Learn about the voyage of the Sea Venture, the flagship of a fleet that came to resupply the Jamestown colony in 1609. The Sea Venture was shipwrecked on Bermuda and the survivors built two new ships from the wreckage, arriving at Jamestown in 1610.
Explore the mechanics of matchlock and flintlock muskets in this video about 17th- and 18th-century firearms.
Make ready, present your piece, FIRE!
Explore the mechanics of matchlock and flintlock muskets in this video about 17th- and 18th-century firearms. Historical interpreters present daily musket demonstrations in Jamestown Settlement’s re-created colonial fort and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown’s re-created Continental Army encampment.
From Matchlock to Flintlock
Explore the mechanics of matchlock and flintlock muskets in this video about 17th- and 18th-century firearms.
LECTURE (June 2012): "Captains, Monarchs, Philosophers, and Merchants: Picturing the 17th Century" investigates the dramatic changes in 17th-century technology and philosophy that set the stage for the modern world, using works of art.
Lecture by Twyla Kitts
"Captains, Monarchs, Philosophers, and Merchants: Picturing the 17th Century"
In connection with the Jamestown Settlement exhibition "The 17th Century: Gateway to the Modern World," Twyla Kitts of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) presented this lecture at Jamestown Settlement on June 9. 2012. Kitts, curator for the exhibition, investigates the dramatic changes in 17th-century technology and philosophy that set the stage for the modern world, using works of art from the VMFA collection to illustrate the shifts in international alliances, economic competition and world view that are characteristic of this transitional age.
Kitts is literary and teacher programs educator for VMFA’s Art and Education Department and collection educator for the Byzantine, Renaissance, Baroque, Fabergé and 18th/19th-century European galleries. She received a bachelor’s degree in Russian history from the University of Virginia.
"Legislating Boundaries" by Lauranett Lee
LECTURE (2012): "Exploring 17th-Century Virginia: Legislating Boundaries and Creating Culture" examines how the lives of women and Africans became increasingly circumscribed in 17th-century Virginia.
Lauranett L. Lee, Virginia Historical Society curator of African American history, spoke February 12, 2012 at Jamestown Settlement. An examination of Virginia statutes illustrated how the lives of women and Africans became increasingly circumscribed in 17th-century Virginia. Dr. Lee discussed the ways in which focused legislation and cultural collisions produced a legal society and culture unique among the founding colonies.
"The Archaeology of Slave Quarters in Colonial Virginia"
Lecture by Patricia Samford
LECTURE (2013): "The Archaeology of Slave Quarters in Colonial Virginia" examines what artifacts and physical remains of slave quarters, in combination with historical research, can reveal about lives of enslaved people.
Patricia Samford, Director of the Maryland Archeology Conservation Laboratory, discusses the archaeology of slave quarters in colonial Virginia. Dr. Samford examines what recovered artifacts and other physical remains of sites where enslaved people once lived, in combination with historical research, can reveal about material circumstances as well as family and community, gender roles, spirituality, and acts of resistance and accommodation.
"Development of Slavery in the 17th-century Chesapeake"
by Lorena Walsh
LECTURE (2013): “Development of Slavery in the 17th-Century Chesapeake” examines the evolution of techniques for managing enslaved Africans and the adaptations specific to the Chesapeake that Africans had to make to survive.
LECTURE (2009): "The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America" provides an overview of "the tale of one of the greatest rescue stories in American history."
Lecture by Lorri Glover
“The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America”
Lorri Glover, co-author of "The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America" and associate professor of history at the University of Tennessee, delivered this lecture at Jamestown Settlement on June 13, 2009, in the second of four lectures accompanying the "Jamestown and Bermuda: Virginia Company Colonies" special exhibition at Jamestown Settlement. She provides an overview of the 2008 book, “the tale of one of the greatest rescue stories in American history,” one that became the inspiration for Shakespeare’s last play "The Tempest" and ensured England’s continued commitment to colonization in the West.
The Sea Venture
“The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America” lecture by Lorri Glover
LECTURE (2011): "Werowocomoco: Seat of Power" discusses the archaeological investigations at Werowocomoco, the seat of power of the Powhatan paramount chiefdom.
Lecture by Martin Gallivan
"Werowocomoco: Seat of Power"
In “Werowocomoco: Seat of Power,” Martin D. Gallivan, guest curator of the Jamestown Settlement special exhibition, discusses the archaeological investigations at Werowocomoco that have uncovered evidence of interaction with Jamestown’s colonists and the ways that the Powhatan Indians constructed a powerful, central place in Tidewater Virginia from A.D. 1200 through 1607.
Dr. Gallivan, College of William and Mary associate professor of anthropology, has been involved in the archaeological research at the Gloucester County site since 2003 as part of the Werowocomoco Research Group and has written numerous academic articles on the findings. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.
Werowocomoco
“Werowocomoco: Seat of Power,” a lecture by William & Mary archaeologist, Martin D. Gallivan.
LECTURE (2012): "Virginia Seeks a Crop" describes efforts in the early years of Jamestown to develop a product to repay the immense costs of establishing the colony and keep investors committed to the project.
Lecture by Karen Kupperman
"Virginia Seeks a Crop"
Karen Ordahl Kupperman, Silver Professor of History at New York University, presented "Virginia Seeks a Crop" at Jamestown Settlement on May 19, 2012. Dr. Kupperman described efforts in the early years of Jamestown to develop a product to repay the immense costs of establishing the colony and keep investors committed to the project. Experiments with glassmaking, silk production, sassafras, winemaking and tobacco were pursued. Tobacco would become Virginia’s gold, but the frantic search for products colored the first years of colonial life.
Dr. Kupperman’s recent books include “The Early Modern Atlantic World,” to be published this year, “Richard Ligon’s ‘A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbadoes (1657, 1673),’” and “The Jamestown Project.”
Discover how exciting hands-on history can be for you and your students!
Discover tools for enriching your visit to Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution at Yorktown. Hands-on educational programs are available at our museums or in your classroom, curriculum materials that can be used before and after your visit, and programs for educators. Download the
2014-2015 Education Planner.
For group reservations and information, call 757-253-4939 or email group.reservations@jyf.virginia.gov.
For Virginia School Teachers K-12
Explore the story of colonial America firsthand during the annual weeklong Teacher Institute at Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center living-history museums. Watch these videos to hear past participants share their experiences with and enthusiasm for the program.
Program Highlights:
- Become immersed in the history of 17th-century Jamestown and the 18th-century American Revolution.
- Practice new teaching methods in period costume while interacting with visitors at Jamestown Settlement.
- Experience history through hands-on period activities.
- Participate in SOL-correlated programs, presentations and workshops.
- Take home a kit of reproduction artifacts to use in your classroom.
Learn more about this year's Teacher Institute. https://www.historyisfun.org/Teacher-Institute.cfm
LECTURE (2011): "English Myth-Making and Indian Reality: Early English Stereotypes of the Virginia Indians" examines the perceptions of Virginia Indians by early English colonists and the reality behind those stereotypes.
Lecture by Helen Rountree
"English Myth-Making and Indian Reality: Early English Stereotypes of the Virginia Indians"
Lectures - Helen Rountree.jpg
Helen C. Rountree examines the perceptions of Virginia Indians by early English colonists in the 17th century, the Virginia Indian reality behind those stereotypes, and views that persist about the culture in society today.
Dr. Rountree is widely acknowledged as one of the leading researchers and writers on Virginia Indians and East Coast tribes. Dr. Rountree is the author of nine books, including “Pocahontas, Powhatan, and Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown” and “Pocahontas’s People: The Powhatan Indians of Virginia Through Four Centuries.”
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