Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society

The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society (ACHS) is a private, non-profit educational organization founded in 1940 to study, preserve, and promote the history of Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

The ACHS' research library, administered by a librarian on the staff of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, contains over 4,000 books and bound periodicals, as well as thousands of photographs, manuscripts, maps, pamphlets, newspapers, and vertical files. Its museum collection contains over 3,000 artifacts.

The executive director is C. Thomas Chapman. He was hired on April 1, 2020.

Since 1994, the Society has been located in downtown Charlottesville in the historic McIntire Building.

Board Members

• Shelley Murphy, President
• Phyllis Leffler, Vice President
• Dan Smythe, Treasurer
• Sam Towler, Secretary
• Angus Arrington IV
• Gayle Jessup White
• Ervin L. Jordan, Jr.
• Kay Slaughter

Mission Statement

Our Mission

History is not the past; it is the story we tell about the past. Every person in Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville has a unique and powerful story to tell. Through collecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of our community, we are committed to informing, inspiring, and bringing together all people, creating opportunities for new relationships and new understandings.

Our Vision

Our vision is to reimagine and reinvent the role of the historical society in the twenty-first century: to be a strong civic organization that embraces, in all that we do, the diversity of our community’s history and experience, and promotes a greater understanding of our past, to enlighten the present and foster an inclusive history for future generations.

Our Values

Our work is grounded in a belief in the worth and dignity of every human being. We respect people, communities, and cultures. We value discovery, creativity, integrity, and diversity. We believe in the potential for history to enrich our lives and to create stronger relationships and more vibrant communities. We approach our work with integrity and transparency.

Efforts of the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society

These efforts include but are not limited to

• Encouraging the collection and preservation of manuscript and printed materials and other physical remains pertaining to the history of Charlottesville and Albemarle County;
• Promoting historical programs, lectures, exhibitions, and other educational activities;
• Facilitating writing and reporting upon local history in its relation to the local community, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Nation, and foreign countries;
• Exhibiting such material in its own or other museums or elsewhere and maintaining and operating a library and museum for housing and displaying historic materials.

External links

official site