Richmond SailFest is less than one month away! ⛵️
The City of Richmond and the VMHC are proud to partner in hosting Richmond SailFest, a Sail Virginia℠ 2026 Affiliate Harbor, on June 12-14, featuring three tall ships along with dockside entertainment and concessions.
This free, family-friendly, weekend-long festival will include ship tours, live music and performances, historical re-enactors, art & history exhibitions, an epic fireworks show over the James River, and much more.
Details at /SailFest
Who's headed to Dominion Energy Riverrock this weekend? In 2015, photographer Scott Elmquist snapped this photo of America the dog shaking off after their round in the Ultimate Air Dog competition - an image that later made his list of the top Richmond photos of the year. (Style Weekly, VMHC Collection # F233.1 R452 v.33 no.51)
From April 17–19, 2026, 48 high schools from across the country gathered for the We the People National Finals, a prestigious competition grounded in the Center for Civic Education's We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution curriculum. Students participate in Simulated Congressional Hearings, presenting research and fielding questions on political philosophy, American history, and constitutional principles before panels of expert judges. The Virginia Museum of History & Culture is proud to serve as the state sponsor of this exceptional civics program!
Virginia's teams made a remarkable showing. Maggie L. Walker Governor's School in Richmond, coached by Mr. Sam Ulmschneider, earned second place in the nation. Douglas S. Freeman High School in Henrico County — Virginia's State Champions — coached by Mr. Rob Peck, placed fifth in the country. Glen Allen High School, also in Henrico County and coached by Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg and Mr. Ryan Conway, earned the Unit 5 Award for their outstanding discussions on the Bill of Rights. Congratulations to all of our teams on their hard work and well-deserved success!
If you'd like to bring We the People into your classroom, visit our Civics Professional Development page: /learn/civics-education/civics-professional-development
In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage (AAPI) Month, join the VMHC and @Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) (@vadhr_shpo ) to learn more about the work these two groups are doing to collect, preserve, and share AAPI stories in Virginia.
DHR was recently awarded grant funds to support the documentation of historic sites associated with the AAPI Community in Virginia, such as Eden Center – a shopping center in Falls Church that is significant to the Vietnamese American community in Northern Virginia. Staff from DHR will talk through the process of identifying and adding properties like these to the historic record. In addition, VMHC will share AAPI stories associated with their newest temporary exhibition, We the People: The World in Our Commonwealth. You can register here: /5029/5030
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!💐
Looking for a great way to celebrate your mom? Bring her to the museum! Moms enjoy free admission to the VMHC on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 10). Plan your visit at VirginiaHistory.org
Virginia State Senator Hashmi wore this bracelet during her swearing in ceremony. A gift from her sister, it is inscribed with a verse from the Qur'an. At age four, Hashmi immigrated from India to Georgia with family. After earning her doctorate at Emory University, she moved to Richmond with her husband in 1991. She spent nearly 30 years teaching at the University of Richmond and Reynolds Community College before being elected to Virginia's 10th Senatorial District in 2019. Today, she serves as Lieutenant Governor to the Commonwealth of Virginia. (VMHC Collection #2020.12. Gift of the Honorable Ghazala F. Hashmi, Ph.D.)
Our education team took a quick break from school field trips to go on a trip themselves! We took a tour of Kenmore, a Georgian style mansion completed in 1775 for George Washington's sister, Betty Washington Lewis. After lunch, we popped by the Fredericksburg Area Museum to learn more about the history of the area.
In conjunction with the VMHC's new We The People: The World In Our Commonwealth exhibition, the Virginia Hip-Hop Foundation will host a Culture Talk to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Virginia’s history of immigration, specifically immigrants from Asian countries, has direct connections to the state’s significance in hip-hop culture. This event will be an interactive conversation about the history, impact, and influence Asian Americans from Virginia have contributed to Hip-Hop. Learn more and register here: /3912/5022
Happy Derby Day! While the Kentucky Derby is associated with a traditional Mint Julep, featuring bourbon & mint, Richmond has its own version. In 1824, an enslaved man named John Dabney was born in Hanover County. He trained as a jockey as a young man, but grew too big and was sent to work as a waiter and bartender at a variety of Richmond area hotels. His signature mint julep became known as the "Hail-Storm" Mint Julep and often featured more fruit forward flavors, such as peach or apple brandy. You can learn more about Dabney, and find the recipe to his signature cocktail here: /the-story
Born into a musical family in Vietnam, Nam Phuong Nguyen learned to play several instruments before falling in love with the dan bau (shown here) as a teenager. In 1984, she moved with her family from Saigon to the U.S. and the family soon began to tour the country, sharing Vietnamese folk music with new audiences. Nguyen continues to perform and share her skills with students. The dan bau is played by plucking the single string and moving the long handle to adjust the string's tension, changing the note. It has six main tones, emulating the six tones of the Vietnamese language.
What's that saying - don't get a boat, get a friend with a boat? Last week we met up with our friends at the James River Batteau Company to host a teacher workshop exploring the role of free and enslaved Black boatmen in the commerce of the James River in the 18th and 19th centuries. You can learn more about upcoming teacher professional development opportunities with the VMHC here: /learn/history-education/professional-development
Did you know that we have coloring sheets based on objects in our collection and exhibitions we've had on display? Print off some of our newly added textile patterns, based on several of the top countries of origin for immigrants to Virginia! /color-our-collections
