The History Center’s collection includes more than 300 scrapbooks. They contain photographs, programs, clippings, certificates, and all types of souvenirs. Some scrapbooks contain very personal stories while others document the activities of a business or organization as well as local, national and international events. Read more
Perhaps it is difficult for us today to understand just what a miracle photography was to people in the mid-nineteenth century. Today we take photographs for the fun of it, deleting and photo shopping to our heart’s content in a way that would have astonished our ancestors. Read more
RICHMOND, Va. (May 25, 2012) – The Valentine Richmond History Center and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond announce that the LGBT Pride flag that flew outside the Bank in June 2011 will be donated to the museum next month. The Valentine has been collecting, preserving and interpreting Richmond’s history and diverse stories for over a century. Read more
Halston, born in 1932 in Des Moines Iowa, began his career as a milliner working for Lilly Dache in New York. It was after he moved to Bergdorf Goodman that he created the infamous pillbox hat, popularized by former first lady Jackie Kennedy. Read more
Just as women’s suits have undergone a gradual evolution process, men’s swimwear has undergone many changes since its inception. The Valentine Richmond History Center has a comprehensive collection of men’s swimwear that represents this progression of styles. Read more
Most everyone knows about baseball cards and bubble gum, but did you know that the popularity of baseball card collecting began when tobacco manufacturers started to include cards in cigarette packages? Driven by the rising popularity of baseball, some form of collectible cards, such as cabinet cards and carte de visites, had been issued by teams for purchase as early as the mid-1800s. However, early photographic methods were time consuming and expensive, and it wasn’t until the introduction of better printing methods, such as chromolithography that cards began to be more widely available. Read more
Famous for cataloging all things River City, the History Center is venturing into a different kind of historical archiving – tattoos. In 2010, the Today Show ranked Richmond the third most tattooed city in the nation. Because of this revelation, the History Center is expanding our horizons and archives to include Richmond tattoos. Terry Brown from Terry Brown Photography has partnered with the History Center to help us capture Richmond’s best ink. The best photos will become part of our collection and many will be featured in a photo exhibition that is scheduled to open in October of this year. Read more
Which Richmond non-profit was located for many years across from the future site of the Science Museum of Virginia? Read more
Last Wednesday, we discussed the differences between past tourism videos and the way we can tell our personal stories of the Richmond we love or aspire to see created. On April 25, we’ll be showing your videos – up to three minutes, as raw or produced as you want – that showcase your love or vision for #RVA. All you need to do is create your video, post it to your favorite video hosting service, and send the link to josh@floricane.com by Thursday, April 19. Read more
