‘Bring the history to the present’: Museum’s series explores challenges in Richmond

Maeve Bauer, Contributing Writer 

The Valentine Museum continued its “Controversy/History” series on Nov. 12 with the lecture “Too Damn High! Medical Costs and Access to Quality Care” which asked why the cost of thriving in Richmond is so damn high? 

“Controversy/History” is a recurring series at the Valentine inviting Richmonders to consider the issues facing the city with a different theme each year, according to the Valentine’s website. 

The museum features a different subject within the “Controversy/History” series every season, according to Sophia McCrimmon, the Valentine’s adult program and tour manager. “Too Damn High!” is the subject matter being covered this season, with different subgenres explaining why thriving in Richmond is so expensive. 

This is the Valentine’s 12th year hosting the series of lectures and leading into 2025 they are hosting five conversations with a diverse panel of experts. The conversations are co-hosted by Kelli Lemon and Josh Epperson, according to the press release.

Lemon is the director and host of digital programming for Virginia Video Network and Richmond Times-Dispatch. Epperson is a writer, brand strategist and a co-curator and text author for the Valentine exhibit “Sculpting History at the Valentine Studio: Art, Power, and the ‘Lost Cause’ American Myth,” according to McCrimmon.

There are three “Too Damn High!” discussions left in the Controversy/History series. The subjects of the discussions are: “The Price of Foregoing the Traditional 9-5” on Jan. 14, “The Pressure of Childcare in the First Five Years” on Feb. 11 and “Violence in Richmond & the Path to Safer Communities” on March 11, according to the Valentine’s website.

“The Valentine provides a forum for exploring the challenges facing the Richmond community with a deep dive into historical context,” according to the press release.

McCrimmon said she feels it is important to bring history to the present.

“It’s always been really important to use here to kind of bring the history to the present and think about the ways that contemporary issues are shaped by the past,” McCrimmon said. “The conversations people have been having for quite some time can give us inspiration as we tackle these difficulties today.”

McCrimmon said the museum chooses the topics by trying to respond to where the conversation is. 

“I’ve looked back at like other times that we’ve covered health care or housing — it was a different conversation because even a couple of years ago, we were thinking about these topics in a different way,” McCrimmon said.

She has been working for the Valentine for three years and has seen the series and people’s engagement with it evolve over the years, McCrimmons said. They added snacks and a bar this year, hoping to create a more inviting atmosphere. 

“It’s amazing how we’ve really tried to keep it fresh and engaging,” McCrimmon said. “Even as we cover some of the same topics, but they’re always evolving. It’s going to be a different conversation every time because of who we have in the room.”

There were a handful of younger people attending the event, according to McCrimmon. She encourages more students to come out and support the event. 

“I think VCU students and the VCU community show up a lot in both the history that we’re talking about and in these present-day issues,” McCrimmon said. “So definitely just would encourage students to come out and participate and learn something and just share their perspectives.”

Matthew Scanlon, a first-year medical engineering student at VCU, attended the talk for a class called Humans of Richmond and VCU. He said it’s a class about Richmond’s history and why things are the way they are today. 

Scanlon said his biggest takeaway was learning the life expectancy between Gilpin Court and Westover Hills has a 20-year gap — residents in Gilpin Court have a life expectancy of 63 and in Westover Hills, a life expectancy of 83. Scanlon said he felt shocked that they were neglected by the city. 

Scanlon said he feels the city has improved in the last 20 years, but still has a ways to go. 

“I think in the past maybe 20 years they’ve improved a lot,” Scanlon said. “They’ve, I think, undone some of the damage of urban renewal and that’s good, but there’s still so much damage that needs to be undone from urban renewal I think.”

The Valentine’s goal with this series is to talk about the issues in Richmond the city can improve on, according to Christina Swanson, the director of PR and marketing at the Valentine. 

“Our director Bill Martin came in and was talking about graffiti that he had seen all over Richmond that says rent is too high,” Swanson said. “That kind of inspired the theme of the series, along with the Urban Institute of upper mobility framework.” 

The Urban Institute upper mobility framework is a way of looking at the foundations for advancing upward mobility, according to Swanson. 

“The framework includes a three-part definition of economic and social mobility, a focus on racial equity, five pillars of support people need from their communities, and 24 predictors of the strength of these pillars that communities can influence to help more residents reach long-term prosperity,” according to the Urban Institute’s website.

Swanson says she hopes participants can walk away with a sense of community.

“I just hope that people feel connected with their city a little bit more by coming into the room and sharing conversations with other community members,” Swanson said. 

The Valentine records the conversations and has them available as a podcast for those in the community who want to learn but can’t make it to the talk, according to Swanson. The podcasts can be found on Spotify, Apple podcasts and Amazon Music.