Virginia Humanities

Afrikana Film Festival

Sept. 12-15, Richmond

From the Bronx to the Bahamas, audiences will come far and wide to celebrate the voices of the African diaspora at the 4th Annual Afrikana Independent Film Festival. The festival brings together communities to uncover Black and Brown stories told through the lens of filmmakers from around the world. With close to 40 films and […]

1619: Making of America Summit

The 1619 Making of America Summit will explore the 400-year journey of our founding cultures—Native, African, and English peoples, immigrant stories, and the contributions and influences that have shaped the building of America. The summit will highlight the three pillars of the commemoration: Diversity, Democracy, and Opportunity. At the foundation of this cross-cultural event will […]

The Color of Housing

The History of Racism in Housing in Arlington

In collaboration with the League of Women Voters, Challenging Racism is presenting an interactive program on the history of redlining in Arlington. The program uses local maps and stories to explain how the Federal Housing Administration prevented certain Black communities from acquiring loans in the mid-2oth century. This practice enabled segregation and continues to influence […]

Red-Lining Workshop

Challenging Racism is collaborating with the Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Commission for a program on redlining. Part of Virginia Humanities’ and the Kellogg Foundation’s Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Project, this interactive program focuses on the Federal Housing Administration’s mid-20th century use of redlining to prevent loans to Black people in selected areas. Using local maps […]

The Movement: Danville’s Civil Rights

Exhibit Opening Aug. 10 | Danville

Join us August 10th, 2-5pm at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History for an opening reception for “The Movement: Danville’s Civil Rights Exhibit.” The exhibit is the first of its kind in the Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History. It will be a permanent exhibit highlighting Danville’s Civil Rights Movement. Historian Historian […]

Remembering Our Past to Protect Our Future

Women Activism in the Civil Rights Movement and Beyond

The Prizery’s One Community Initiative presents a free discussion by Dr. Amy Tillerson-Brown’s entitled, “Remembering our Past to Protect our Future: Women Activism in the Civil Rights Movement and Beyond.” This talk centers on the activism specifically of Black women in the struggle for American Citizenship, and the strategies used by women of the Civil […]

Thomas Jefferson, Architect

Mable O. Wilson and Louis P. Nelson In Conversation

Renowned scholars Mabel O. Wilson and Louis P. Nelson will discuss the contributions and legacy of enslaved craftsman on the architecture of Thomas Jefferson. Wilson is a professor of architectural design at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. She is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Research in African American […]

Virginia Humanities Awarded Grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation

Virginia Humanities is one of more than twenty new grantees in the second-year cycle for the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.

Mapping Virginia’s Slave Dwellings

Preserving Black History with Street View

A few months back we told you about a short documentary coming out from Google Earth Outreach. The six-minute film highlights the work our Encyclopedia Virginia and African American Programs are doing to document slave dwellings across Virginia. Google released that film on June 19th in honor of Juneteenth, the day we celebrate the abolition […]

Engaging Young People in Dialogues About Racism

By Raennah Mitchell In 2019, millennials are projected to surpass baby boomers as the largest living generation in America. And with a new wave of teen and young adult activists taking to the streets and making headlines—protesting issues ranging from gun violence to racial bias in police practices—young people are making their voices heard in […]

Afro-Virginia Exhibition Premieres June 7 in Charlottesville

On Friday, June 7, from 5:30-7:30pm, Virginia Humanities African American Programs will premiere ‘Afro-Virginia: People, Place & Power’ during the First Fridays Art Opening at Studio IX Gallery & Listening Room

Banking on Freedom

Watch the livestream recorded June 2, 2019 at New Dominion Bookshop.

Hear Shennette Garrett-Scott, author of Banking on Freedom: Black Women in U.S. Finance Before the New Deal read from her book and take questions at New Dominion Bookshop in this public book talk from June 2, 2019. Between 1888 and 1930, African Americans opened more than a hundred banks and thousands of other financial institutions. Banking […]