Forging Freedom, Justice, and Equality is a riveting interactive, multi-themed immersion into the Black experience in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia and beyond.  Through the use of rare artifacts from the BHMVA, private collections, rare photographs and powerful first-person narratives, patrons will embark on a thematic journey distinguished by extraordinary examples of agency in the quest for freedom, justice and equality through several centuries. 

The exhibition is divided into six themes: BEFORE FREEDOM CAME; IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE (THE BLACK CHURCH); TELL THEM WE ARE RISING (EDUCATION); THE BUSINESS OF COMMERCE, ORGANIZATIONS AND THE BLACK PRESS; THE BLACK MILITARY EXPERIENCE; and THE ARTS, SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT.

The exhibition features more than 100 photographs and artifacts. Highlights include a unique ledger nearly 180-years-old that speaks to the experience of free Blacks in Richmond, and a facsimile of the free papers of the first known Black graduate of the law school at Harvard University. Included also are stunning photographs of Black students at budding Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Virginia, taken by award-winning photographer George O. Brown and his descendants.