For more than forty-five years we’ve worked to help Virginians better understand each other by exploring our history, culture, and traditions.
By doing this work with integrity and inclusivity, Virginia Humanities has become one of the most important sources for understanding Virginia and its people.
Learn more about us and our vision for the future of Virginia. And please join us by exploring some of the programs listed below.
Books & Literature
Working across the Commonwealth to unite communities of readers, writers, artists, and book lovers through year-round programs and partnership initiatives, our books and literature programs recognize the enduring power of literature, storytelling, and book arts to engage Virginians in public dialogue and promote intercultural understanding.
Community Initiatives
Community Initiatives serves as a coordinating office for projects and partnerships across the state and works to strengthen Virginia Humanities’s relationships with new and diverse audiences.
Encyclopedia Virginia
Encyclopedia Virginia is a free, authoritative multimedia resource that tells inclusive stories about Virginia for students, teachers, and community members who seek to understand how the past informs the present. The encyclopedia includes more than 1,000 entries about Virginia’s history accompanied by primary documents and media objects, including images, audio and video clips, and links to Google Street View tours of historic sites.
Virginia Folklife
The Virginia Folklife Program is dedicated to the documentation, presentation, and support of Virginia’s rich cultural heritage. Whether sung or told, hand-crafted or performed, Virginia’s rich Folklife refers to those “arts of everyday life” that reflect a sense of traditional knowledge and connection to community.
Radio & Podcasts
Our audio programming brings the latest humanities scholarship to millions of listeners every year, through digital podcasts and on radio stations across the country.
Resources for Teachers
Download lesson plans and other educational resources to help share Virginia’s stories with students at all grade levels.
Grants & Fellowships
Since 1974, we’ve awarded more than 3,500 grants and 400 fellowships to support projects that help Virginians better understand their history, culture, and each other.
Undertaking the most challenging work in our history.
When what divides us may be easier to see than the values that unite us, our work brings people together and honors our shared Humanities.
