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Recap of America's 400th Anniversary Events
2006 GODSPEED SAIL
Along the Eastern Seaboard
May–Aug. 2006
America's 400th Anniversary launched in May 2006 with an 80-day sail of the newly commissioned replica Godspeed, which brought a bit of American history to six major ports along the eastern seaboard. Ports of call for the Godspeed Sail included Alexandria, Virginia; Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York, New York; Boston, Massachusetts; and Newport, Rhode Island. More than 450,000 visitors joined the excitement of the "Landing Party," which featured tours of the 17th-century replica ship Godspeed, live musical performances, family entertainment, and historical and cultural displays highlighting the legacies of Jamestown and the growth of America. If you missed Godspeed on her maiden voyage along the East Coast you can still be a part of history by visiting Godspeed at her home berth at Jamestown Settlement in Williamsburg,Virginia!
VIRGINIA INDIAN HERITAGE EVENTS
400 Years of Survival - Virginia Indian Symposium
Williamsburg Lodge, Williamsburg, Virginia
October 5 -7, 2006
The Virginia Indian conference featured representatives from Virginia’s eight-state recognized tribes as well as nationally known speakers and dignitaries. The conference included panel discussions on “Indian Law and Culture Through History,” “Government Policy as it Relates to American Indians,” and “Preserving History and Culture.” Speakers included Arlinda Locklear, a Lumbee Attorney and the first Native American woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, and David Wilkins, a professor of American Indian Studies, Political Science and Law at the University of Minnesota. During lunch, Robert Duncan, the president of Bacone College in Oklahoma addressed attendees. Many Virginia Indians attended Bacone during the “Plecker era,” when segregation barred them from attending public schools. Mark Tilden, a member of the Navajo Nation and a staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, spoke at a banquet dinner that evening. Attendees visited Virginia Indian tribal centers during a guided bus tour on Friday. The tour included the Pamunkey Indian Museum and the Mattaponi Shad Hatchery as well as cultural demonstrations and talks by each of the tribal chiefs with participation from 8-10 members of each tribe. Also on the Mattaponi Reservation, participants met artisans and toured the museum. Special events were planned at the Upper Mattaponi and Rappahannock Tribal Centers. The tour concluded with a dinner at the Chickahominy Tribal Center, followed by a program of traditional music and dancing. Participants traveled to the Monacan Indian Nation in Amherst County for their annual Homecoming on Saturday.
Kenneth Adams, chief of the Upper Mattaponi tribe, said the symposium gave the Virginia Indian tribes “an opportunity to educate the public on parts of our culture and history. We have never before had an opportunity to tell our own story in our own words on such a comprehensive level.”
Preview Gala
Jamestown Settlement
October 14,2006
More than 250 people attended an exclusive preview showcasing African elements of the new expanded galleries at Jamestown Settlement, hosted by The Virginia African American Forum (VAAF), a Virginia-based grassroots organization.
Reception highlights included Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander as the keynote speaker, music by Jae Sinnett's Jazz Trio and period music by the Colonial Williamsburg Performers. Distinguished guests included representatives from the Angolan embassy, Liberia, and England as well as Virginia's U.S. Representative Robert C. "Bobby" Scott and Virginia Secretary of Administration Viola Baskerville.
Proceeds from the Gala helped purchase an African artifact that was placed in the permanent gallery at Jamestown Settlement. The organization also provided six $1,000 scholarships to Virginia's HBCU's for students pursuing degrees in history or museum studies.
225th ANNIVERSARY: Victory at Yorktown
Historic Yorktown, Virginia
Oct. 19-22, 2006
The events in Jamestown and Yorktown, Virginia, were separated by nearly two centuries, but they are forever linked in American history as the beginning and end of British rule in what became the United States. Nearly 175 years after the British established the first permanent settlement at Jamestown, America ended the Revolutionary War in 1781 at Yorktown, establishing independence from Great Britain.
On Oct. 19, 2006, America celebrated the 225th anniversary of the defeat of the British by General George Washington at Yorktown. A special symphonic arrangement and stage production produced exclusively for the opening day ceremony paid a multimedia tribute to the military.
The weekend featured a re-enactment of the final battle of the Revolutionary War, which included the participation of more than 2,500 individuals from around the world. The salute to the military continued throughout the weekend with parades, patriotic ceremonies and interactive displays at the Yorktown Battlefield, Riverwalk Landing and the Yorktown Victory Center.
JAMESTOWN LIVE!
