There are many ways community members can join us in the work we do to protect, preserve, and promote the rich history of Fluvanna County. Below are just a few ways you can participate.
Archive Volunteers
Imagine transcribing a document from 1780, or helping to identify people in a photograph from 1900! Our archive volunteers answer research requests from near and far, add new material to our archives, update our indexes, and work to make sure these documents are protected. Their work enables us to tell the stories of the people who have made Fluvanna their home.
Museum Docents
If you enjoy meeting new people and talking about history, you will enjoy becoming a museum docent. These wonderful people give tours of the historic Village of Palmyra, the Old Stone Jail, and Holland Page Place. Tours are given by appointment and at our “Second Sundays” events held on the second Sunday afternoon of each month during the museum season (June-December).
Event Planners
The Fluvanna Historical Society hosts many events throughout the year. From book lectures and conferences to our “Second Sunday” street fairs to our “Historic Christmas” events, volunteers are needed to help with planning and facilitating our community gatherings. If you have great organizational skills, or simply enjoy helping to inform and entertain our community, this is the space for you.
Cemetery Volunteers
This is a new age, and the society is now working on projects to identify GPS coordinates for cemeteries in our county. Our public and private cemetery books contain information about the final resting places of many in our county, but there are many more cemeteries that have not yet been “collected.” We are partnering with One Shared Story to collect African-American cemeteries in Fluvanna and to document the names of those buried there. This information will be used to create a digital map of all cemeteries in Fluvanna County, along with links to information about the people buried in them. There are few more rewarding things to do than to trek through the woods to find a cemetery and record the names of those buried there so that they can be remembered.
Internet Technology
If you have skills with digital mapping and web hosting, we have a place for you in our organization. If you count ESRI among your skill sets, you can help us to create “Story Maps” (in partnership with One Shared Story) that identify not only locations of historic places, but the stories of people who lived there. Our goal is to ultimately identify home sites and places of industry – mills, dams, smithies, locks, canals, etc., and to “pin” those places on digital maps.
Miscellaneous
Enjoy gardening? We could use your help to beautify our properties in the historic Village of Palmyra and at Holland Page Place and plant a historically appropriate garden there!
Have an interest in Native American history? Help us with our plan to build an “Ati” (a Monacan residence at Holland Page Place) and help us keep up our Monacan garden there!
Are you a skilled handyman with time on your hands? Your help with the upkeep of our properties would be appreciated!
In short, whatever your area of interest and skill set, we have a place for you! Please let us know where your interests lie and what you like to do, and we will get back to you right away with volunteer information tailored to your interests.
Contact:
FluvannaHistory@gmail.com
(434) 390-1218