From the ArcaMax Publishing, History & Quotes Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/quotes/s-119593-220155
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – In 1607, 13 years before the Pilgrims landed in
Massachusetts, a group of 104 Englishmen began a settlement on the
banks of Virginia’s James River. They were sponsored by the Virginia
Company of London, whose stockholders hoped to make a profit from the
resources of the New World. The community suffered terrible hardships
in its early years, but managed to endure, earning the distinction of
being America’s first permanent English colony.
The story of Jamestown’s founders and immigrants and the Virginia
Indians they encountered is told at Jamestown Settlement through
gallery exhibits and living history in outdoor settings: a re-created
Powhatan Indian village, replicas of the three ships that landed in
1607, a representation of the colonial fort, and a riverfront
discovery area that explores waterway transportation and commercial
activities. This unique museum of 17th-century American history and
culture is located about a mile from the original site of Jamestown.
A visit to Jamestown Settlement starts with a docudrama film that
presents an overview of the first two decades of the Virginia colony.
A “great hall” spanning the length of the museum’s exhibition
galleries provides, with illustrations and text, a chronological
journey from 1600 to 1699, when the capital of Virginia moved from
Jamestown to Williamsburg.
Gallery exhibits opening Oct. 16, 2006, chronicle the nation’s
17th-century beginnings in Virginia in the context of its Powhatan
Indian, English and western central African cultures and examine the
impact of the Jamestown settlement. More than 500 artifacts from
17th-century Europe and Africa, including portraits, documents,
furnishings, toys, ceremonial and decorative objects, tools and
weapons, and hundreds of Virginia archaeological items are exhibited.
The galleries are divided into three major sections. The first
introduces visitors to pre-17th-century Virginia and provides
overviews of the “parent” cultures, with a Powhatan Indian diorama
and life-size representations of a dwelling in Angola, homeland of the
first Africans in Virginia, and an English streetscape. Exhibits also
explore European overseas trade and colonization and advances in
shipbuilding and navigation that ultimately led to the formation of
the Virginia Company, the English investment group that sponsored the
Jamestown colony. A short film, “The Crossing,” describes the 1607
voyage to Virginia.
The second gallery section explores the complexity of the relationship
between Virginia’s colonists and the native Powhatans, ranging from
trade to conflict, and the role of cultural intermediaries. Exhibits
show how the English secured a foothold in Virginia with the
establishment of settlements and economic enterprises and set the
course of the future with the introduction of tobacco as a cash crop.
While the first documented Africans to arrive in Virginia in 1619 may
eventually have won their freedom, the emergence of lifetime servitude
for later African immigrants was motivated by the demand for labor to
produce tobacco. An object theater chronicles African encounters with
Europeans, the impact on African culture, and the development of the
transatlantic slave trade.
The third section provides an overview of the political, social and
economic development and expansion of the Virginia colony during the
17th century, while Jamestown served as its capital. The cultivation
of tobacco as the dominant economic enterprise, despite efforts to
diversify, had a profound effect on the character of the colony,
resulting in the emergence of an elite planter class and minimal urban
development until the end of the century. Full-scale structures
re-created from archaeological sites depict Powhatan, slave and
planter dwellings in the late 17th century. A short audio-visual
program considers the legacies of Jamestown – cultural diversity,
language and representative government.
Leaving the indoor exhibits, visitors arrive at the Powhatan Indian
village. The village is based on archaeological findings at a site
once inhabited by Paspahegh Indians, the Powhatan tribal group closest
to Jamestown, and descriptions recorded by English colonists. The
village consists of several houses made of sapling frames covered with
reed mats, a garden and a ceremonial dance circle. Historical
interpreters discuss and demonstrate the Powhatan way of life. They
grow and prepare food, process animal hides, make tools and pottery,
and weave natural fibers into cordage.
From the Powhatan village, a path leads to a pier where re-creations
of the three ships that transported the original Jamestown colonists
to Virginia in 1607 – the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery –
are docked. Visitors can board and explore one of them and talk with
an interpreter about the four-and-a-half-month voyage from England.
There are periodic demonstrations of piloting and navigation, cargo
handling and sail making.
Re-created James Fort interprets the settlement during 1610-14,
reflecting its predominantly military and commercial character. Inside
the triangular wooden palisade are wattle-and-daub structures
representing dwellings, an Anglican church, a court of guard, a
storehouse, a cape merchant’s office, provisioning areas and a
governor’s house. Historical interpreters forge and repair metal
objects in a blacksmith’s forge and, near one of the fort’s three
bulwarks, show how matchlock muskets are fired. Seasonally and
periodically, interpreters also cultivate food and tobacco crops,
produce wood products using 17th-century-style tools, and engage in
domestic activities such as sewing and meal preparation.
Between the ships and fort, a riverfront discovery area highlights the
vital role of the James River and other waterways in 17th-century
travel, commerce and cultural exchange, reflecting Powhatan Indian,
European and African traditions. Discovery stations located along a
pathway that winds through the area provide information about water
transportation and economic activities, including navigation,
boatbuilding, fishing, commodities and trade.
Visitors are welcome to touch and use many of the 17th-century
reproduction items that are part of Jamestown Settlement’s
living-history program. They may grind corn, climb into a dugout
canoe, steer with a whipstaff or tiller, examine the contents of a
“see” chest, try on armor, take an inventory of supplies, play
quoits and ninepins, and experience a variety of other activities that
make the 17th century come alive.
Daily offerings include regularly scheduled guided tours of the
Powhatan village, ships, riverfront and fort and visitor-participatory
swivel-gun demonstrations. Visitors can expect to spend about three
hours at Jamestown Settlement. Additional time should be allowed for
the original site of Jamestown, adjacent to the Settlement. Historic
Jamestowne is administered jointly by the National Park Service and
APVA Preservation Virginia.
Jamestown Settlement is located at the intersection of Virginia Route
31 and the Colonial Parkway. Operating hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
daily year-round, until 6 p.m. June 15 through August 15. The museum
is closed Christmas and New Year’s days. 2006 admission is $11.75
for adults, and $5.75 for ages 6 through 12. A combination ticket and
annual pass are available with the Yorktown Victory Center, a museum
of the American Revolution. Parking is free at both museums.
Gift shops offer a comprehensive selection of books, prints, artifact
reproductions, educational toys and games, jewelry and mementos. The
190-seat Jamestown Settlement Café offers freshly prepared salads,
sandwiches, entrees, desserts and beverages.
Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center are administered
by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, an agency of the Commonwealth of
Virginia that is accredited by the American Association of Museums.
For more information, call (888) 593-4682 toll-free or (757) 253-4838,
or visit www.historyisfun.org.
Courtesy of HistoryIsFun.org.