Jamestown Settlement, Nov 9, 2006
Students from every state and the District of Columbia joined PBS television journalist Gwen Ifill at Jamestown Settlement for Jamestown Live! a one-hour national webcast to discuss Jamestown’s legacies of democracy, cultural diversity and the spirit of exploration. More than 1 million students and educators tuned into live Internet broadcast, hosted by The History Channel, or by satellite to learn more about Jamestown role in the development of modern America.
Historians, maritime experts and astronauts answered questions from Jamestown Live!’s six student reporters chosen through a National History Day competition held in June 2006. Through a series of fast-paced interviews, participants offered an engaging look at how representative government, cultural diversity and exploration began to shape our country and our society.
Jamestown - 400 years in Retrospect: A Cross-Cultural Look at the First Settlement
Jamestown: 400 Years in Retrospect addressed a range of historical-to-modern-day issues, from the theoretical to the factual, and from the institutional to the grassroots. Featuring a multi-racial panel of academicians, the symposium began with a historical retrospective of the African American Imprint on America, which included Democracy, Citizenship, Stewardship, Criminal Justice, Family Values, Morality, Culture, Religion, Race, Equality, Economic and Social Justice, Health and Health Care, and Militarism.
The College of William and Mary, Phi Beta Kappa Theater
February 9, 2007
Ira Berlin
Professor of History
University of Maryland
| Darlene Clark Hine
Professor of African American
Studies and History
Northwestern University | Ernesto Cortes, Jr.
Southwest Regional Director
Industrial Areas Foundation
| Cornel West
Class of 1943 University Professor
Princeton University | Rex Ellis
Vice President, Historic Area
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation | Karenne Wood
Virginia Council on Indians | Eddie Glaude
Associate Professor of Religion
Princeton University | | Farah Jasmine Griffin
Professor of English and Comparative Literature
Columbia University
| Moderator
Raymond Brown
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STATE OF THE BLACK UNION 2007:
Jamestown — America’s 400th Anniversary:
The African American Imprint on America
PBS television host Tavis Smiley led his annual State of the Black Union symposium in Virginia in 2007. The event drew 36 of America's top thinkers including New Millenium Studio founders Tim Reid and Daphne Maxwell Reid, Richmond Mayor Doug Wilder, Rev. Al Sharpton and civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson as participants, as well as 10,000 attendees and a television audience of millions. This year's address delved into the African-American imprint on America during the past 400 years and outlined a plan for action during the next 400. The State of the Black Union highlighted the importance of African culture in the Jamestown story and the growth of our nation.
The event aired live on C-Span and was rebroadcast Feb. 22 and 23, 2007. It was also aired on Television One. For information on purchasing a DVD of the broadcast go to TavisTalks.com.
State of the Black Union Panelists 8:00 a.m. (EST)
Rep. Keith Ellison
Eddie Glaude
Judge Glenda Hatchett
Cathy Hughes
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr.
Daphne Maxwell Reid
Tim Reid
Stephanie Robinson
Malika Saada Saar
Rev. Al Sharpton
L. Douglas Wilder
Moderator
Michel Martin | 1:00 p.m. (EST)
Lerone Bennett, Jr.
Angela Glover Blackwell
Chuck D
Marian Wright Edelman
Bruce Gordon
Julia Hare
Wade Henderson
Mae Jemison
Charles Ogletree
Sonia Sanchez
Rep. Bobby Scott
Omar Wasow
Cornel West
Moderator
Tavis Smiley |
America's Anniversary Weekend
3 days, 3 sites. . . One spectacular moment in history!
A spectacular display of fireworks timed to the music of a 400-piece orchestra and 1607-voice chorale soared over the shores of the James River on the night of May 13 to conclude the centerpiece event of the commemoration -- America’s Anniversary Weekend. The finale capped three days of festivities, entertainment, educational exhibits, cultural programs, celebrity performances and special commemorative ceremonies that included Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, President George Bush, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’ Connor, Governor Timothy Kaine and many other national, statewide and local leaders.
More than 63,000 people attended at least one day of this historic event, which showcased a “new” Jamestown story made possible by compelling research and recent archaeological discoveries. The historic role and legacies of Jamestown were highlighted in new world-class museums and living-history areas built at the Jamestown sites and echoed in exhibits and continuous entertainment at Anniversary Park.
Anniversary Weekend spanned three adjacent sites, Historic Jamestowne, Jamestown Settlement and Anniversary Park, a former campground transformed into a unique festival area with multiple stages, presentations and pavilions. Each day of Anniversary Weekend offered special one-time events.
Friday, May 11
Stamp collectors and enthusiasts of all ages participated in the first-day issuance of the U.S. Postal Service’s commemorative “Settlement of Jamestown” stamp. The weekend’s official opening -Welcome America took place in a two-part program, which began at Historic Jamestowne with a special re-dedication of the original site, Virginia Indian welcome ceremony, and keynote address by Governor Timothy M. Kaine.
