Director’s Series: Conversations with Christy S. Coleman at Jamestown Settlement 2025
Conversations with Christy S. Coleman at Jamestown Settlement
Join Christy S. Coleman, executive director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, as she sits down with prominent scholars and public figures for lively and enlightening conversations surrounding our shared legacies of American history. The yearlong series will showcase the work of prominent scholars, authors and an Academy Award winner.
Now in its fourth year, enjoy thought-provoking evening conversations in-person or virtually for $10 per program or $50 for the entire series. Admission is limited and tickets must be purchased online in advance. Conversations will take place at 7 p.m. in Jamestown Settlement’s Robins Foundation Theater.
2025 Director’s Series Guests
Dr. Thomas E. Chávez
January 15, 2025
Dr. Thomas E. Chávez is a prolific historian and author exploring Spanish America and its intersections in the fight for American independence, a topic of his forthcoming book, “Revolutionary Diplomacy: Spanish Statecraft and the Birth of the United States.” He is former executive director of the National Hispanic Culture Center in Albuquerque and Palace of the Governors State History Museum in Santa Fe.
Wunneanatsu Lamb-Cason
March 19, 2025
Wunneanatsu Lamb-Cason (Schaghticoke/HoChunk) is the 2024 Virginia Teacher of the Year who serves as assistant director of Brown University’s Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative. She works to combat misinformation and ensure accurate Indigenous voices are sustained in the educational landscape. A traditional storyteller and author, she has been a voice for social, cultural and educational equity for 20+ years.
Michael Paul Williams
May 21, 2025
Michael Paul Williams, is a Richmond native, an American journalist and a regular columnist at the Richmond Times-Dispatch since 1992. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Virginia Union University and his master’s degree from Northwestern University. Committed to grounding contemporary issues in historical context, Williams was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2021.
James Pepper Henry
September 17, 2025
James Pepper Henry, chair of the Kaw Nation and one of the nation’s leading public historians, has served as executive director of innovative institutions, the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City and Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum (where he was the first enrolled Native American leader), and director and CEO of the Heard Museum in Phoenix. His compelling approaches to collecting, interpretation and programming of Native culture has ignited new conversations.
Michelle Norris
October 27, 2025
Michelle Norris is an award-winning journalist and one of the most recognized voices in radio, serving as host of National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” for a decade. She is author of “Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race” (January 2024), inspiring open and honest dialogue with stories and perspectives drawn from her personal journey, investigative research and interviews with world leaders, Nobel Laureates and newsmakers.
Rick Atkinson
November 19, 2025
Rick Atkinson is a historian and award-winning author, most recently, of “The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777,” the first volume in his Revolution Trilogy. The book spent nearly three months on the New York Times bestseller list. The second volume, “The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780,” is scheduled for publication by Crown in late April 2025.
Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown are administered by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. These world-class museums are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s days). Museum daytime admission is not included in evening event ticket. Parking is free. For more information, call (757) 253-4572.
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