Programs
The VHS seeks to create programs for a number of constituencies: scholars, businesspeople, students, and the general public. The broadest program is the long-term exhibition Virginians at Work, which demonstrates how changes in business and the economy have affected how Virginians have worked for 400 years. Other programs, such as "The Business and Bounty of Virginia," include public lectures, scholarly symposia on business history topics, seminars in which business leaders reflect on their careers, oral history initiatives to target specific industries or areas, and travel opportunities to visit significant sites associated with Virginia's business history.
• We're always looking for new programming ideas for the RBHC. If you have a suggestion, please email us.
"The Business and Bounty of Virginia" Series
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Upcoming Lecture
Irons in the Fire • By Laura Croghan Kamoie • Thursday, July 10, 2008 • Time: noon
Virginia’s leading colonial planters were businessmen as well as farmers. In her book, Irons in the Fire: The Business History of the Tayloe Family and Virginia's Gentry, Laura Croghan Kamoie reveals a greater complexity in southern business culture than historians previously recognized. Through the example of the Tayloes of the Northern Neck, she shows how entrepreneurship and a broadly skilled slave-labor force created economic diversification even before the Revolution. Dr. Kamoie teaches history at the U.S. Naval Academy. |
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Upcoming Lecture
One Nation Under Debt • By Robert E. Wright • Thursday, September 4, 2008 • Time: noon
The United States was born in debt. Was this obligation a vital tool for forging national unity, or a monstrous burden? In One Nation Under Debt: Hamilton, Jefferson, and the History of What We Owe, Robert E. Wright follows our nation's debt from the founding to the credit crisis of today. A compelling and witty storyteller, Wright shows how the past can illuminate current financial woes. Dr. Wright teaches history at New York University's Stern School of Business. |
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Travel Opportunities
As part of the "Business and Bounty of Virginia" series, the RBHC will present opportunities to visit sites around Virginia associated with the history of commerce and industry. On November 28, 2007, a VHS group visited the award-winning Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard near Charlottesville to learn about the history of winemaking in Virginia. |
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Past Lectures
On October 18, 2007, author and sports commentator John Feinstein delivered a talk on his observations on the world of sports, including his views on the changes wrought by ever-increasing commercialization and the growth of sports as a business. On September 13, 2007, Paul A. Levengood delivered a talk, "The Business of Virginia Has Always Been Business," that traced spectacular successes and dismal failures. Dr. Levengood is the author of Virginia: Catalyst of Commerce for Four Centuries. He is managing editor of the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography and program coordinator of the Reynolds Business History Center.
What's related:
• Paul Levengood's lecture is now available online in mp3 format. Download audio |
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Virginians at Work
By focusing on ordinary people, this exhibition takes the often abstract theory behind the study of economic history and makes it viable and accessible to the visitor. Objects, photographs, oral histories, manuscripts, and multimedia stations help Virginians at Work tell the story of how people have made a living and why jobs in Virginia have changed. More information |
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Betty Sams Christian Fellowships in Business History
To promote access to its collections, the Virginia Historical Society, funded by a gift from Betty Sams Christian, offers fellowships in business history of up to three weeks a year. Applicants whose research promises to result in significant publication will receive primary consideration. Learn more |
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