Jamestown 400
Heather Huyck
In 2007, Jamestown, Virginia, the first per-manent English colony in the "new world" and a contact point for peoples of three continents, will have its 400th anniversary. We live its legacy today, as direct descendants of its language, customs, and governance. In 1619, Jamestown saw the first legislative assembly held in the English colony as well as the first importation of Africans. From 1607 to 1699, before the capital was moved to nearby Williamsburg, Jamestown struggled and grew, stumbled and prospered, experimented and left us a heritage. Today, we invite you to help mark the colony's 400th anniversary.
The National Park Service (NPS), the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA), and Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation are preparing for 2007 by building partnerships with each other and with key cultural institutions. Their focus is Jamestown Island, the original site of the colony, which combines an archeological site with an artifact collection of nearly a million objects, from pipestems to pottery, thimbles to crucifixes.
Research
In 1996, the APVA's Jamestown Rediscovery, led by Dr. William Kelso, uncovered the original 1607 fort, long believed "lost" to the nearby James River. The artifacts and archaeological evidence have helped rewrite the history of the settlement's beginnings. Indeed, the NPS's Jamestown Archeological Assessment (JAA) has used tree rings to determine that the first years of settlement coincided with a major drought. The assessment also analyzed the geomorphology to conclude that the water level in the James River, which surrounds the Island, had risen four feet since the colony was active. In addition, a JAA analysis of land records from 1607 to the present matched ancient descriptions to a GIS data base and identified many of the early settlers. Jamestown Rediscovery now has published six reports for the general public (available through <http://www.easternnational.org/>; more technical reports can be found at <http://www.apva.org/>). Jamestown Rediscovery excavations and Field School will begin again with next year's field season. The National Park Service has supported research in the Spanish archives and on the early African presence at Jamestown. NPS, in cooperation with the OAH, has also established the Jamestown Scholars fellowships, for Ph.D. dissertation research on Jamestown-related topics (see announcement on page 14). Park information is located at <http://www.nps.gov/colo/>.
Planning
APVA and NPS have been planning jointly for the future of Jamestown Island for the past several years. That planning process is now in full gear, with two consultants under contract, Haley Sharpe Design of Leicester England, the Interpretive and Exhibits designers and Carlton Abbott Partners of Williamsburg Virginia, the Architectural and Engineering Partners. Using the process set out by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) the APVA/NPS have already held stakeholder scoping sessions and a set of public meetings to understand the public's visions for Jamestown Island's future.
Readers interested in providing their own vision of Jamestown should go to <http://www.apva.org/> and then to APVA/NPS Jamestown Project. Now is the time to make comments, not six months from now! The key questions are located there, with entries welcome. NPS and APVA seek to balance the excitement of the public for the "whole story" of Jamestown with preservation of its irreplaceable resources. A priority will be making the cultural landscape of the town site "readable" as a colonial capital, port, and bustling place while preserving its natural resources.
Fundraising and Construction
Although fundraising has begun, the major push will come after the Draft Concept Plan and Environmental Impact Statement are completed in December 2001. The exhibits in the Island's Visitor Center, themselves relics of the 1976 Bicentennial, will be revised to incorporate the increased knowledge about Jamestown. New visitor facilities also will be provided, probably including better transportation access. The Jamestown Settlement has a new Education center and is constructing a new café and reception area and a new museum, and is rebuilding the reconstructed ships, fort, and Powhatan village. Jamestown 2007 is planning various events throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia but also nationally and internationally. A federal commission, the Jamestown 400th Commemoration Commission is also in the works.
What will success be? When we fully appreciate the history of Jamestown, when we understand it as a coming together of disparate peoples from three continents, and when we know that we live its legacy today.
Dr. Heather Huyck is director of Jamestown 400 at the Colonial National Historical Park in Yorktown, Virginia.