RICHMOND, Va. -- While Richmond's Black History Museum and Culture Center of Virginia celebrates Black history year-round, the museum has prepared special exhibits for Black History Month.
"We are honored to celebrate our stories, Black Virginia stories," Andrea Wright, the museum's director of advancement & strategic initiatives, said. "And so this month Black History Month we have opened new exhibitions."
Those exhibits are connected to ASALH, which stands for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
This year's theme is African Americans in Labor. Visitors can see the exhibits "From Sunup to Sundown — but the work never stops" and "We are the Builders: Honoring the Contributions of Black Workers in Virginia."
"So Africans were brought to this land for intellectual prose, for labor, for all types of labor, and so this exhibition honors those contributions over the years," said Wright. "Because 'Those are the Hands that Built this Nation,' is an exhibition that will be opening in April."
Another key exhibit is "A Prescription for Change, Black Voices Shaping Healthcare in Virginia," which highlights the contributions of African Americans in Virginia to the medical profession.
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The theme continues in Shockoe Bottom with "Portals," a community-based exhibition created in partnership with the City of Richmond and Parks & Recreation.
"We look at 'Portals' as a way of looking at the contributions again of Black labor over the years and looking at how that area is transformed from what it was to looking at the contributions of that history," Wright explained.
The Black History Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on West Leigh Street in Historic Jackson Ward.
"We do encourage folks to arrive no later than 3:30 p.m. because to really fully enjoy the tours, you want to allow at least an hour and a half to see everything here," Wright advised.
Click here for more information on events at the Black History Museum.
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