What’s New

Gowan Pamphlet answered a call that set him on a path few would have imagined possible for an enslaved person in the colonial Chesapeake region.

Read the story of this singular leader.

Colonial Williamsburg has a long legacy of exploring African-American history through story and scholarship. Our latest vodcast outlines the stories brought to life over decades of interpretation.

Watch the video.

Explore the unique African American quilting traditions and history of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, while exploring two examples in the museum’s collection. Families then can discover their creativity with a hands-on activity. Admission is included in any Historic Area or museum admission pass. Tour offered 1:30 p.m., Fridays, Feb. 3, 10, 17 and 24.

Learn more.

While the roving webcam has been deployed to the tin shop, the Historic Trades Carpenters have made great strides inside the Armoury. This week’s photo gallery provides a glimpse of recent activity.

See the gallery »

Philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s interest in colonial Virginia buildings extended beyond the collection he and the Reverend Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin acquired, restored, and reconstructed in Williamsburg.

The opportunity of buying for himself Lower Brandon, an eighteenth-century mansion on the south shore of the James River, brought Rockefeller to Virginia in 1926. Two years later, he obtained the derelict home, a circa-1763, southside, story-and-a-half, four-room with central hall, and two-chamber-basement house.

See side-by-side photos of the house before and after its restoration.

Join a discussion of the presidents and their attitudes towards slavery, and the sometime contrast between their words and their actions. How can we reconcile the idea of noble leaders and ignoble practices?

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