History

Each year in November and December, the historic presidential homes in our area make the holiday season bright with special tours and events like Holly Days at James Monroe’s Highland and Holiday-themed evening tours at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. These sites and many in the area also host special holiday markets and workshops. Just down the road, historic Michie Tavern remains open on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, serving their delicious midday Southern buffet.

In January, the Community MLK Celebration honors Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and service with an assortment of talks, exhibits, and performances. King visited the University of Virginia in 1963 to speak against segregation in higher education. Black History Month in February highlights the area’s rich Black culture. Look for special tours, gatherings, and educational events for all ages, such as Black Family History Lab and an open house about the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS).

With Monticello, Highland and Montpelier all in the Charlottesville and Albemarle County Area, consider spending President’s Day Weekend in our region. Learn about the Founding Fathers whose leadership defined the founding of the United States 250 years ago, and hear stories of those who lived and labored at their plantations.

In addition to Women’s History Month, March is devoted to Liberation and Freedom Day, which commemorates the arrival of Union cavalry in 1865 and liberation of over 14,000 enslaved individuals in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

Also in March are the Cville Puzzle Hunt and the Virginia Festival of the Book. The one-day C’Ville Puzzle Hunt invites teams of friends and families to go on a scavenger hunt throughout downtown Charlottesville. Clues are based on local history, pop culture, and iconic buildings. The annual Virginia Festival of the Book brings nationally known authors to the area, perfect for those who love to read about history, folklife, and folklore, as well as historical fiction and family narratives.

Founder’s Day celebrates Thomas Jefferson’s birthday mid-April with a series of events at Monticello and the University of Virginia (UVA), including speeches by this year’s Jefferson Foundation Medalists in architecture, citizen leadership, global innovation, and law.

Considered the only statewide house and garden tour in the nation, Historic Garden Week is held throughout Virginia in late April, including three days of tours in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. It is a chance to see beautiful private and public gardens as well as historic sites and vistas. Your participation helps build a legacy, as ticket proceeds fund a research fellowship in landscape architecture and future preservation of gardens.

Join us in June for rural events like the Grace Church Historic Farm Tour and James River Batteau Festival. Juneteenth kicks off Civic Season, which runs from June 19 through July 4th. Expect a full slate of activities, including Descendants Day at Highland and the Independence Day Naturalization Ceremony at Monticello, as well as community celebrations throughout the area.

Satisfy your passion for books and history at the Rare Book School (RBS) public lectures. Held in June and July at UVA, these lectures are free to attend. Delve deeper with a weeklong RBS course in Charlottesville – attendees usually include professional curators, conservators, and educators, as well as booksellers and collectors. Other immersive learning experiences in our area during the summer include the Historic Landscape Institute, Jefferson Symposium, and Monticello Teacher Institute for adults and Adventure Camp at Monticello for rising third – sixth graders. Applications for these programs are usually due around January, and spaces fill quickly.

Two longstanding community events that occur at the end of July – the Chihamba Cultural Arts Festival and Albemarle County Fair – highlight social and agricultural traditions that still influence life today in the Charlottesville and Albemarle County area.

Founded by local documentarian Lorenzo Dickerson and named for a historic African American community near present-day Ivy, Virginia, the Maupintown Film Festival takes place at the beginning of September and screens films about Black culture and history.

In mid-September, the Cville Sabroso Festival lets visitors “taste” the vibrancy of Latin American culture through dance, music, food, traditional artisan creations, and family fun. The festival always coincides with National Hispanic American Heritage Month.

October is Virginia Archaeology Month and is the perfect time to enjoy Halloween activities in historic settings, such as annual Twilight Tours in Scottsville and Trick-or-Treating on the Lawn at UVA’s Academical Village.

History comes alive year-round in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, and our historic sites are great places to explore history in a multitude of new ways. Designed for young learners ages 5 – 11, Family Friendly Tours at Monticello are offered throughout the summer and on select weekends at other times of year. Guided tours of the Gardens at Monticello are available April – October, and Archaeology Walking Tours are presented two days a week between March and early November – all part of admission to Thomas Jefferson’s home. Admission also includes guided walking tours focusing on the legacies of slavery. Be sure to allow time to visit The South Wing, where you can find displays about Sally Hemings, Monticello's enslaved cooks, and Getting Word, and The Contemplative Site, which offers a place for reflection.

Monticello also hosts a popular plant sale through the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants (CHP). Located at nearby Tufton Farm, the Center is open for sales four times a year: in April, May, September, and October, and is both a working nursery, where heirloom and native plants are preserved and propagated, and the site of living plant collections.

Be sure to take advantage of special discounts offered at both Monticello and Highland, including Museums for All, which provides free admission for guests who receive benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Highland participates in the Blue Star Museums Program for military families, which is active between Armed Forces Day and Labor Day. You can find a full list of discounted options at the following links for Monticello, Highland, and Michie Tavern. Don’t forget: the trails at Monticello and Highland are always free to visit.

During the academic year, UVA regularly hosts talks and lectures related to cultural and political history, particularly through the Karsh Institute of Democracy, Miller Center, Nau Center for Civil War History, and UVA Library. The UVA Calendar of Events allows you to search for programs that are open to the public.

The Albemarle Charlotteville Historical Society is one of many non-profits, including the Central Virginia History Researchers, Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, Special Collections Library and Virginia Humanities, that showcases resident and lesser-known history and new techniques for investigating and understanding history. Visitors are welcome to participate in these uniquely-local tours, talks, and exhibits!