The Valentine

The Valentine

Valentine Museum, Valentine Richmond History Center
Entrance stairwell, postcard c.1910
Established	1898
Location	Richmond, Virginia
Type	History Museum & National Historic Landmark
Collection size	Multiple
Director	William J. Martin, Director
President	John C. Stanchina, Chairman
Curator	David Voelkel, Elise H. Wright Curator of General Collections Meg Hughes, Curator of Archives Kristen Stewart, Nathalie L. Klaus Curator of Costume & Textiles
Website	http://www.thevalentine.org

Coordinates: 37°32′30.3″N 77°25′52.7″W / 37.541750°N 77.431306°W / 37.541750; -77.431306

The Valentine (formerly known as the Valentine Museum and then Valentine Richmond History Center) is a private museum in Richmond, Virginia dedicated to the history of the city. The museum opened in 1898 as the Valentine Museum, and changed its name to the Valentine Richmond History Center in 2000 before adopting its current name in 2014. Founded by Mann S. Valentine II, it was the first museum in Richmond. According to its website, the Valentine offers exhibitions that focus on "American urban and social history, costumes and textiles, decorative arts and architecture." The Valentine also includes the 1812 neoclassical Wickham House, a National Historical Landmark. In 2014, the Valentine completed a $4.1 million renovation of its public exhibition galleries, lobby, museum store and education center.

The funds for the museum were provided by Mann S. Valentine II, who made his fortune with Valentine’s Meat Juice, a health tonic made from beef juice invented as early as 1870. In 1874, Mann Valentine published "A Brief History of the Production of Valentine's Meat Juice Together With Testimonials of the Medical Profession." This document included recommendations from Medical College of Virginia professors and doctors (e.g., J.B. McCaw and Hunter McGuire), University of Maryland medical professor Richard McSherry, Columbia University gynecology professor Theodore Gaillard Thomas, New York Board of Health resident surgeon Walter Reed, D.W. Yandell, president of the American Medical Association, various members of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane, a report by the American Pharmaceutical Association, and a report by pharmaceuticals inventor E. R. Squibb regarding the use of Meat Juice in various settings in the U.S. Army. According to Style Weekly, the beef juice's "health claims were at best dubious." Mann and his sons earned their fortune from the Valentine Meat Juice Company.