STORY THEMES
JAMESTOWN SETTLEMENT & YORKTOWN VICTORY CENTER

COMMEMORATING AMERICA’S BEGINNINGS

In 1957 Jamestown Settlement opened as a setting for the 350th anniversary of the founding in Virginia of America’s first permanent English colony.  The museum developed new facilities, exhibits and programs in time for the 400th anniversary in 2007 of this seminal event in American history.  New permanent exhibits, a new introductory film and revitalized living-history areas present the story of 17th-century Virginia and its Powhatan Indian, English and western central African cultural origins, drawing on a wealth of historical information revealed by recent archaeological and documentary research.  Jamestown Settlement was a central participant in events commemorating “America’s 400th Anniversary,” and a one-year major special exhibition showcasing 17th-century Virginia in a global context, “The World of 1607,” continues through April 9, 2008.  The 401st anniversary of Jamestown’s founding will be marked on May 10 with maritime demonstrations and programs on exploration and discovery.

Just 20 miles away from where Jamestown was established in 1607, America’s independence was won at the 1781 Siege of Yorktown, the last major military engagement of the American Revolution.  The Yorktown Victory Center, founded in 1976 in conjunction with the 200th anniversary of America’s declaration of independence, participates in an annual townwide celebration in October of the momentous American victory at Yorktown.

“HANDS-ON” EXPERIENCES MAKE LEARNING FUN

Jamestown Settlement visitors can steer with a tiller or whipstaff aboard a re-creation of one of the three ships that brought America’s first permanent English colonists to Virginia, explore contents of a “see” chest on the ships’ pier, try on 17th-century-style armor and play ninepins or quoits at the re-created colonial fort, grind corn and weave plant fibers into cordage at the Powhatan Indian village, and use oyster shells to scrape out a dugout canoe at the riverfront discovery area.   

Visitors may be invited to join an artillery crew at either museum or drill with wooden muskets at the Yorktown Victory Center’s re-created Continental Army encampment, and help water the garden or “break” flax at the 1780s farm.   In the museums’ galleries, displays at a child’s eye level ask thought-provoking questions that help visitors compare their lives today with life in the 17th and 18th centuries.  At the Yorktown Victory Center, youngsters can try on 18th-century-style clothing.

Many of the hands-on activities that individual and family visitors can enjoy daily are incorporated into educational programs for student groups, with topics ranging from “Cultures at Jamestown” to “Colonial Medicine.”  Special programs also are offered for home-educated students and their families.

MARITIME HISTORY

Aboard Jamestown Settlement’s Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery, costumed historical interpreters discuss life at sea and demonstrate shipboard activities.  A riverfront discovery area illuminates 17th-century boatbuilding techniques.  Indoor gallery exhibits describe advances in mapmaking, navigation and ship design that facilitated transoceanic voyages in the 16th and 17th centuries.

At the Yorktown Victory Center, “Yorktown’s Sunken Fleet” re-creates the archaeological excavation site of the bow portion of the Betsy, one of the many ships that were lost or scuttled in the York River during the 1781 Siege of Yorktown, and exhibits artifacts recovered from the ship during the excavation.  

FROM MANY CULTURES, A UNIQUE NATION

People from diverse social and economic backgrounds shaped the character of the United States.  Jamestown Settlement gallery exhibits delve into the “parent” cultures of 17th-century Virginia and explore the convergence, of Powhatan Indian, English and African peoples.  At an outdoor riverfront discovery area, interpretation of early 17th-century water transportation and economic activities reflects traditions of the three cultures.

The Yorktown Victory Center’s Witnesses to Revolution Gallery provides firsthand narratives of the impact of the American Revolution on African-American slaves, American Indians and people of European ancestry.  Exhibits also detail the alliance with France that was critical to American victory and portray the diversity of people and nationalities involved in the decisive military encounter at Yorktown in 1781.  The “Legacy of Yorktown: Virginia Beckons” exhibition examines how people from many different cultures, those in Virginia before the 1607 founding of Jamestown and those who arrived later, formed a new society.

FROM MATCHLOCK TO FLINTLOCK

At Jamestown Settlement, learn how America’s first permanent English colonists prepared to defend themselves from potential attack.  See 17th-century military artifacts in gallery exhibits and, at a life-size re-creation of the colonists’ fort, reproductions of weapons and protective gear.  Demonstrations of matchlock-musket firing are presented daily.

