'Africa to Virginia' Theme in February at Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation Museums
‘FROM AFRICA TO VIRGINIA’ THEME SHAPES FEBRUARY PROGRAMMING
AT JAMESTOWN SETTLEMENT, YORKTOWN VICTORY CENTER
‘African-American Musical Imprint Weekend’ February 14-15 at Jamestown Settlement
WILLIAMSBURG,
Va., January 12, 2015 – February is “From Africa to Virginia” month at
Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center history museums.
Gallery exhibits
and daily interpretive programs highlight the culture of the first
recorded Africans in Virginia and the experience of people of African
descent in colonial and Revolutionary America. “African-American
Musical Imprint Weekend” at Jamestown Settlement on February
14 and 15 will feature performances by “The Storyteller” Dylan
Pritchett, the Northern Neck Chantey Singers and Legacy of Weyanoke.
Jamestown Settlement Galleries
The
“From Africa to Virginia” theme is reflected in a printed family guide
of Jamestown Settlement’s expansive gallery exhibits, which chronicle
the nation’s 17th-century
beginnings in Virginia in the context of its Powhatan Indian, English
and African cultures. The parent culture of Africans brought to
Virginia in 1619 is portrayed in a diorama that includes a full-scale
dwelling and artifacts from the Ambundu culture of
Angola. A dramatic multimedia presentation 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.
Jamestown
Settlement gallery African exhibit themes are reflected in two special
tours available to groups with advance reservations. “African Red
Gold,” a premium-theme
private tour for parties of 14 or less, highlights the museum’s African
collection and features a behind-the-scenes visit with a curator to see
objects of copper, known as “red gold,” not currently on display.
“From Africa to Virginia,” a one-hour gallery
tour for groups of 15 or more, focuses on the story of the 1619 arrival
of the first recorded Africans in Virginia.
Daily Interpretive Programs
At
Jamestown Settlement, “Life on the Waterways” at 10:30 a.m. daily in
the re-created Powhatan Indian village invites visitors to help fashion a
dugout canoe and compare
and contrast Powhatan and Angolan cultures while learning about canoes
and fishing. “African Arrival,” a role-play experience at 1 p.m. daily
at the replica 1607 English ships, illuminates the circumstances of the
1619 arrival in Virginia of 20-some Africans
who had been captured by English privateers from a Portuguese ship en
route from Angola to Mexico. “Weapons and Warfare” at 2:30 p.m. at the
re-created fort compares African and English warfare techniques and
culminates with the firing of matchlock musket.
At
the Yorktown Victory Center’s re-created Continental Army encampment,
at noon daily, historical interpreters will discuss the roles of African
Americans in the Revolutionary
War and the 1775 proclamation by Lord Dunmore, Virginia’s royal
governor, promising freedom to people enslaved by rebellious colonists,
if they came to the British side. Representations of a coat worn by
formerly enslaved people who joined the British 33rd
Regiment of Foot and a hat from the American army’s 1st Rhode Island
Regiment, which for a time during the Revolution included several
companies of African-American soldiers, will be displayed. At 2 p.m.
daily, the re-created Revolution-era farm will offer
a glimpse of the lives and roles of enslaved people on a small farm and
African influence on American foodways.
African-American Musical Imprint Weekend
Storytelling
and musical performances will take place Saturday and Sunday, February
14 and 15, inside Jamestown Settlement’s Robert V. Hatcher, Jr.,
Rotunda.
“The
Storyteller” Dylan Pritchett will present tales of Africa and
African-American heritage at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. both days.
The
Northern Neck Chantey Singers will perform, at noon and 2 p.m. both
days, examples of work songs that coordinated the efforts of
African-American watermen of eastern
Virginia as they hauled in nets filled with their catch.
At
3 p.m. on both days, the a cappella vocal ensemble Legacy of Weyanoke
will take the audience on a musical journey that pays tribute to African
ancestors and their history.
Visiting the Museums
Combined
admission to Jamestown Settlement, located at Route 31 and the Colonial
Parkway near Williamsburg, and the Yorktown Victory Center, located at
Route 1020 and
the Colonial Parkway in Yorktown, is $21.00 for adults, $10.50 for ages
6 through 12. Individual Jamestown Settlement admission is $16.75 for
adults, $7.75 for ages 6-12. Yorktown Victory Center admission is $9.75
for adults, $5.50 for ages 6-12. Children
under 6 are free, and parking is free at both museums.
The
“From Africa to Virginia” guided tour of the Jamestown Settlement
galleries for groups of 15 or more with advance reservations is $16.40
for adults, $6.25 for students
K-college, and includes admission to the entire museum. The “African
Red Gold” premium-theme private tour at Jamestown Settlement for parties
of 14 or less is $145 per party plus individual museum admission.
Reservations for either tour can be made at (888)
868-7593 toll-free or (757) 253-4939.
Jamestown
Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
daily. For more information, call (888) 593-4682 toll-free or (757)
253-4838, or visit
www.historyisfun.org.
