesville

Virginia Humanities Collaborates with UVA Students and Professors to Install Power-washed Text Quotations Charlottesville, Virginia—Following a critical reexamination of monuments and memorials in Charlottesville and nationwide, Virginia Humanities announces a series of public art installations in downtown Charlottesville and around University of Virginia (UVA) Grounds in conjunction with its 24th annual Virginia Festival of the […]

#UnseenCville

“Visible reality hides a deeper one…things unseen.” – James Baldwin, 1962 America is not “post-racial,” and neither is Charlottesville. Over the coming weeks, #UnseenCville is scrubbing away the dirt of our city’s sidewalks, revealing passages from The Fire This Time, a new reflection on James Baldwin’s 1963 essay The Fire Next Time. Find the quotes, explore […]

The Hail-Storm: John Dabney in Virginia

Join us on Wednesday, February 28 from 6:00 – 8:00pm for a special screening of a new documentary on a Richmond culinary legend: “The Hail-Storm: John Dabney in Virginia.” A capstone to Black History Month, this event will celebrate the long tradition of African American culinary excellence and entrepreneurship in Richmond and beyond. In addition […]

We Face the Dawn

We Face the Dawn: Oliver Hill, Spottswood Robinson, and the Legal Team That Dismantled Jim Crow

Join VFH Fellow, author, and retired journalist Margaret Edds for a public presentation about her latest book, We Face the Dawn, which offers the first comprehensive account of the South’s most significant grassroots legal team and how it successfully challenged racial separation in the 1940s and 1950s.

Book Launch: Margaret Edds

We Face the Dawn: Oliver Hill, Spottswood Robinson, and the Legal Team That Dismantled Jim Crow

Join VFH Fellow, author, and retired journalist Margaret Edds for the launch of her latest book, We Face the Dawn, which offers the first comprehensive account of the South’s most significant grassroots legal team and how it successfully challenged racial separation in the 1940s and 1950s.