The story of the American Revolution, with an emphasis on the perspectives and experiences of ordinary people, is told at the Yorktown Victory Center through a chronological timeline, gallery exhibits and outdoor living history.  Reproductions of 18th-century military objects on exhibit – weapons, documents and soldiers’ personal items – can be seen in a re-created Continental Army encampment where historical interpreters describe and demonstrate provisioning, field medicine and surgery, drills and weaponry.

RE-CREATING THE PAST

The objects used in the museums’ living-history programs – clothing, tools, furnishings and buildings – are crafted with painstaking attention to historical accuracy.  Journalists can arrange a behind-the-scenes visit to the costume shop, where doublets, breeches, cassocks, bodices, petticoats, coifs, leggings and mantles are custom-made of linen, wool and leather, or talk with museum carpenters who design, construct and repair buildings at Jamestown Settlement’s re-created fort and Powhatan Indian village and the Yorktown Victory Center’s 1780s farm.  Craft work performed regularly and periodically in the living-history areas – blacksmithing, sail-making, carpentry, needlework, flint-knapping and basket- and pottery-making – provides visitors an opportunity to learn about pre-industrial technology and produces many of the objects used in re-creating authentic early 17th- and late-18th-century settings.     

GARDENING AND FARMING

In the 17th and 18th centuries, herbs like rosemary, mint and lemon balm had culinary and medicinal value.  Visit the herb gardens at Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center, and discover the variety of herbs and their many uses.

Crops grown by the Powhatan Indians – corn, beans and squash – were adopted by European colonists, who also brought plants such as radishes, cucumbers, lettuce and cabbage to the New World.  Visitors can see these crops under cultivation seasonally at Jamestown Settlement’s re-created Powhatan village and riverfront discovery area.

Farming was a way of life for the majority of Virginians at the time of the Revolution.  Most Tidewater Virginia farmers grew tobacco and corn for cash.  They also grew corn for food and animal fodder, and flax and cotton for cloth.  In addition to cultivating these crops, historical interpreters at the Yorktown Victory Center’s re-created 1780s farm grow several dozen varieties of vegetables and herbs.

HISTORICAL FOODWAYS

Take a culinary tour of the re-created Powhatan Indian village at Jamestown Settlement.  Learn how the 17th-century Powhatans relied on cultivated crops, wild plants, fish and game for their meals.  Visitors often encounter the aroma of baking pies and bread and simmering stews at the Yorktown Victory Center’s 1780s farm kitchen and on special occasions at Jamestown Settlement’s re-created colonial fort.  The techniques of open-hearth cooking are demonstrated at both museums.

HISTORICAL HONEYMOON

Newlyweds will step back in time in Virginia’s Historic Triangle.  At Jamestown Settlement, learn about the first known English marriage in Virginia in 1608, the 1614 marriage of Powhatan Indian maiden Pocahontas to colonist John Rolfe, and a group of prospective brides who arrived from England in 1620.  At the Yorktown Victory Center, tour galleries that bring to life the drama of the Revolution from the perspectives of ordinary men and women like Mary Jemison, who married one of her Seneca Indian captors, and Sarah Benjamin, who accompanied her soldier husband as he traveled with the Continental Army.  Explore the museum’s re-created army encampment, and learn about the roles of husband and wife on a 1780s farm.                

OFF-SEASON TRAVEL

Winter can be a wonderful time to experience Virginia’s Historic Triangle.  The weather is often mild and many attractions remain open.  Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center are open year-round except Christmas and New Year’s days, and offer holiday theme programs in December.

VACATION PACKAGE PLANS

History Is Fun!  Available year-round, this package includes two nights’ lodging and unlimited admission during the package stay to Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center.

America’s Historic Triangle.  The Jamestown•Williamsburg•Yorktown “Historic Triangle” is featured in a year-round package that includes lodging and unlimited admission for five consecutive days to Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area and Museums, the Yorktown Victory Center and Yorktown Battlefield.  These historical museums and sites span the American colonial period from the founding of the first permanent English colony to the creation of the new nation. 

Williamsburg Flex Vacation.  This popular summer package provides lodging and unlimited admission for seven consecutive days to Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area and Museums, Yorktown Victory Center, Yorktown Battlefield, Busch Gardens Europe and Water Country USA.

HISTORICAL SHOPPING

The Williamsburg area is known for unique and varied shopping opportunities, among them museum stores.  The gift shops at Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center complement and extend the museum experience with a comprehensive selection of books, prints, artifact reproductions, educational toys and games, jewelry and mementos.  Take a look at www.shophistoryisfun.com.

1/2008