The Wickham House at 200 years – The 1812 Tour
With the arrival of the 200th anniversary of the Wickham House, came the opportunity to highlight the historic house, its original family and the social, religious, cultural, economic, and political atmosphere and events of Richmond in 1812. It is our hope that the combination of these varying spheres into one cohesive tour will engage both volunteers and visitors alike and help us to see and understand the Wickham House in new ways as the tour is presented throughout 2012.
With the arrival of the 200th anniversary of the Wickham House, came the opportunity to highlight the historic house, its original family and the social, religious, cultural, economic, and political atmosphere and events of Richmond in 1812. It is our hope that the combination of these varying spheres into one cohesive tour will engage both volunteers and visitors alike and help us to see and understand the Wickham House in new ways as the tour is presented throughout 2012.
To research and organize this tour, I spent countless hours in the History Center’s archives looking through old tour outlines, Valentine family papers, old exhibition materials, and prints, along with primary and secondary sources. What I found most captivating about this search were the 1812 Richmond newspaper articles located in the Library of Virginia’s microfilm collection. It was neat to see that while war, budget deficits and earthquake aftershocks were popular subjects among Richmonders in both 1812 and today, these articles also revealed how culturally diverse and politically active the Richmond population was as well.
The new Wickham House tour is offered as part of admission to the Valentine Richmond History Center. Click here to plan your visit.
Jackie Clary
University of Richmond 2012 – Art History
Fall 2011 Intern
*Photographed above: (Left) The Wickham House terrace and garden. (Right) Jackie Clary describes the shape of Richmond using a historical map. The map is featured on the new 1812 Wickham House tour.
