WILLIAMSBURG—Programming highlighting the enduring legacy of America’s first permanent English colony at Jamestown in 1607 will be featured during Jamestown Day events May 9 at Jamestown Settlement and Historic Jamestowne.
Jamestown Settlement and Historic Jamestowne will offer programs for Jamestown Day with family-friendly interpretive presentations on Powhatan and English culture, foodways and technology, along with military and maritime demonstrations. Indoor exhibits, including the joint special exhibition “Following the Dragon: Chinese Ming Porcelain in Early Jamestown,” highlight the history of the site and ongoing archaeological discoveries.
The founding of Jamestown, America’s first permanent English colony in Virginia in 1607 – 13 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in Massachusetts – sparked a series of cultural encounters that helped shape the nation and the world. The government, language, customs, beliefs and aspirations of these early Virginians are all part of the United States’ heritage.
Jamestown Day is presented by Jamestown Settlement, a living-history museum of 17th-century Virginia administered by the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, in partnership with Historic Jamestowne, site of the original 1607 settlement jointly administered by the National Park Service and Jamestown Rediscovery on behalf of Preservation Virginia.
While there is separate admission to Jamestown Settlement and Historic Jamestowne, a four-site value ticket to Historic Jamestowne and Jamestown Settlement, as well as Yorktown Battlefield and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, is available on Jamestown Day and throughout the year.
Jamestown Settlement
Visitors to the Jamestown Settlement ships’ pier can board a re-creation of the Godspeed and Discovery, learn how sailors hauled cargo and navigated the seas in the 17th century, and join in an artillery salute to Jamestown’s founding. In the fort and Paspahegh Town, visitors can participate in a variety of hands-on programs, including Powhatan and English foodways, Powhatan hunting techniques and English pike drills. Visitors also can “meet” one of the first women in the Virginia colony during a first-person interpretation of Marye Bucke, a minister’s wife.
Connecting the legacies of Jamestown to America’s 250th anniversary and the American Revolution, a special “Rule of Law” program in the fort’s re-created Anglican church will examine the various forms of governmental rule that evolved at Jamestown during the Virginia Company period that led to the formation of the first representative legislative assembly in English North America in 1619.
Indoors, discover the compelling discoveries that connect the early years of the Jamestown colony and Asia in the ongoing special exhibition, “Following the Dragon: Chinese Ming Porcelain in Early Jamestown” presented in partnership with Jamestown Rediscovery.
A full schedule of Jamestown Settlement events is available at jyfmuseums.org/jamestown-day.
Historic Jamestowne
Historic Jamestowne is America’s Birthplace, where James Fort was established more than 400 years ago in 1607. Historic Jamestowne offers archaeology-in-action, immersive living-history programs, and tours with a historian on the James River.
To mark Jamestown Day, visitors can take part in tours and demonstrations at the site of the 1607 James Fort at Historic Jamestowne and observe ongoing excavations alongside archaeologists with Jamestown Rediscovery. Walking tours focus on the interactions, trade and conflict between English colonists and the Powhatan Paramount Chiefdom, while archaeology tours provide updates on recent finds from the excavation season.
Historical interpreters portraying Captain John Smith discuss his exploration of the Chesapeake Bay, his interactions with the Powhatan and his time as president of the council in 1608. Interpreter Daniel “Firehawk” Abbott discusses the material culture and lifeways of the Tidewater Algonquians and their interactions with the settlers.
The National Park Service offers ranger-led programs, self-guided walking tours and access to exhibits and an orientation film at the visitor center. Visitors can walk through New Towne, the site of Jamestown’s later expansion, along the James River to view archaeological foundations from Virginia’s first colonial capital and active excavation areas.
For more information visit historicjamestowne.org/jamestownday
