“Give Me Liberty: Virginia & the Forging of a Nation” will be on view at the VMHC from March 22, 2025, to Jan. 4, 2026, with its grand opening marking the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” charge for revolution.
Virginia is the home state of the principal authors of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
This exhibition is curated in partnership with the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and presented by VA250, Virginia’s semiquincentennial planning commission.
“As we approach America’s 250th anniversary, the Virginia Museum of History & Culture will be a primary source of essential learning about America’s founding and its journey over the ensuing two and a half centuries,” said Jamie O. Bosket, VMHC president and CEO. “We must study and share this American and Virginian story — its triumphs and tragedies, its successes and shortcomings — and reflect on the many voices that together forge one Commonwealth and one nation.”
“Give Me Liberty” will highlight Virginia’s leading role in the American Revolution and explore the continental and global forces that brought about a model of democratic government that changed the world.
The ‘Give Me Liberty’ exhibit will be broken down into five sections including:
- “Protest to Action”
- “Words to Action”
- “Liberty in Action
- “Virginia in Action”
- “A Call to Action: Our Living American Revolution of Ideas”
Highlights of the ‘Give Me Liberty’ exhibit include:
- many portraits and paintings, including a painting of George Washington as Colonel in the Virginia Regiment by Charles Willson Peale and George Washington’s silver hilted smallsword worn during the French and Indian War
- the Broadside of Dunmore’s Proclamation, Nov. 7, 1775; likely printed by Alexander Cameron and Donald McDonald aboard the HMS Otter
- Patrick Henry’s spectacles and an ivory paper cutter associated with his “Give Me Liberty” speech
- a reproduction of a Wampum belt. “The Belt that Would Not Burn”
- a manuscript certification of an enslaved man’s enlistment into the Continental Army to do a tour of duty for his enslaver
- a reproduction of a Liberty to Slaves frock
- Thomas Jefferson’s 1774 “A Summary View of the Rights of British America” printed by Clementina Rind in Williamsburg, Virginia
- a rare copy of Virginia’s 1776 Declaration of Rights, which influenced many other state constitutions and the Bill of Rights
- a reproduction of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence writing desk
- Peter Force’s 1833 printing of the Declaration of Independence from W.J. Stones’ 1823 plate
- the bell from St. John’s Church
- a reproduction of the Speaker’s Chair from the House of Burgesses
“The VA250 Commission is committed to making Virginia’s history accessible to all residents,” said H. Benson Dendy III, VA250 Commission member and Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation chairman emeritus. “‘Give Me Liberty’ will be one of the finest semiquincentennial exhibitions in the nation, debuting long before any other major exhibition and with components that travel to smaller museums across Virginia.”
Following its time at the VMHC, “Give Me Liberty” will be on display at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown from July 1, 2026, to Jan. 31, 2027.
A mobile version of the exhibition will also travel across Virginia from 2025 to 2027, visiting dozens of local museums, libraries and community centers.
In June 2025, a companion publication, also titled “Give Me Liberty,” will be released. This volume will feature essays by leading historians from higher education institutions across the country and offer readers a new perspective and greater depth on the stories shared in the exhibition.
“The 250th anniversary of America is an important moment — extraordinary in our lifetimes — which we should seize by together renewing our commitment to the unfinished pursuit of ‘a more perfect union’—to reflect deeply on our past and invest with great purpose in our future,” said Bosket.
VMHC is located at 428 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd. in Richmond. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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Crystal Graham
