16th Annual Anne & Ryland Brown Teacher Institute

About 16th Annual Anne & Ryland Brown Teacher Institute

Join Library of Virginia staff members and guest speakers in this year’s two-day teacher institute. The 16th annual Brown Teacher Institute will focus on research and projects that explore the history of Black Virginians in Richmond’s Jackson Ward district in support of the Library’s forthcoming exhibition, “House to Highway: Reclaiming a Community History” (July 14, 2025-–Feb. 28, 2026). “House to Highway” explores the story of Abraham Peyton Skipwith, the first Black homeowner in the area that would be known as Jackson Ward after the Civil War, and the subsequent removal of his house in advance of the construction of the Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike, to anchor a larger national story of the Black American experience and the founding of the nation through the Jim Crow era. Moreover, the exhibition illuminates the present-day restorative justice movement in Jackson Ward and how the community’s story and legacy can be found in other Black American communities across the nation, including Bronzeville in Chicago; Hayti in Durham, North Carolina; Sweet Auburn in Atlanta; West Ninth Street in Little Rock, Arkansas; and Farish Street in Jackson, Mississippi. The institute will offer tools, resources and content to aid educators in teaching this history in the classroom. Teachers will explore how to use primary sources to enhance student learning and discover new digital resources.