Curator's Choice
Like history? Love museums? From ancient relics to modern marvels, each episode of this show features a new museum and a sampling of some amazing artifacts housed there. What makes Curator's Choice truly special is our exclusive interviews with the unsung heroes of museums—the curators themselves. These guardians of history will share insights, anecdotes, and the often untold stories that breathe life into the artifacts they protect.
Through this podcast, our mission is to dispel the notion of museums as static, old, and dull spaces. Instead, we aim to reveal them as vibrant repositories brimming with mystery and wonder, one artifact at a time.
New episodes are released every two weeks, and you can tune in anywhere you get your podcasts!
Curator's Choice
Episode 30: American Civil War Museum, Collections
Part 3 of 3
This week, for our third and final installment of the American Civil War Museum series, we meet with Robert Hancock, who is a Senior Curator and Director of Collections. The museum manages over 15,000 artifacts and over 150,000 manuscript items, and we talk to Robert about just a few of them. Though many items have been a part of the museum’s collection since the beginning, such as Robert E. Lee’s colt revolver, other items are new acquisitions that are to be preserved for future generations who wish to learn more about history.
Changing Signs and Statues
Below is an embedded presentation from the online exhibit: Birth of Monument Avenue. It discusses the origins of Richmond’s most contested and beloved boulevard, and features objects from the American Civil War Museum, the Library of Virginia, The Valentine, and the Virginia Museum of History and Culture.
Episode Links:
- American Civil War Museum webpage: https://acwm.org/
- On Monument Avenue online exhibits: https://onmonumentave.com/
- American Civil War Museum online collections database: https://acwm.pastperfectonline.com/
- General Robert E. Lee's Parole and Citizenship article from the National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/spring/piece-lee
Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers