Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: A Case Study in Museum Institutional Historiography

Drawing on a broad survey of museum and professional association archives, Conway’s dissertation analyzes the social networks and institutional development of museums across the American South from 1865 to 1960. Conway argues that museums in the American South functioned to establish a cultural hegemony that was in alignment with museum practices in other regions of the country, even though their relevance has been dismissed by scholars over time. She examines how and why museums emerged in a region reconceiving its economic, cultural, and physical landscapes in relationship to the national ethos.

This paper focuses on the governance and operational foundations of the VMFA from 1932 when the Virginia General Assembly passed a bill designating the creation of a state-sponsored art museum through the early 1960s when Jim Crow segregation laws began to be dismantled. Although ostensibly dry, a broad examination of records such as board of trustee minutes, directorial correspondence, and budgets reveal intriguing trends in local cultural attitudes, statewide economic priorities, and social structures at work. The study aims to make visible the foundations of these naturalized architectures of museum operational practice.