Online Progams
ABOUT THIS PHOTO
The Jefferson Theater, 1936. Built in 1901 as the Jefferson National Bank on East Main Street (today’s Downtown Mall), the Jefferson was enlarged and converted into a theater in 1912. Owners completely rebuilt the building just three years later after a tragic fire. A combination silent movie house and vaudeville stage, the Jefferson was host to a number of popular films and performers over the years, including magician Harry Houdini. Other downtown movie theaters followed: the Lafayette (1921), which is now the site of York Place Shops and Apartments; the Paramount (1931); Vinegar Hill (1976); and the University Theater at the Corner (1938-1990). After struggling under various names for many years as a second-run movie theater, the Jefferson was sold to music promoter Coran Capshaw in 2006, who launched a multi-million dollar renovation project and has since reopened the historic venue as a live music hall. The marquee in this photo advertises the 1936 release The Trail of the Lonesome Pine starring Fred MacMurray and Henry Fonda, one of Hollywood’s first successful color films. (courtesy of the Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia).
Engaging a New Online World!
All speaker programs for the foreseeable future will be online, accessible through ZOOM or Facebook Live. If you miss a program you can find a recording on our YouTube channel. All online programs are free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are required. Our programs will engage online guests by reflecting on events, issues, and personalities from the history of our region. We have a slate of speakers lined up for the remaining year and will be adding new online programs for 2021. A full schedule and the latest updates are available below as well as on our Calendar page. And keep an eye out on our Facebook and Twitter pages for impromptu and spontaneous programming that will be popping up online over the next few months. Better yet, subscribe to our online newsletter below for up to the minute programming information!
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Upcoming Programs
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<strong>October 14, 2020</strong><br />Ask the Genealogist
A virtual online program with ACHS Board President Shelley Murphy. Questions about your family history research? Hit your brick wall and need fresh ideas or places to look? Join our team of experienced genealogists as they answer your family tree questions in this hour-long virtual program. Whether you’re a long-time researcher or a novice genealogist, our expertise can send you in the right direction! Sign up at org and remember to submit your questions to Shelley and Miranda at [email protected].
<strong>October 20, 2020</strong><br />Two Pandemics, Two Centuries, One Town – 1918 vs. 2020
A virtual online program with Addeane Caelleigh and Dr. Michael Dickens. Want to learn more about how history repeats itself? Was the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918-1919 worse than Covid-19 in 2020? What can we learn from the past to inform our present and provide insight into what the future holds? Join us for a conversation with Addeane Caelleigh — author of “The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 in Albemarle County and Charlottesville” in the 2017 Magazine of Albemarle County History, retired UVA School of Medicine curriculum developer, and former editor of Academic Medicine, the Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Addeane will be interviewed by Dr. Michael Dickens — an honors graduate of Princeton University, M.D from Columbia University with residency training at UVA, and a practicing pediatric physician in Charlottesville for 35 years. In retirement, Mike volunteers for the Society, and is an author, researcher, and interpreter of history. See program recording here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqI2ZC5XL-E&t=8s.
<strong>Novmber 10, 2020</strong><br /> Ask the Genealogist
A virtual online program with ACHS Board President Shelley Murphy. Questions about your family history research? Hit your brick wall and need fresh ideas or places to look? Join our team of experienced genealogists as they answer your family tree questions in this hour-long virtual program. Whether you’re a long-time researcher or a novice genealogist, our expertise can send you in the right direction! Sign up at org and remember to submit your questions to Shelley and Miranda at [email protected]
November 18, 2020 The State of the Society
A virtual online conversation with new Executive Director, Tom Chapman, discussing his first 6 months, the Vision and Mission of the Society, and planning for the future. Submit questions for Tom at [email protected]. Sign up for the event on Facebook or contact Sterling at [email protected] to register.
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<strong>December 9, 2020 </strong> <br />Ask the Genealogist
A virtual online program with ACHS Board President Shelley Murphy. Questions about your family history research? Hit your brick wall and need fresh ideas or places to look? Join our team of experienced genealogists as they answer your family tree questions in this hour-long virtual program. Whether you’re a long-time researcher or a novice genealogist, our expertise can send you in the right direction! Sign up at org and remember to submit your questions to Shelley and Miranda at [email protected].
<strong>December 15, 2020</strong> <br />The Mapping Cville Project
Jordy Yager, Digital Humanities Fellow at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, discusses the history of local racist policies and examines the lasting legacies we live with today and what we can do about them. Sign up for the event on Facebook or contact Sterling at [email protected] to register.
January 19, 2021 Online Virtual Membership Meeting! HOLD THE DATE!!
This will also be the Society’s Annual Meeting with a guest speaker. There will be a short business meeting to present the FY2021 Budget and elect Board of Directors Officers. Stay tuned for more information on the surprise guest speaker…
Library
The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society Library is among the very best of local history libraries in the country. Created by a committee of Historical Society volunteers, the library opened to the public on October 29, 1974, in the renovated basement of our then headquarters at 220 Court Square. Since that time, the holdings have grown to include over 6,000 individual volumes, 15,000 pamphlets, 300 historic maps, and over 1,000 archived manuscript items. Operated in collaboration with the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library system, the library was officially renamed in 2020 the Margaret Martin O’Bryant Library & Research Collection in honor of her over 35 years of service to the Society.
Collections
In addition to our Library holdings of books, manuscripts and historic maps, our Collections contains thousands of artifacts donated to the Society. These items help to tell the story of Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville: from papers to portraiture to photographs, clothing, furniture, memorabilia and ephemera, all donated by individuals, families, businesses and organizations throughout Central Virginia over the past 80 years. A sample of artifacts can be found on our Collections webpage. If you would like to donate an historic item to be preserved in our collections or do research in our collections, please contact us.
Copyrights & Reproductions
As curators, librarians and historians, our staff members are responsible for safeguarding the condition of materials in our Collection and for respecting the wishes and interests of authors and donors. We also wish to contribute to scholarship and teaching and want to make the public more aware of the books, manuscripts, and historic items we have. To accomplish these goals, the reproduction of items is often required. If you have a need to reproduce items in our collection or learn what we have, click this link for our policies.
Call us
(434) 296-1492
When We Work
Visit us
200 Second Street NE
Charlottesville, VA 22902
At the Historic Public Library
On Market Street Park in Downtown Charlottesville
200 Second Street, NE
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
Monday-Friday (8am-Noon) By Appointment
Phone: 434-296-1492
Email: [email protected]
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