New Digital Archive Will Preserve Historic Images, Documents of Virginia Indian Tribes, Thanks to Gift from Dominion

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., July 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH) will receive a grant of $150,000 from energy company, Dominion Resources to build the Commonwealth's only online historical and cultural archive about Virginia's Indian communities.

The grant matches an additional award from the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation of $75,000. Virginia Indian Heritage Online will be a collaborative project between two programs at the VFH—the Virginia Indian Heritage Program and Encyclopedia Virginia. It will create a comprehensive record of Virginia Indian history, interpreted and delivered, which anyone can access at any time.

Through this two-year project, VFH will visit tribal communities to scan historic photographs and documents and collect oral histories from tribal elders and others. Staff will also collect historic images housed in archives and other facilities; relevant documents such as treaties, court records, and letters; and will build audio and video programs such as the narrated slideshow, "A Place to Be Ourselves" (http://bit.ly/mtokvg). As content is created, it will be incorporated into Encyclopedia Virginia.

Director of the Virginia Indian Heritage Program (VIHP) at the VFH, Karenne Wood (Monacan) says, "We are trying to help redress centuries of historical omission, exclusion, and misrepresentation by reaching students, researchers and members of the public.  This project will enable Virginia's tribes to preserve and access the treasured record of their past and present, and will provide a wealth of new information throughout Virginia and beyond."

"Dominion is honored to have a role in the preservation and celebration of Virginia Indian history," says Virginia M. Board, president of The Dominion Foundation, the charitable arm of Dominion. "The development of the online archive is important because it will educate about a valuable past and inspire the present and future."

The Virginia Indian Heritage Program is a unique partnership between the state-recognized tribes and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Encyclopedia Virginia is a publicly accessible online publication of the VFH that seeks to aggregate in a single resource, information on Virginia history, business, politics, and geography, plus the state's proud heritage in the arts, religion, culture, and folk traditions. A non-profit educational organization created in 1974, VFH is a catalyst for the cultural, civic, artistic, and educational vitality of the Commonwealth. Its purpose is to understand the past and confront issues in the present, in order to help shape a more promising future.  We seek to discover and share untold stories, encourage lifelong learning, and promote civil discourse.

For more information on the Virginia Indian Heritage Program or Encyclopedia Virginia, visit

www.virginiaindianprogram.org or http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org.

Dominion (NYSE: D) is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy. The company is headquartered in Richmond, Va., and serves retail customers in 15 states. The Dominion Foundation is dedicated to improving the physical, social and economic well being of the communities served by Dominion companies, including Dominion Virginia Power and Dominion North Carolina Power. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.

www.virginiafoundation.org

SOURCE Virginia Foundation for the Humanities