The Black History Museum and Cultural Center Inc

The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, the south’s first museum of its kind, is embarking on an exciting project that will preserve and rehabilitate one of the City of Richmond’s most iconic 19th century structures, the First Battalion Virginia Volunteers Armory, the first armory built for an African American militia in our nation, and transform it into the home of an expanded and truly statewide Virginia museum of African American history. 

Ours will be the only statewide museum of African American history in the United States, telling the riveting and complex stories that comprise the 400-plus year old story of the African American experience in ways that educate, inspire, challenge and entertain. The story we tell will reflect the power of the human spirit that resonates with all people. 

The Armory, also known as the Leigh Street Armory, is on the National Registry of Historic Places and located in Jackson Ward, a National Historic Landmark District. The renovation will be completed in two phases. 

• Phase One involves the renovation of the historic structure and will be completed in mid-2013. 
• Phase Two of the project will expand the Museum’s footprint by adding additional exhibition, community meeting and presentation space. 

 

The finished product will be a stunning architectural structure, blending the best of 19th and 21st century design elements to attract tourists, residents, schools and diverse groups to experience the compelling story the exhibits and programs tell about American history through the lens of African American experience in Virginia.