Richmond’s Valentine Museum explores the concept of family.
The Courtship of John Rolfe and Pocahontas, c. 1907.
General William C. Wickham, Lucy P. Wickham and their son, c. 1885.
Portrait of the seven sons of Mann S. Valentine II, with paintings of Mann S. Valentine II, his first wife and his daughter Mary Valentine Mosely in the background, c. 1905.
The Dunn Family, May 25, 1989.
Photo by Lindy Keast Rodman
In line with its mission of “collecting, preserving and interpreting Richmond’s stories for over a century,” the Valentine museum is presently offering a special exhibit devoted to exploring the history of the city’s ever-evolving concept of family. The exhibition, “It’s All Relative: Richmond Familes (from 1616 – 2016),” spans 400 years, beginning with the relationship, marriage and subsequent family-life of tobacco-pioneer John Rolfe and his wife, the Powhatan princess, Pocahontas.
According to David Voelkel, who serves as the Valentine’s Elise H. Wright Curator of General Collections, the idea behind the exhibit was to point out the notion of what comprises a ‘family’ and explore how we define, think about, interpret and moralize the institution—a conversation each generation must have with itself, as well as its predecessors and heirs. Forever fluctuating, forever open to debate, the concept remains perpetually in conflict.
Hence the case of Rolfe and Pocahontas.
“Period correspondence shows the two were definitely aware of the controversy surrounding their marriage,” says Voelkel. “Rolfe actually wrote a letter to the king to ask for his blessing to allow Rolfe to marry a ‘heathen’… The historical record shows this was something the couple was very nervous about.”
Now, more than four centuries later, similar concerns regarding what is or isn’t socially acceptable remain at the forefront of the American debate over family values. Seeking to highlight the correlation, Voelkel chose to bookend the exhibit, which will be on view until Jun. 18, 2017, with the marriage of the city and state’s first same-sex couple.
“We traced the family’s development all the way through the couple’s recent adoption of their first child,” explains Voelkel. “We felt that this was a great way to show that every generation has to fight for their own definition of family.”
Housed in the Stettinius Community Gallery, the exhibit features items pulled from the museum’s vast, 1.6 million piece collection, as well as five television screens playing interviews conducted with contemporary Richmonders. The result is an immersive experience that Voelkel hopes will inspire visitors to question and examine their preconceptions and ideas of family. TheValentine.org
