Barefoot Will Help Rebrand Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society; New CVille Museum Targeted

Editor’s Note: This is part one in a four part series.

Coy Steven Barefoot, the newly minted executive director of the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, analyzes his team’s effort to rebrand the society from a small club to a museum that could potentially represent the rich history of Charlottesville, Virginia in this fantastic I Love CVille interview powered by Greenberry’s Coffee at Barracks Road.

“The idea is to let [the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society] mature from sort of a club for people who are interested in history to a kind of ‘friends of the museum’ organization that supports a whole new suite of programs and projects,” Barefoot explained. “Eventually, we hope we will have a whole constellation of museums that will offer really rich experiences.”

At the 3-minute marker of this interview, you really see Barefoot’s passion for creating a history museum for Charlottesville, Virginia.

“It blows my mind that a place like Scottsville, Virginia has a history museum, but Charlottesville doesn’t?!” Barefoot said. “To me, it’s such a no brainer. Why don’t we do that?

“The beauty of it, the power of it, is our [Charlottesville] story is America’s story.”

Barefoot, an award-winning author, who is often the go-to resource for Charlottesville history, received a phone call this past Spring from an influential supporter of the Historical Society. This call, kind of a “feel things out conversation,” was the first step to Barefoot’s new job.

“When I got out of grad school in ’92, I went down to the Historical Society to volunteer as a tour guide and would drag third graders up and down The Mall,” Barefoot said. “I just loved it! I fell in love with Charlottesville history and the work of the Historical Society.”

Barefoot, who has already spearheaded a new website (CVilleCenter.org), new programs, new tours and new projects for the Historical Society, is passionate about reinventing and rebranding this organization.

“I feel like I’ve been training for this one job for 30 years,” Barefoot said, “[but] we need your help. We need support.”

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