Exhibitions
Danville and the Culture of Tobacco
April 22 - August 19, 2007
Jennings and Schoolfield Galleries
It would be hard to exaggerate the importance of tobacco to the culture and economy of Virginia over the past 400 years. From the Jamestown colony until the late twentieth century, tobacco was the main agricultural crop in Virginia and a main economic driver.
It would be harder still to overstate the importance of Bright Leaf tobacco on the economy in the tobacco region known as the Old Belt. Stretching across the Virginia/North Carolina border including Pittsylvania and Halifax counties, the Old Belt region produced millions of pounds of some of the highest-grade cigarette tobacco in the world. The epicenter of the Old Belt was Danville, Virginia and its famous auction system for selling tobacco. Its bustling warehouses processed the tobacco after it was sold. The tobacco industry was not only the mainstay of the economy but instrumental in creating a distinctive fabric of local traditions and ways of life.
The Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History will present an exhibition of artifacts curated from the collection of the National Tobacco and Textile Museum, which has been in storage for fifteen years. Danville and the Culture of Tobacco will share with its audience the unique tools for growing tobacco, the colorful tobacco auction system, and the production warehouses through the use of artifacts, archival photographs, and film. This exhibition will be part of the City of Danville's celebration of Jamestown 2007.
Sponsors:
Anonymous
Concerned Friends For Tobacco
John Middleton, Inc.
Swedish Match North America, Inc.
Swisher International. Inc.
Universal Leaf Tobacco Co., Inc.
Victory Foundation