Thursday, September 5, 2024 6:00PM A Better Life for Their Children: A Rosenwald Schools Journey: cohosted by the Virginia Museum of History and Culture and the Virginia Holocaust Museum. A Better Life for Their Children - Born to Jewish immigrants, Julius Rosenwald rose to lead Sears, Roebuck & Company and turn it into the world’s largest retailer. Born into slavery, Booker T. Washington became the founding principal of Tuskegee Institute. In 1912 the two men launched an ambitious program to partner with Black communities across the segregated South to build public schools for Black children. This watershed moment in the history of philanthropy—one of the earliest collaborations between Jews and Black Americans—drove dramatic improvement in African American educational attainment and fostered the generation who became the leaders and foot soldiers of the civil rights movement. Of the original 4,978 Rosenwald schools built between 1912 and 1937 across fifteen southern and border states, only about 500 survive. Though some have been repurposed and a handful remain active schools, many remain unrestored and at risk of collapse. To tell this story visually, Andrew Feiler drove more than 25,000 miles, photographed 105 schools, and interviewed dozens of former students, teachers, preservationists, and community leaders in all fifteen of the program states. The book and exhibition of this work is, A Better Life for Their Children: Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the 4,978 Schools that Changed America. The exhibition is on view at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture through April 20, 2025. Author, photographer, and exhibition curator Andrew Feiler will share images and stories from his extraordinary journey into the history of Rosenwald schools. The lecture will be followed by an author book signing and light refreshments. The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and/or the Virginia Holocaust Museum. Ticket Pricing: General Admission - $20 VMHC Members - $10 Program Notes: Tickets are required for in-person admission. Tickets are not needed if you would prefer to join us live on YouTube or Facebook. VMHC Members, please log in above to reserve your tickets. Your member pricing will be visible once your tickets are added to the cart. If you are not currently a member and would like to join, please click here. In-person attendees are invited to meet the speaker immediately following the lecture. Signed copies of the book willl be available at ShopVirginiaHistory.org. Click HERE to Register!

About The Event PURCHASE A TICKET HERE! Agecroft Hall & Gardens and Virginia Holocaust Museum present "Judaism in Early Modern England and 20th Century Virginia." Starting with the expulsion of the Jews in 1290, those of the Jewish faith still remaining in England led a life of secrecy, forced conversions, and discrimination. This tour focuses on the 16th and 17th centuries, discussing their eventual re-entry, professions held, stereotypes associated with their work, and, of course, William Shakespeare’s Shylock. Megan Ferenczy, Director of Education at the Virginia Holocaust Museum, will continue the tour in the Williams Library with a uniquely-Richmond story to tie the past and present together. She will discuss 20th century antisemitism and how a local Richmond family responded to it in 1930s Europe. Reservations: Advanced payment is required. $12.00 per person. Member discounts: 20% off for Agecroft Hall members. Free for Virginia Holocaust Museum members. (Virginia Holocaust Museum members may reserve complimentary tickets by contacting kreynolds@agecrofthall.com or mferenczy@vaholocaust.org.) REGISTER HERE!

Initiates of Change's International Peace Week celebration concludes with a special 4th annual Intersecting History Museum Crawl based on the theme "US: A Belonging Beyond Borders." Attendees will be able to visit 9 area museums free of charge (including VHM!) while exploring exhibitions and gaining a more inclusive, peace-focused understanding of our city's history. Charter buses will offer rides between museums at no cost to attendees, thanks in part to sponsorship from Richmond Region Tourism. The participants include: the American Civil War Museum-Historic Tredegar Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU The Poe Museum The Valentine Museum, the Virginia Holocaust Museum Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Virginia Museum of History & Culture To Learn More or Register, click HERE!

Co-presented by the Embassy of Israel Moderated by Efrat Hochstetler, Counselor for Public Diplomacy Hosted by the Holocaust Museum & Weinstein Jewish Community Center at the JCC At the young age of 20, Yosef Dadosh was among 3,000 Jews sent from their homes in Benghazi to the Giado concentration camp nestled in the heart of the Libyan desert. Amidst extreme conditions, he bravely chronicled life within the camp through a secret diary. For seven decades, his diary remained locked away in a closet, concealed from the world, until after his passing. Yosef's diary provides an extraordinary and rare window into the harrowing routine at Giado. It captures the atrocities endured by its inhabitants in real-time, offering an intimate and chilling account of their suffering. Despite his dedication to raising awareness about the Holocaust of Libyan Jews and fighting for its recognition by the State of Israel, Yosef chose to keep his ordeal hidden from his children. In an endeavor to bring this compelling story to life on the screen, a unique model of the camp was constructed and photographed. Through the use of animations, this model serves as a visual bridge, connecting the haunting texts of the diary with the stark reality of the camp. The resulting film merges historical accuracy with a distinctive cinematic language, offering a powerful and immersive exploration of Yosef's profound journey and the dark legacy he left behind. To learn more or to register, click HERE!  

Join the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and the Virginia Holocaust Museum to dive into a closer look at partnerships between the Jewish & Black Communities during the 20th century. This educator workshop will feature a tour of VMHC’s newest exhibition, “A Better Life for Their Children: Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Rosenwald, and the 4,978 Schools That Changed America,” and guided source analysis of paired documents. In addition, the Virginia Holocaust Museum will discuss the experiences, common ground and support found between Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany and Black Americans that were subjected to oppression and discrimination in the United States. This workshop will last from 10:00-1:00 and is free, but participants must register in advance. Lunch and certificates of completion will be provided. Participants in this program will receive a $50.00 participation stipend. Educators in the following counties (Amherst, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Buchanan, Campbell, Carroll, Craig, Dickenson, Floyd, Franklin, Galax, Giles, Grayson, Henry, Lynchburg, Martinsville, Montgomery, Nelson, Patrick, Pulaski, Radford, Roanoke, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise, and Wythe counties) are also eligible for an additional $200.00 travel stipend. Please email Director of Education Maggie Creech with any questions at mcreech@virginiahistory.org. To register, click HERE!

Join the Virginia Holocaust Museum for a behind-the-scenes archives tour and participate in The Butterfly Project! The Butterfly Project is a call to action through education, the arts and memorial-making. By painting ceramic butterflies, which are displayed as symbols of resilience and hope, participants remember the 1.5 million children killed during the Holocaust. After learning about artifacts from our collections, each participant will learn about a child who perished during the Holocaust and paint a ceramic butterfly in their memory. All butterflies painted will then be fired on behalf of the Museum and eventually used for a display here at VHM! We recommend this event for adults and students 6th grade and up. While this event is free and open to the public, space is limited. Register HERE!