2007 Special Programs
The founding of Jamestown in 1607 sparked a series of cultural encounters that helped shape the nation and the world. Events and themes at Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center throughout 2007 marked the 400th anniversary of this momentous event and explored its role in the evolution of government, cultural and social institutions that characterize today's United States:
Religious Freedom Heritage Month
January 1-31, 2007
Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
Learn more about the religious heritage of 17th- and 18th-century colonial Virginia.
Black History Month
February 1-28, 2007
Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
Explore the lives of early Africans in Virginia and their western central African background.
Women's History Month
March 1-31, 2007
Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
Discuss the roles of women in the 17th and 18th centuries with costumed interpreters as they perform daily tasks.
Military Through the Ages
March 17-18, 2007
Jamestown Settlement
Centuries of military history unfold, as re-enactors depicting soldiers and military encounters from the Middle Ages to modern times demonstrate camp life, military tactics and weaponry.
Natural Environment Month
April 1-30, 2007
Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
Discover how Virginia native plants and the plants and herbs the English brought with them were used by the people of Virginia.
"The World of 1607"
America's 400th Anniversary Signature Event
Opening April 27, 2007
Jamestown Settlement
A special exhibition portrays Jamestown and Virginia as part of an intellectual, social and economic "new world" that brought together peoples and ideas from around the globe.
Jamestown Month
May 2007
Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
Enjoy festivities commemorating the 400th anniversary of the nation's beginnings at Jamestown.
America's Anniversary Weekend
America's 400th Anniversary Signature Event
May 11-13, 2007
Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne and nearby Anniversary Park
The 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, America's first permanent English settlement, will be commemorated with cultural events, historical pageantry and ceremonies, musical performances and children's entertainment.
Cultures of Virginia Month
June 1-30, 2007
Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
Examine the cultures of the Powhatan Indians, Africans and English and how they interacted in early Virginia.
African Imprint Day
June 2, 2007
Jamestown Settlement
Themed tours, interpretive programs and presentations, traditional African music and dancing, storytelling, and a special evening lecture explore the origins of the first documented Africans to arrive in Virginia, in 1619, and the important role of Africans and African Americans in the development of Virginia.
Celebration of Liberty Month
July 1-31, 2007
Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
Discover how the legislative assembly created at Jamestown in 1619 gave rise to the Virginia House of Burgesses, Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence.
Liberty Celebration
July 3-5, 2007
Yorktown Victory Center
Salute America by joining in military drills and learning about the sacrifices of our nation's founders, including those who signed the Declaration of Independence.
Free Enterprise/Agriculture and Industry Month
August 1-31, 2007
Jamestown Settlement &
Yorktown Victory Center
Explore how the early efforts of Jamestown settlers to make a profit for the investors of the Virginia Company evolved into the tobacco economy of 18th-century Virginia.
Rule of Law Month
September 1-30, 2007
Jamestown Settlement &
Yorktown Victory Center
Learn how martial law deemed necessary during periods of warfare would give way to representative government.
Virginia History and Archaeology Month
October 1-31, 2007
Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
Discover what has been learned about Virginia's history from archaeological excavations and primary historical sources.
Yorktown Victory Celebration
October 20-21, 2007
Yorktown Victory Center
Demonstrations of military life and tactics mark the 226th anniversary of America's victory at Yorktown. To experience Continental Army life firsthand, visitors can enroll in "A School for the Soldier" to try on uniforms, march to the beat of a Revolutionary drum and join in other hands-on military activities. Special programs also are held in Yorktown and the Yorktown Battlefield, administered by Colonial National Historical Park.
Virginia Indian Heritage Month
November 1-30, 2007
Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
In observance of American Indian Month, there will be a special focus on the culture of Virginia Indians and their history.
Virginia Indian Heritage Event
November 3, 2007
Jamestown Settlement
Themed tours, interpretive programs, Virginia India panel discussion, special evening lecture and demonstrations of intertribal dancing and drumming highlight the Virginia Indian culture and its important legacy in America. Tours of Jamestown Settlement's exhibition galleries will focus on the Powhatan Indian culture before English contact and through the 17th century. Interpretive programs in the re-created Powhatan Indian village show the Powhatan way of life, including methods of cooking, processing animal hides, making tools and pottery, and weaving natural fibers into cordage. Virginia Indian tribal chiefs will share memories associated with the 1957 Jamestown commemoration and explore contemporary issues facing the Virginia Indian community.
Foods & Feasts of Colonial Virginia
November 22-24, 2007
Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
Explore Virginia foodways of the 17th and 18th centuries during this three-day event beginning on Thanksgiving Day. At Jamestown Settlement, learn how food was gathered, preserved and prepared on land and at sea by Virginia's English colonists and Powhatan Indians. At the Yorktown Victory Center, learn about typical soldiers' fare during the American Revolution and trace the bounty of a 1780s farm from field to kitchen.
A Colonial Christmas
December 22-31, 2007
Jamestown Settlement & Yorktown Victory Center
Experience 17th- and 18th-century holiday traditions. At Jamestown Settlement, a film and special guided tours compare and contrast English Christmas customs of the period with how the season may have been observed in the difficult early years of the Jamestown colony. At the Yorktown Victory Center, hear accounts of Christmas and winter in military encampments during the American Revolution and glimpse holiday preparations on a 1780s Virginia farm.