Performance Highlights:
Welcome America concluded in Anniversary Park at Anniversary Stage with the first-ever combined performances by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of JoAnn Falletta, and Richmond Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Mark Russell Smith. The two orchestras played separately and then combined – for the first time ever – to premier new works by John Corigliano, John Duffy, Adolphus Hailstork and Jennifer Higdon written especially for the commemoration.
Saturday, May 12
Performance Highlights:
“400 Minutes of Music,” was one of the many highlights of Saturday's events. An afternoon-long program featuring contemporary rock infused with native American musical traditions from Brule’, a mix of folk, world, blues and soul music from South African artist Vusi Mahlasela, folk roots music from Michael Seeger, poetic urban folk from Jen Chapin, and alternative country from Scott Miller & The Commonwealth. The afternoon was capped by three-time Grammy winner Bruce Hornsby & The Noise Makers who brought the crowd of thousands to their feet with an evening of old favorites, rock, R&B and progressive bluegrass. Bruce was joined by legendary funk and R&B artist Chaka Khan, as well as progressive bluegrass master Ricky Skaggs and his band Kentucky Thunder.
Sunday, May 13 Anniversary Stage was the focal point for special events on Sunday, May 13. Four hundred years to the day of the original settlers’ arrival at Jamestown, President George W. Bush addressed an audience of approximately 25,000 guests to mark the historic occasion, Seated on the dais with President and Mrs. Bush were Governor and Mrs. Kaine, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, U.S. Congressman Bobby Scott, key legislators from the Virginia General Assembly, representatives of the Virginia Indian and African American advisory Councils and Jamestown 2007 committee leadership. The morning’s festivities also included a videotaped message from NASA via the International Space Station, a dramatic “fly over” by jets from Langley Air Force Base, and stirring performances by a special 400-piece orchestra and 1607-voice choir with participants from every state in the nation. Performance Highlights:
Sunday’s “Celebrations of Culture,” a colorful pageant of music featured the traditions of the three cultures that came together at Jamestown. Governor Kaine and his family helped close the ceremony, followed by an original dramatic recreation of the Jamestown story entitled “Journey of Destiny.” The 400-piece orchestra and 1607-voice choir returned for a fanfare of patriotic and film-score favorites accompanied by a magnificent fanfare of fireworks finale.
Journey Up The James
April - May 2006
The replica Godspeed sail spanned from the Chesapeake Bay up the James River re-creating parts of the original route sailed almost 400 years ago.
Journey Up the James kicked off with a re-enactment of the settlers' first landing at Virginia Beach's Cape Henry then continued to Hampton, Newport News, Claremont/Surry, and Jamestown for Anniversary Weekend May 11-13, 2007.
SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL -
The Roots of Virginia Culture
National Mall, Washington, D.C.
June 27-July 1 and July 4-8, 2007
By exploring the roots of Virginia's contemporary cultural traditions, Roots of Virginia Culture marked the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States. The program brought to Washington performers, artists, musicians, dancers, storytellers, cooks, farmers, and craftspeople to help explain, demonstrate, and celebrate cultural traditions.
Delegations from Virginia's eight Native American tribes, West Africa, and Kent County, England, represented the Native, African American, and English roots of the state. Fruit growers and wooden boat builders from Virginia and Kent; peanut farmers and pottery makers from West Africa and Virginia; and African, Native, and Virginian blacksmiths worked side-by-side. Other participants sang gospel songs, ballads, blues, and bluegrass; demonstrated horse skills and crafts; discussed historic restoration; and cooked with Virginia's products. For the first time, an English county participated in the Folklife Festival.
For more information, see http://www.folklife.si.edu/festival/2007/index.html
American Indian Intertribal Cultural Festival
Hampton Coliseum (Hampton, Virginia)
Saturday, July 21 and Sunday, July 22, 2007
Schedule of Events
More than 18,000 people filled the Hampton Coliseum Saturday July 21 and Sunday July 22 as part of the American Indian Intertribal Festival. Visiting tribes from as near as North Carolina and as far away as New Mexico and North Dakota participated in dances and cultural demonstrations, highlighting the similarities and differences among American Indian nations.
The highlight of both days was the Grand Entry of all dancers into the arena. During Sunday's Grand Entry veterans of Vietnam were invited to join in the march and were honored as they entered the arena.
The childrens' room was the place to be as hundreds of children of all ages listened to stories, created corn husk dolls, painted clay pots and strung beads into decorative necklaces and bracelets. Children were also invited to join in on a treasure hunt as they went through the Coliseum. Each child was given a map and received a stamp from the tribes they visited. Children received a prized gold coin of Sacagawea upon returning their completed map.
