Virginia Historical Society
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Virginia Historical Society, founded in 1831, is a major repository, research, and teaching center for Virginia history. It is a private organization, almost entirely supported by private contributions. Its headquarters building is in Richmond.
In its early years it gathered an eclectic collection of natural history specimens, historical artifacts, and printed and written material. The Society was reconstituted after the Civil War. It became more active in publishing historical material. It gained its first permanent headquarters building in 1893. The Society's journal, the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, has published on a quarterly basis without interruption since 1893.
In the 1950s, increasing resources allowed the addition of a professional staff. Over the next several decades the Society's collections grew. The publications program also increased as the Society gained a significant role in the academic community.
In 1992 the Society opened the Center for Virginia History, increasing its display and archival resources. Shortly thereafter, it entered into a partnership with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, an agency of the state government, which also had significant historical holdings (both artifacts and archives), forming a unique private-public partnership.
A 54,000-square-foot wing, completed in 2006, houses the Reynolds Business History Center.
