The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia

Carroll Anderson, Sr. founded the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in 1981. After many years in a historic home, the museum is now located in a former armory in the Jackson Ward area. The museum has grown in the last four decades and offers exhibits and artifacts from the city and region's African American history along with programs and an archive. The museum hosts rotating events and exhibitions in the Jackson Ward area of Richmond. Jackson Ward was once considered the center of "Black capitalism" and is the location for other historical sites of significance.

Carroll Anderson, Sr. founded the museum in 1981 and it was located in many years in a historic home that was built in 1832 by German American Adolph Dill. The building was purchased in 1922 by the Council of Colored Women and eventually served as the Black branch of the Richmond Public Library.

The museum supports programs and a growing archive with records and artifacts that commemorate the lives of African Americans in Virginia. The museum holds exhibitions, discussions, and celebrations and has even hosted traveling exhibitions from the Smithsonian. Highlights of the local collection include textiles from various ethnic groups throughout Africa.

Guests to this part of the city can also visit the Bojangles Monument Statue, dedicated to Bill Robinson, a Black vaudeville legend as well as the Maggie Walker National Historic Site which recognizes the civil rights activist and entrepreneur. The Valentine Museum and Wickham House are also close in downtown Virginia. 

"History of BHM." Black History Museum. Accessed June 3, 2016. http://Blackhistorymuseum.org/history-of-bhm.