The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation is presenting a new theme for the month of February.
“From Africa to Virginia,” a topic that will drive the interpretive programs at both Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center, deals with the first known Africans in Virginia and their descendants experiences through the colonial era and Revolutionary War. The programs and exhibitions focus on first contact with Europeans, slavery, the antislavery movement and war.
“From Africa to Virginia” — which has been a February theme at the museums in previous years — will run through the end of the month with indoor and outdoor events at the two locations.
Jamestown Settlement
The settlement’s expansive galleries chronicle the nation’s 17th-century beginnings in Virginia within the context of its Powhatan Indian, English and African cultures.
A diorama depicts an African culture brought to the colony in 1619, and includes a full-scale dwelling and artifacts from the Ambundu culture of Angola. There is also a multimedia presentation that describes African encounters with Europeans, the impact on African culture, and the development of the transatlantic slave trade.
Other exhibits tell about Virginia’s tobacco-cultivation economy and its relationship to the evolution of slavery in the colony.
A structure re-created from an archaeological site depicts a late-17th-century slave quarter alongside a planter’s house and Indian cabin, also based on Virginia archaeological sites. Decorative objects of ivory and metal made by west central African craftspeople, and archaeologically found objects made or used by enslaved people in Virginia can be seen in the gallery exhibits.
Outdoor tours are offered every hour from 10:30 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 1 through 14, and throughout the day Feb. 15 through 28.
Guests outside can explore Powhatan Indian and Angolan canoe-making technology, as well as fishing methods at the re-created Powhatan Indian village. Weapons will be explained at the re-created 1640-1614 fort.
Role-play activities will take place at the museum’s replica of 1607 ships. Participants will have a look into the conditions of the 1619 arrival of Africans who had been captured by English privateers from a Portuguese ship en route from Angola to Mexico.
Yorktown Victory Center
The Yorktown Victory Center’s Witnesses to Revolution Gallery profiles 10 individuals who lived during the Revolutionary period, including two African-Americans. Jehu Grant served as a teamster in the Continental Army, while Boston King escaped from slavery to the British side.
The documents on exhibit reflect antislavery sentiment in the American colonies prior to the Revolution. The movement continued to gain momentum after America won its independence, and a 1795 antislavery medallion also is exhibited in the museum galleries.
In “The Legacy of Yorktown: Virginia Beckons,” visitors can learn about those who shaped Virginian society, from the native Powhatan Indians to Europeans and African slaves who arrived in the 1600s.
Not all the stories of enslaved people end in despair, however. Among those featured in the exhibition are Anthony and Mary Johnson, who arrived in Virginia from Africa in the early 1620s as servants or slaves and became free persons by the 1640s, and Olaudah Equiano, a slave who purchased his freedom in the 1760s.
At the Yorktown Victory Center’s re-created Continental Army encampment, historical interpreters will discuss the roles of African Americans in the Revolutionary War and the 1775 proclamation by Lord Dunmore.
Dunmore, Virginia’s royal governor, promised freedom to people enslaved by rebellious colonists, if the slaves joined the British effort. On display will be a representation of a coat worn by a former slave in the British 33rd Regiment of Foot, and a hat from American army’s 1st Rhode Island Regiment, which included several companies of African-American soldiers during the Revolution.
The lives and roles of enslaved people on a small farm and African influence on American foodways will be highlighted at the Yorktown Victory Center 1780s farm.
Guided tours of the two outdoor areas will be offered hourly from 10:05 a.m. to 4:05 p.m. through Feb. 14.
Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and parking is free at both museums. Residents of James City and York counties and the City of Williamsburg, including the College of William and Mary, receive complimentary admission to both with proof of residency.
For more information on detailed schedules, booking group tours or non-resident admission prices, visit the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation website, or call 253-4838.
