Digital History Museum

WHERE: The ATHENAEUM, 201 Prince St., Old Town WHEN: 7:00 COST: FREE!

What’s a Digital History Museum? Come find out how to always have Alexandria history at your fingertips! 

THE LAUNCH PARTY

Join our panel of Alexandria history experts who will discuss their work researching, interpreting, and sharing the Port City’s history. Our Digital Museum Curator will explain how their work and the work of many others has gone into this initial version of our Digital History Museum. To help us prepare, if you are interested in coming, please RSVP here to our Athenaeum Co-Host.

The launch party will introduce the Alexandria Digital History Museum, a new online resource created to share stories of Alexandria’s people, places, and past with its residents, visitors, students, researchers, and anyone interested in the city’s history. Our panel of Alexandria history experts will include City Archaeologist Dr. Eleanor Breen, author Ted Pulliam, and renowned historic tour guide Dave Heiby. They will reflect on the stories that have stood out to them, the challenges and rewards of public history, and the importance of preserving and presenting Alexandria’s past for broad public audiences.

Our Digital History Museum curator, Scott Vierick, will provide a "guided tour" of the new museum and how you can use it to find both bits of history you are looking for and bits of history that pop up unexpectedly. We promise that you find something interesting about Alexandria you didn't know on every browsing trip through the DHM.

Light refreshments will be served.

DIGITAL HISTORY MUSEUM BACKGROUND

MUSEUM OPERATIONS & MISSIONS

Built using Axiell’s CultureConnect platform, the Alexandria Digital History Museum features more than 140 stories from across the Port City’s past, from the Indigenous  communities that called the area home for thousands of years to the Alexandrians who  continue to make history today.

From George Washington to Cass Elliot, and from Old Town to the West End, the museum highlights the scope, complexity, and diversity of Alexandria’s story. Through engaging digital exhibits, the museum connects visitors with the people, places,  and events that helped define the city. Links to other Alexandria Historical Society resources allow visitors to explore selected topics in greater depth. The museum also  includes a section titled Explore Alexandria History IRL, (In Real Life to the uninitiated) which connects users to museums, historic sites, and history organizations throughout the Port City.

The content available on launch day represents the beginning of what is intended to be a long-term public history project. New stories and resources will be added over time, and special exhibits will allow for deeper exploration of selected themes, people,  neighborhoods, and moments in Alexandria’s past.

MUSEUM SUPPORT

The Alexandria Digital History Museum has been supported by generous financial assistance from the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia and Virginia  Humanities.

The Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia works to stimulate interest in the Civil War from political, cultural, military, and economic perspectives. It is also committed to preserving historic sites and landmarks through initiatives including its annual Edwin C. Bearss Awards.

Virginia Humanities is the Commonwealth of Virginia’s state humanities council.  Founded in 1974, it is one of 56 humanities councils created by Congress with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities to make the humanities available to all  Americans. Virginia Humanities provides grant support to humanities projects that help tell the story of Virginia and Virginians and also administers the Encyclopedia Virginia digital platform.