Valentine Museum Opening, Richmond Dispatch, 20 Nov. 1898

Collections in the Classroom: Valentine Museum Opening (pdf)

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

• What is the purpose of a museum?
• How do we decide what objects go into a museum?
• The article calls the museum “An enduring monument to a noble man” referring to founder Mann Valentine. Are museums monuments?

CONTEXT

This Richmond Dispatch article from Sunday, November 20th, 1898 details the opening of the new Valentine Museum. There were six departments represented in the 1812 Wickham house: sculpture, archaeology, engraving, tapestry, Virginia antiquities, the Confederacy as well as a library.