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Among the facilities of higher education in Richmond are the University of Richmond (1830), Virginia Commonwealth University (1838), Virginia Union University (1865), Union Theological Seminary in Virginia (1812), the Presbyterian School of Christian Education (1914), and a community college. Museums in the city include the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, with a variety of collections including jeweled objects by Russian jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé; the Museum of the Confederacy, on the grounds of the Confederate White House; the Valentine Museum, with displays on Richmond and Virginia history; the Virginia Historical Society Museum, which has a Civil War focus; and the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, which features exhibits about the author and is housed in Richmond's oldest home, built in 1837. Points of interest include Saint John's Episcopal Church (1741), where in 1775 American statesman Patrick Henry made an impassioned speech for independence containing the famous words, “... give me liberty or give me death”; Hollywood Cemetery, with the graves of U.S. presidents James Monroe and John Tyler and Confederate president Jefferson Davis, as well as the graves of 18,000 Confederate soldiers; the homes of U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall and Confederate General Robert E. Lee; and Monument Avenue (laid out in 1887), a boulevard with statues honoring Confederate leaders. Renovated historical areas in the city center are Shockoe Slip; Jackson Ward; Church Hill, an historically African American district where the nation's first black-owned bank and insurance companies were chartered; and the Fan District, a tree-lined area of Greek Revival and Victorian homes. Of special interest is the State Capitol (1785-1788), designed by Thomas Jefferson and modeled after the Maison-Carrée, a Roman temple in Nîmes, France. The rotunda contains a marble statue of George Washington by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon, said to be the only statue for which Washington posed. Richmond National Battlefield Park, commemorating Civil War battles fought over possession of the Confederate capital, is headquartered in the city.
