Home > Exhibitions

For the Love of Beauty: The Collections of Lora and Claiborne Robins Through December 30, 2012
This exhibition presents nineteenth-century Hudson River School landscape paintings and colonial furniture collected by philanthropists Lora Robins (1912–2010) and her husband E. Claiborne Robins, Sr. (1910–1995). These items were displayed in their home Clear View, located in Richmond, Va. The Robins family bequeathed the house and its contents to the Virginia Historical Society. This exhibition represents the first time that this personal collection has been publicly displayed.

End of an Era: The Photography of Jack Jeffers - Through August 26, 2012
This exhibition displays large-format black-and-white prints of people and landscapes from the Appalachian region of western Virginia taken by award-winning photographer Jack Jeffers. Before Jeffers moved to Wyoming, the Virginia artist donated 123 monumental images to the Virginia Historical Society. Jeffers stated in 1996, "What you have represents almost thirty years of my life. Much of what I have recorded is already past history and most of the people I photographed are either dead or close to it."

Heads and Tales - Through September 22, 2012
Explores the lives of prominent and obscure historical figures from our portrait collection.

Virginians at Work - Long-term
This exhibition examines how Virginians have made a living and why jobs have changed over time.

The Story of Virginia, an American Experience - Long-term
See on display 16,000 years of Virginia history from prehistoric times to the present.

The Virginia Manufactory of Arms Collection - Long-term
This exhibition presents weapons made in Richmond from 1802 through 1821.

Solving History's Mysteries: The History Discovery Lab - Long-term
This interactive exhibit introduces visitors to the principles and techniques of archaeology.

Silver in Virginia - Long-term
See on display vintage silver produced throughout the commonwealth.

• All long-term exhibitions

An American Turning Point - Traveling
From 1861 through 1865 Virginia stood at the center of a military and social revolution. How we define freedom, liberty, patriotism, and nation today is directly related to the diverse experiences of the individuals who participated in the war. This exhibition encourages visitors to consider how a single event, separated from us by 150 years, so fundamentally reshaped American society that its impact is still experienced today. What was gained by the Civil War, what was lost, and what is left for us to resolve? view schedule

An Artist’s Story: Civil War Drawings by Edwin Forbes - Upcoming
May 20 through December 30, 2012
In 1862, twenty-three-year-old Edwin Forbes joined a corps of artists sent to Virginia to capture scenes of the war that would illustrate the pages of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. Forbes and his colleagues did much to shape public perceptions—then and now—of the American Civil War. This exhibition features 156 original pen-and-ink drawings that Forbes produced from wartime sketches to illustrate his book, Thirty Years After: An Artist’s Story of the Great War.

What Remains of Edward Beyer’s Blue Ridge: Landscapes of Salem and Liberty - Upcoming
Opens October 15, 2012
In the 1850s, the German artist Edward Beyer traveled throughout western Virginia and painted landscapes of many of the small towns in the Blue Ridge Mountains. These paintings are remarkable not only for their beauty but also their attention to detail. This exhibition uses Beyer’s landscapes as documents to compare the Blue Ridge towns of today with the bustling communities of the middle nineteenth century.

New! An American Turning Point: The Civil War in Virginia
From 1861 through 1865 Virginia stood at the center of a military and social revolution. How we define freedom, liberty, patriotism, and nation today is directly related to the diverse experiences of the individuals who participated in the war. This exhibition encourages visitors to consider how a single event, separated from us by 150 years, so fundamentally reshaped American society that its impact is still experienced today. What was gained by the Civil War, what was lost, and what is left for us to resolve? view exhibit

The Story of Virginia, an American Experience
This new version of The Story of Virginia covers 16,000 years of Virginia history from prehistoric times to the present and features a virtual tour and more than 30 videos. view exhibit

Political Campaigning: From the Collection of Allen Frey
Dr. Allen Frey's collection of American presidential campaign materials demonstrates that politicians and campaigns of the past were as vitriolic as they are today.  view exhibit

The Portent: John Brown's Raid in American Memory
Tells the story of John Brown's early life, his fervent religious beliefs, his turn to violence as an abolitionist in Kansas, and his Virginia raid and its aftermath view exhibit

Teaching with Photographs
Features photographs that address themes in post-1865 Virginia and American history such as education, industrialization, urbanization, transportation, the changing roles of women, the development of Jim Crow, and the civil rights movement learn more

175 Years of Collecting: A Virginia History Quiz
Test your knowledge of Virginia history with this online quiz on selected items from the Society's collections.

The Civil Rights Movement in Virginia
Chronicles the tumultuous journey from "Jim Crow" to a commonwealth of greater equality

Early Images of Virginia Indians
Traces how European perceptions of native Virginians were shaped through the printed image

Heads and Tales
Heads and Tales presents portraits of five people with compelling personal stories. view exhibit

Jamestown to the Falls
Traces the English expeditions up the James River to the falls and Powhatan country, 1607–1610

Lee and Grant
Documents and images offer a glimpse of each man as he understood himself and his place in the world.

Virginia's Colonial Dynasties
Explores how portraiture helped establish and preserve family status in colonial times

Virginia's Diplomats
Explores Virginians' role in shaping world politics from the founding of the republic until our own day

• All online exhibitions