Vendors offered Native foods, art, jewelry and crafts. A series of exhibits showcasing the history of Virginia tribes and guest speakers discussed issues facing American Indians today.
Visiting tribes included the Jemez Pueblo (New Mexico), Lumbee (North Carolina), The Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara - North Dakota), Nez Perce (Idaho), Osage (Oklahoma), Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa (Michigan) and Seminole (Florida).
Drums during the event included the Virginia Indian Intertribal Drum, Fox Tail, Kautah-Noh Jr., Bahweting Singers, and White Shield.
Members of the visiting tribes participated in dance demonstrations and also exhibited their history and culture at booths in the vendor hall.
Virginia Black Expo
A Cultural and Commerce Exposition
When: August 24-25, 2007
Where: Hampton Roads Convention Center
Hampton Roads Convention Center, Hampton, Virginia
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday, August, 23, 2007
Hampton Roads Committee of 200 + Men and Virginia Black Expo Golf Tournament
at The Hampton Golf Course located at 320 Butler Farm Road in Hampton, VA. (Call Bruce Williams at (757) 456-0222 or email abwamarketing@yahoo.com
for additional information.)
Saturday, August 25, 2007 (Conv Ctr. lower level)
9:00 am - Registration
10:00 am - Seminar starts
11:00 am - Black Expo doors open
11:00 am - Health Fair opens
11:00 am - Cultural Pavilion opens
11:15 am - Local entertainment stage opens (located
in Ballroom A)
2 – 3:00 pm Lou Gossett, Jr. Keynote speech
2 – 4:00 pm LL Cool J
3 – 4:00 pm Lou Gossett, Jr. book signing
5 – 6:30 pm Yolanda Adams
African American Family Reunion (Conv Ctr. upper level)
9 -5:00pm Genealogy Workshop Computer Access9 -4:00pm Kidz Zone9 -5:00pm Gospel Extravaganza11 -1:00pm Black Expo Workshops11:am & 2 pm African American Heritage Tour 4:00pm
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Forum on the Future of Democracy
Yearlong International Series of Conferences on Democracy
Culminating Conference
Williamsburg, Virginia
Sept. 16-19, 2007
Representative government in America began at Jamestown, and many of this country’s democratic ideals and institutions – including the rule of law, protection of liberty and property, and cultural diversity – trace their roots to that remarkable beginning. The journey that began with the settlement of Jamestown has changed the world. While Americans have worked to make the promise of democracy a reality in this country, democratic principles also have advanced dramatically worldwide. The International Conference Series on the Foundations and Future of Democracy provided an opportunity to reflect on four centuries of progress and to explore how democracies can survive and flourish. Beginning in August 2006, colleges and universities located in Virginia, joined by an array of national and international partners, hosted conferences focusing on particular aspects of successful democratic systems. The year–long series of topical conferences culminated in September 2007 with the World Forum on the Future of Democracy at the College of William and Mary and Colonial Williamsburg.
Former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain are the Co–Chairs of the Democracy Conference Series. Former Ambassador Thomas Foley and former Attorney General William Barr are the Vice Chairs. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is National Chair of the America’s 400th Anniversary commemoration, of which the Democracy Conference Series is a part. President Emeritus Timothy J. Sullivan of the College of William & Mary chaired the Planning Council that coordinated the conference series under the direction of the Jamestown 400th (Federal) Commemoration Commission.
The Jamestown 400th Federal Commission was joined in sponsoring the World Forum by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the College of William & Mary, and Jamestown 2007, the official planning organization of America's 400th Anniversary. Selected events in the series were open to the public.
'THE WORLD OF 1607' Special Exhibition
Jamestown Settlement, Williamsburg, Virginia
April 27, 2007 – April 9, 2008
The World of 1607,” a special exhibition at Jamestown Settlement from April 2007 to April 2008, put the founding of Jamestown in a global context and focused on worldwide cultural developments during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Presented in four distinct cycles, the exhibition offered a unique opportunity to view early Jamestown as a crossroads of peoples and empires, trade routes and ways of war, and cosmologies and technologies.
The Jamestown settlement of 1607 arose at the intersection of multiple worlds. Their crossings were both typical of their time and ripe with possibilities for the future. After 1607, similar junctures would occur across the globe in the histories of states, empires and peoples. Our world today is the product of these encounters. Jamestown stands as an emblem of both their promise and their price.
“The World of 1607” exhibition was made possible through an exceptional collaboration with 28 distinguished scholars and brought together a selection of precious objects from museums, libraries and private collections in 10 countries. |
