UR Exhibition on Richmond's Civil Rights History Will Soon Be Available for Loan Via 'Museum in a Box'

August 29, 2019

Image courtesy of University Museums.

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND — University Museums has received funding to expand the reach of a recent exhibition, Growing Up in Civil Rights Richmond: A Community Remembers. No museum required.

A $3,000 grant from Virginia Humanities will allow University Museums to develop two free educational resources that will enable audiences throughout the greater Richmond area to experience last spring’s exhibition, which highlighted stories of local Richmond residents who grew up in the city during the civil rights movement.

The exhibition will be packaged into two art portfolio cases that will feature residents’ portraits captured by Richmond-based visual journalist Brian Palmer and excerpts from interviews conducted by Laura Browder, UR’s Tyler and Alice Haynes professor of American Studies.

Each box will also include relevant educational materials such as timelines of civil rights events during Richmond’s history, Virginia SOL guidelines, excerpts from scholarly sources, and recommended additional readings.

“'Museum in a Box' cuts out the logistics and expense of a field trip and brings the content to the school’s doorstep,” said Martha Wright, University Museums’ assistant curator of academic and public engagement. “It brings the exhibition to the students in their classroom environment which is familiar and comfortable and that allows for deeper inquiry.”

Local school educators, libraries, civic groups, and churches will all be able to loan the boxes for free from University Museums.

“Whether a student or community group, the purpose of ‘Museum in a Box’ is to have a nuanced dialogue,” said Wright. “Conversations about our collective history and race are absolutely integral to community evolution.” 

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