Events at the Workhouse
Scroll to see individual listings for current and upcoming events!
Film Screening: Guess Where You’re Going
Join us for a screening of GUESS WHERE YOU’RE GOING, an award-winning short documentary (run time 15 minutes) by Khwaja Hamzah Saif and Kai River Blevins hosted by the Lorton Prison Museum. We will have repeat showings of documentary at 6PM, 7PM, and 8PM. Following each showing, Hamzah Saif will host a talk back and Q/A with Program Manager Jay Loy and the audience.
Learning at Lunch
How do we preserve our humanity when stripped of our freedom? For decades, individuals incarcerated at the Lorton Reformatory and institutions across the country turned to the written word to answer that very question, carving out spaces of vulnerability, intellect, and profound creativity behind concrete walls.
Learning at Lunch
Kyle Hulbert joins us via telephone directly from his site of incarceration to share his personal perspective and reflections on life behind bars. This live discussion offers a stark, unfiltered look at the realities of the correctional system, moving beyond abstract policy debates to focus on the lived experience of an incarcerated individual and what mental health looks like in our modern carceral system.
Learning at Lunch
Shout! is a collection of Susanna Rich’s original poetry written from the points of view of core suffragist figures from the 1848 Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights Convention, through the passage of the 19th Amendment, and on to the present day - including some of the suffragists incarcerated at the Occoquan Workhouse in 1917.
Learning at Lunch
Documentarian Jonathan McNair share’s his work and experiences with his current work. Inherited Time refers to the conditions, struggles, and cycles—such as trauma, poverty, and violence—passed down through generations that shape a person’s starting point in life, while also carrying the responsibility to break those patterns and build a new legacy.
Learning at Lunch: SUFFS!
We are thrilled to welcome cast members from the Tony Award-winning hit musical, SUFFS, to the Workhouse Arts Center campus! As the production prepares to take the stage at the National Theatre in DC (June 16–28), they’re stopping by our site to connect with the very history that inspired their story.
Learning at Lunch
From inside prison, Randy Via shares honest, unfiltered conversations about daily life behind bars, prison culture, personal growth, accountability, and survival on the Red Onion Randy Podcast.
Learning at Lunch
Join guest curator Randy Welch as he explores the ethical considerations involved in interpreting historical events and other insights he has on the Liddy exhibit.
Learning at Lunch
Join author and professor emeritus Alice Reagan this Women’s History Month for an insightful exploration of the Women’s Workhouse - its conditions, role in the legal system, and the documented experiences of the women held there.
Congressman Walkinshaw's WHM Event
Join us for a conversation surrounding voting rights and the SAVE Act, and the effects that this would have on women, minorities, and rural communities. Following the panel discussion, attendees will have a chance to visit the Lorton Prison Museum and the Lucy Burns Gallery.
History Bites (virtual program)
Virtual program hosted by George Mason’s Gunston Hall. Part of the Rights of the Incarcerated Miniseries.
Celebrate Women's Equality Day
Join us at the Lorton Prison Museum to honor the courageous suffragists, including Lucy Burns and the National Woman's Party, who fought for the right to vote. Explore their powerful story, engage with author Alice Reagan, and enjoy free suffrage crafts for all ages!
Workhouse Campus Tour
Join our museum coordinator for a campus walking tour and explore the history of the prison site.
Learning at Lunch - The Workhouse and the World Wars
Lucy Burns Museum docents Neal McBride and Joe Ammann dive into how the prison’s history overlaps with the First and Second World Wars for this iteration of our lunchtime series.
Saturday, Workhouse Campus Tour
Join our museum coordinator for a campus walking tour and explore the history of the prison site.
Workhouse Campus Tour
Join our museum coordinator for a campus walking tour and explore the history of the prison site.
Learning at Lunch - Incarcerated Labor, Lorton & Beyond
Inmate labor transformed dramatically throughout the lifespan of the Workhouse, from dairy farms and bakeries in the early days to work release and office jobs.
Learning at Lunch - Cold War Virginia
The Commonwealth played a central role in United States involvement during the Cold War. Join Francis Gary Powers Jr. as he discusses his new book Cold War Viriginia and how the Workhouse fits in the mix. Books available to purchase on site; signing follows talk.
Women's Equality Celebration
The Lucy Burns Museum and Workhouse Arts Center honor Women's Equality Day with an afternoon of festivities commemorating the efforts and achievements of the groundbreaking activists that fought long and hard for women's enfranchisement.
Learning at Lunch - Suffragists UNcarcerated
As Women’s Equality Day approaches consider the role the Workhouse played in the Women’s Suffrage Movement, holding over 70 of the suffragists who picketed the White House.
Learning at Lunch - The First Ten Years
The Occoquan Workhouse started as an experiment, 29 men were sent down the river on a barge from DC to the banks of the Occoquan River, to a plot of mostly undeveloped land. Their goal: to build the prison they would reside within.
Learning at Lunch - Counting the Days
The Lucy Burns Museum’s preserved cell block was added to the historic building in the 1980s, as the prison grappled with an increasing prison population.
Counting the Days - Exhibition
Celebrate the opening of our new exhibit Counting the Days with us. This installation recreates a moment in time from our past as a former prison site – the Lorton Correctional Complex.
Learning at Lunch - Stoney Lonesome
Tucked away in a wooded area off of Ox Road is a small plot of land that was set aside during the early years of the prison for a very specific purpose – Stoney Lonesome Cemetery.
Learning at Lunch -Lorton’s Jazz Festivals
In the 1950s and 1960s, Father Carl Breitfeller, the prison chaplain, coordinated several jazz festivals for his parish.
Author Talk and Signing with Joyana Peters
This Women’s History Month the Lucy Burns Museum is proud to host award-winning Indie author Joyana Peters, whose historical fiction overlaps with the history we present.