Historical empathy may be enhanced by virtual reality (VR) technologies, which provide varying degrees of immersion into other time periods and places. This study explored the effects of combining semi-immersive and fully immersive VR with a follow-up writing task to promote historical empathy with adult learners. Thirty-six participants were randomly assigned to view a brief historical film on either a flatscreen or a head-mounted device (HMD). Afterward, participants were again randomly assigned to either a first-person perspective or a factual recall writing prompt before then responding to questionnaires gauging their situational interest. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to provide a holistic interpretation of participants' development of historical empathy. Results suggest that although type of writing task remains instrumental in promoting historical empathy, immersive VR with an HMD also plays a promising role. Our findings pose important implications for post-secondary, museum, and teacher educators interested in scaffolding VR experiences to promote historical empathy.