Christy Coleman - Director, Jamestown - Yorktown Foundation
Coleman, who has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Hampton University, began her career at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, eventually serving as director of interpretive programs development and overseeing all programming and tours in the historic area. In 1999, she became president and CEO of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. She was named president and CEO of the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar in Richmond in 2008.
In 2013, Coleman helped orchestrate the merger of the American Civil War Center with the Museum of the Confederacy to create the American Civil War Museum, which is located in Richmond and Appomattox. Coleman has been recognized for striving to make museum experiences meaningful to diverse communities and being an innovative leader in the history museum field. Earlier this year, Time magazine featured Coleman on a list of “31 People Who Are Changing the South.” A native of Williamsburg, Va., holds a master’s degree in museum studies from Hampton University and has been a member of numerous organizations, including the African American Association of Museums, the American Alliance of Museums and the Association for State and Local History where she was also a Council member.
As the director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Coleman continues the process of telling a more comprehensive story of our nation’s 17th- and 18th-century beginnings. The recently completed American Evolution commemoration focused nationwide attention on the intersection of English, African and Native cultures in early Virginia and their impact on modern America. Coleman capitalizes on these successes with the aim of bringing Jamestown, Yorktown and their rich stories and legacies to much broader national and international notice and influence.
