From Fort to Port: Examining the Legacies of 1619 at Jamestown

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

2019 will mark the 400th anniversary of the first representative assembly in the western hemisphere and the arrival of the first Africans in mainland English America. Both events are closely connected to Jamestown. The General Assembly was held in Jamestown’s church in the summer of 1619 and of the first two dozen Africans forcibly transported to Virginia, several lived and worked in Jamestown, on neighboring plantations, or passed through on their way upriver. Ongoing archaeological projects to examine the remains of the 1617 church where the assembly met and at the site where one of the first Africans, a woman name Angela, lived are shedding new light on the landscapes of both events. This session will present some of the findings from this new research to contextualize the events of 1619 and examine Jamestown’s evolution as well as some of the possible approaches for on-site and online presentation.

Other Keywords
Jamestown • Church • Conservation • Technology • Interpretation • Archaeology • Race • Exhibit • New Orleans • Humanities

Temporal Keywords
17th Century • Early 17th century • Colonial Period • 1619

Geographic Keywords
North America • Coahuila (State / Territory) • New Mexico (State / Territory) • Oklahoma (State / Territory) • Arizona (State / Territory) • Texas (State / Territory) • Sonora (State / Territory) • United States of America (Country) • Chihuahua (State / Territory) • Nuevo Leon (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-8 of 8)

  • Documents (8)
Documents
  • 1607 to 1619: An Examination of Change over Time at James Fort (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Danny W. Schmidt. Lisa E. Fischer.

    Within the first few weeks of landing on Jamestown Island in the spring of 1607 the colonists set about constructing a triangular palisaded fort. At first tents served to house the colonists, and to shelter their place of worship. Slowly but surely with the first public buildings, the storehouse and the church, more permanent structures began to rise. The interior of the fort would see many changes during these years, both reflected in the documentary record as well as the archaeological record....

  • The Angela Site (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only David Givens.

    2019 marks the 400th anniversary of the first representative government in the New World and the arrival of first Africans to the emerging colony. To mark this poignant moment in history, the Jamestown Rediscovery team in partnership with the National Park Service began excavations at the site of one of the first Africans in English North America.  Arriving on the Treasurer in 1619, one of these first Africans, "Angela" is listed as living with prominent planter and merchant Captain William...

  • Democracy, Diversity, and Race: Interpreting humanities to the public through context of place at Jamestown (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jamie E. May. Michael Lavin. Bill Haley.

    Jamestown Rediscovery’s museum and exhibits center on archaeological discoveries in and around 1607 James Fort, the first permanent English settlement in the new world. In addition, Jamestown is notable as the meeting place of the first representative government, the arrival of enslaved Africans, and for Virginia Indians. While the locations where these historic events took place do not change, the landscape often does, thus providing challenges to the communication of cultural concepts on the...

  • Jamestown 1619: Representation, Religion, and Race (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only James P Horn.

    The sweeping reforms of 1618-1619 introduced by Sir Edwin Sandys and the Virginia Company of London transformed Virginia and subsequently had an enormous influence on the evolution of British America. Most historians have failed to comprehend the significance of the reforms and what they portended, either because they have adopted the dominant narrative that revolves around Edmund Morgan’s paradox of slavery in the midst of freedom or because they have written off Jamestown as a colossal failure...

  • Jamestown and New Orleans: Landscapes, Entrepots and Global Currents (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only William Kelso.

    This presentation compares early English Jamestown and early French New Orleans, apparent historical apples and oranges, but in reality founded and developed in parallel ways. Established a century apart and by two European cultures, Jamestown and New Orleans went through similar rites of passage to establish a social and economic outpost at a safe distance from Spanish settlements. More specifically, the paper first reviews the Jamestown texts and artifacts that have revealed the townscape of...

  • The Knight’s Tomb (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Michael Lavin. Hayden Bassett. Dan Gamble. Jonathan Appell.

    In 1901, archaeologists excavating the 1617 Jamestown church uncovered a large black ledger stone engraved with the silhouette of knight in armor. The stone held evidence for once having monumental brasses inscribed with the deceased’s identity, coat of arms, and death date, yet these have never been recovered. Now, over a century after its discovery, recent archaeological investigations and research have revealed new clues confirming the identity of this interred individual. This paper outlines...

  • Telling Multiple Jamestown Stories: Using Technology to Engage Guests with James Fort, 1619, and Beyond (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Lisa E. Fischer.

    Technology opens up new opportunities for multi-layered interpretations of historical and archaeological sites. Applications, such as interactive websites maps, smartphone apps, 3D models, and virtual reality, can enable visitors to explore different narratives and see how sites changed over time in ways that are more challenging within a static museum landscape. Jamestown Rediscovery is exploring different technological approaches—both online and on-site—for engaging guests not only with the...

  • Three In One: New Archaeological Investigations on the Site of Jamestown's Last Three Churches (2018)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Mary Anna R. Hartley. Robert Chartrand.

    Shortly after acquiring part of Jamestown Island in the 1890s, founders of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities conducted excavations around the Jamestown church tower and churchyard. The 1901-1902 excavation records and drawings indicated that they uncovered foundations, tile and brick floors, tombstones, and burials associated with three churches. The earliest foundation was interpreted as the 1617 church, where the first General Assembly met in 1619. The second...