Virginia Historical Society
A Virginia nonprofit historical society, museum, archive, and educational institution headquartered in Richmond.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The Virginia Historical Society is a private, nonprofit organization devoted to collecting, preserving, researching, interpreting, and teaching the history of Virginia. Founded in Richmond in 1831 as the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society, it developed from an organization concerned with preserving memories and materials associated with Virginia's colonial and Revolutionary past into one of the Commonwealth's principal historical repositories and public museums. Its work encompasses museum exhibitions, archival and library collections, publications, research assistance, educational outreach, lectures, teacher programs, and the stewardship of historic properties. The society is headquartered in Richmond, where its public museum facility was renamed the Virginia Museum of History & Culture in 2018. The institutional name Virginia Historical Society remains associated with the organization and its broader mission. The museum presents Virginia history across many periods, regions, communities, and themes, including Indigenous history, colonial settlement, the Revolutionary era, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the civil rights era, and modern Virginia. Its long-term exhibition, The Story of Virginia, is designed to interpret approximately 16,000 years of the Commonwealth's past through artifacts, documents, images, and other historical materials. The institution's collections include historical objects, manuscripts, printed works, photographs, and other records documenting Virginia and its people. Its research and publication activities include the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, a quarterly journal that has appeared continuously since 1893. The society also maintains research facilities and has worked with public agencies, including the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, in a private-public partnership involving historical collections and archives. The organization expanded its public role substantially during the twentieth century. Professional staff were added as resources increased in the 1950s, while the collections, publications program, research services, and educational offerings grew over subsequent decades. Its Richmond campus was enlarged and renovated several times, adding research-library space, exhibition galleries, offices, collection storage, public facilities, and an auditorium. In 2004, the Commonwealth designated it the official state historical society of Virginia. Public engagement is a central part of the institution's identity. Programs include school outreach, guided museum visits, workshops, teacher institutes, summer educational programs, public lectures, members-only events, and online access to selected lecture recordings and videos. The organization also operates Virginia House, a historic Richmond residence built in 1928 by Alexander W. Weddell and Virginia Weddell from architectural materials associated with a sixteenth-century English manor house. Virginia House is preserved as a house museum, with historically interpreted interiors, gardens, and grounds. Although the society is headquartered in Virginia and principally serves audiences interested in the Commonwealth's history, its collections and scholarship contribute to the broader study of American history. Its operating model relies largely on private contributions, memberships, admissions, program participation, publications, and related philanthropic support rather than public-company ownership or stock-market financing.
History
The Virginia Historical Society was established on December 29, 1831, when twenty-eight Virginians met in the Virginia State Capitol's House of Delegates chamber to create a state historical organization. The founders were responding to rapid social and economic change, including the movement of many Virginians away from the Commonwealth and a perceived weakening of ties to its colonial and Revolutionary-era past. They named the institution the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society. Chief Justice John Marshall became its first president, while former president James Madison was selected as its first honorary member. During its early decades, the society assembled a broad and sometimes eclectic body of material. Alongside historical artifacts and documentary records, the collection included natural-history specimens. The organization also published historical documents and addresses delivered at its annual meetings. Its development was constrained by limited financial resources, the absence of a permanent headquarters, and a lack of substantial endowment support. In 1848, it adopted the shorter name Virginia Historical Society, reflecting a more focused emphasis on historical collecting, research, and publication. The society acquired its first permanent Richmond headquarters in 1893. That same year, it began publishing the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. The journal became one of its most durable scholarly initiatives and has continued on a quarterly basis. Through its publications and expanding collections, the society established a growing role in the academic study of Virginia and the wider history of the United States. The organization began adding professional staff in the 1950s as its resources increased. Its collections, library, research services, and publication activities expanded over the following decades. In 1959, the society moved from the Lee House on Franklin Street to Battle Abbey on the Boulevard, a building originally constructed in 1912. A four-story western addition was made to accommodate the society, and the campus was subsequently enlarged through several major building projects. A western research-library wing was completed in 1992. In the same year, the society opened the Center for Virginia History, strengthening its exhibition, archival, and research capacity. The institution later entered a partnership with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, bringing together resources held by a private nonprofit historical society and a state agency. A northern addition in 1998 expanded gallery space and provided offices for the Department of Historic Resources. A southern addition completed in 2006 added more galleries, collection storage, offices, and an auditorium with capacity for nearly 488 people. Public-use spaces were further added or improved on the north and south sides of the building in 2015. In 2004, the Commonwealth of Virginia recognized the society as the official state historical society. This designation reflected its statewide collections, research role, educational work, and long-standing contribution to the preservation and interpretation of Virginia history. After nearly a year of research, community conversations, and strategic planning, the organization announced in 2018 that its headquarters at 428 North Boulevard would be known publicly as the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. The change distinguished the public museum facility while retaining the historical society's institutional identity and broader functions. The museum's permanent and temporary programming presents Virginia's history through artifacts, documents, exhibitions, lectures, and educational activities. Its principal long-term exhibition, The Story of Virginia, traces roughly 16,000 years of history, from Indigenous material culture to the Commonwealth's modern era. The society's work extends beyond the main museum. It operates Virginia House, a historic residence overlooking the James River in Richmond. Built in 1928 for diplomat Alexander W. Weddell and his wife, Virginia Weddell, the house incorporated materials from a sixteenth-century English manor and combined several Tudor-inspired designs with modern conveniences of its period. The society preserves the house as a museum and maintains its extensive gardens and grounds. Today, the Virginia Historical Society operates as a private nonprofit supported largely by private contributions. Its mission is to connect people with America's past through the story of Virginia. It does so through collecting and preservation, exhibitions, scholarship, publications, archival access, school outreach, teacher development, guided tours, public lectures, digital resources, historic-property interpretation, and programs for visitors of different ages.
