Almost 180 years old, the Virginia Historical Society is one of the preeminent historical foundations in the United States. As Britain’s principal New World colony, as well as the state with the largest slave and later, free black population, Virginia has been at the centre of significant, if turbulent historical events. The VHS has an extensive collection of colonial portraits, engravings of early Native Americans, intricate articles of metalwork and military paraphernalia, as well as maps charting the arrival of the first explorers.