A Commitment to Inclusion
In response to recent events in VFH’s home town of Charlottesville, including rallies by the KKK, white nationalists, and alt-right groups, we have collected the following resources from our programs …

Virtual Tour of Endangered Tangier
On Thursday, August 10 2017, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities’ Encyclopedia Virginia (EV) along with Google Street View, will launch the first-ever virtual tour of Virginia’s Tangier Island, marking a …

Refuge in the Valley
By David Bearinger Diviet Suarez worked at a harbor in Santiago de Cuba, operating scales for trucks loading and unloading cargo ships. At odds with the Castro regime, Suarez was …

A Museum’s First Comprehensive Exhibit
About the Organization The Edith Bolling Wilson Museum celebrates the life and legacy of the only Appalachian-born First Lady. Edith Bolling Wilson is sometimes referred to as “the Secret President” …

History Writ Aright
By Brendan Wolfe, editor Encyclopedia Virginia What does that even mean, history writ aright? Aside from it being a quotation from a speech I recently read, I mean. It’s a question I’ve wondered …

The Richmond Sessions
VFH’s Virginia Folklife Program produces The Richmond Sessions, by legendary artist Sherman Holmes – Special guests include Sammy Shelor, Rob Ickes, and Joan Osborne On July 21, musician Sherman Holmes will release …

Meet VFH Board Member Mark Habeeb
Mark Habeeb lives in Arlington, VA and teaches at Georgetown University in the graduate school of foreign service where he specializes in international negation and conflict management and mediation. Recently, Mark sat down with Elliot Majerczyk in our radio studio to talk about the connections between the humanities, social sciences, and hard sciences.

Meet VFH Board Member Susan Colpitts
Susan R. Colpitts is a Founder of Signature Family Wealth Advisors with a bachelor’s degree in English and a Master’s in accounting. Recently, Susan sat down with Elliot Majerczyk in our radio studio to talk about her love for liberal arts and the importance of the humanities in establishing a sense of place.

At the Common Table
Jamie S. Ross is the director of Red Dirt Productions and a non-residential Fellow at VFH. She’s working on a film, At the Common Table, that traces the history of …

The Road from Afghanistan
By David Bearinger Sughra Hussainy’s dark eyes sharpen when she says, “the body needs food to sustain itself, but the soul needs art to survive.” Sughra knows about survival, and …

The Art of Emancipation
Throughout the mid to late 19th century, Europe was in a state of social upheaval. Political changes, from the Revolutions of 1848 to the Franco Prussian war of 1871, swept …

Prisoners of History
On Friday March 17, 2017 Karenne Wood, director of Virginia Indian programs at Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, delivered the keynote lecture at a conference in London marking the 400th anniversary of …

From the Archives to the Stage
By David Bearinger Elizabeth “Betty” Ann Pitts was born into slavery near Onancock, on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. In 1853, she married Parker Pitts, a free man, although the state did …

Hands On History
A set of gnarled dentures hang in mid-air. It rotates, exposing dents, ridges, and wear, either from use or years. “Those are actually human teeth,” says Peter Hedlund, the lead …