- 2019
Boulevard renamed for Arthur Ashe
[1]The street on which the museum is located became Arthur Ashe Boulevard, honoring the Richmond-born international tennis champion.
- 2018
Headquarters renamed Virginia Museum of History & Culture
[1]The Richmond museum facility received a new public name after research, community engagement, and strategic planning.
- 2006
South wing completed
[1]The south wing added galleries, storage, offices, public facilities, and a large auditorium.
- 2004
Named Virginia's official state historical society
[1]The Commonwealth of Virginia granted the society official state historical society status.
- 1998
North wing completed
[1]A north wing expanded exhibition capacity and provided offices for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
- 1992
Center for Virginia History opened
[1]The society opened the Center for Virginia History and added a new wing for its expanding research library.
- 1959
Move to Battle Abbey
[1]The society relocated from the Lee House on Franklin Street to Battle Abbey on the Boulevard, supported by a new wing added for its use.
- 1928
Virginia House constructed
[1]Alexander W. Weddell and Virginia Weddell completed Virginia House overlooking the James River in Richmond.
- 1893
Permanent headquarters and scholarly journal established
[1]The society obtained its first permanent Richmond headquarters and began publishing the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography.
- 1848
Name shortened to Virginia Historical Society
[1]The organization adopted the shorter name Virginia Historical Society as its work became more centered on historical collecting and publication.
Products and positioning
A statewide historical authority that combines museum interpretation, scholarly research, archival preservation, publications, and public education in one institution.
Museum · 2018
Virginia Museum of History & Culture
The society's principal public museum facility in Richmond presents exhibitions and programs covering Virginia history across thousands of years. Its galleries address the Commonwealth's Indigenous, colonial, Revolutionary, Civil War, modern, and regional histories through artifacts, documents, images, and interpretive displays. The long-term exhibition The Story of Virginia is the central presentation of the state's history under one roof.
Permanent exhibition
The Story of Virginia
This long-term exhibition interprets approximately 16,000 years of Virginia history, beginning with the earliest known Indigenous artifacts and continuing to the Commonwealth's modern era. It is designed to connect objects and documentary evidence with the people, places, conflicts, institutions, and cultural changes that shaped Virginia.
Historical publication · 1893
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography
A scholarly quarterly published by the society since 1893. The journal supports research and public understanding of Virginia history through historical articles, documentary material, biographies, and related scholarship.
Historic house museum · 1928
Virginia House
A 1928 Richmond residence overlooking the James River, built for Alexander W. Weddell and Virginia Weddell using materials associated with a sixteenth-century English manor house. The society preserves the house's interiors, architectural character, and gardens and operates it as a museum and historic site.
Research service
Research library and archival collections
The society maintains extensive historical collections, including manuscripts, printed works, photographs, artifacts, and other records related to Virginia. Its research facilities support scholars, educators, genealogists, students, and members of the public investigating the Commonwealth's history.
Brand decisions
2018
Rename the public headquarters as the Virginia Museum of History & CultureStrategyBackground
The society undertook research, community conversations, and strategic planning to clarify how its Richmond headquarters and public museum function should be presented.
Action taken
It announced the name Virginia Museum of History & Culture for the headquarters facility while continuing its broader work as the Virginia Historical Society.
Aftermath
The renamed facility continued to provide exhibitions, educational programs, research access, and public events under a clearer museum identity.
Recent events
- 2019
Richmond street renamed Arthur Ashe Boulevard[1]
Other
The street outside the museum was renamed Arthur Ashe Boulevard in honor of the Richmond-born tennis champion and civil rights figure.
- 2018
Headquarters renamed Virginia Museum of History & Culture[1]
Other
Following research, community discussions, and strategic planning, the society announced a new public name for its Richmond headquarters facility.
- 2004
Virginia Historical Society designated official state historical society[1]
Other
The Commonwealth of Virginia formally designated the organization as the official state historical society.
Sources2 sources
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