A Word From Your Friendly Neighborhood Archivist

The Valentine Richmond History Center Collection

Did you know that Richmond has an amazing art heritage?  Some of the best American artists have called the River City home.  Among them are father and son photography team George and Huestis Cook, makers of some of the most iconic photographic images of Virginia.  Other artists represented in our manuscript collections include important painters such as William James Hubard (1807-1862), Conrad Wise Chapman (1843–1910) and his father John Gadsby Chapman (1808–1889).  The History Center also has the records of the Craig House Art Center, an important organization for African-American art in the 1930’s.

Richmond’s art history is…well…rich!

For more information about these or any other collections, please email the Archives Department at archives@richmondhistorycenter.com

Autumn Reinhardt Simpson, MLIS
Research Assistant
Valentine Richmond History Center

The Craig House, perhaps Richmond’s second oldest structure, was built between 1784 and 1787 by Adam Craig (b. ca. 1760–d. 1808).

Photo of the plaque denoting the Adam Craig House as an historic building.