First Africans Commemoration on August 16 at Jamestown Settlement
First Africans Commemoration – August 16 at Jamestown Settlement
Jamestown Settlement honors the legacy of the first recorded Africans brought to Virginia in 1619 with reflections of history and modern perspectives through an African American lens.
There will be an interactive workshop at 10 & 11:30 am to assist all ages in finding and sharing family stories. Using illustrations, evocative questions and shared stories, participants will have a family story to keep. There will also be strategies about how to keep those stories, share them with other family members and collect the stories of your family’s elders. A fun and learning time that reminds us that everybody’s got a story.
Featured guests:
At 2 pm in the Robins Foundation Theater: Wanda Tucker tells the story of discovering their ancestry, visiting their country of origin, Angola, and her reflections of that visit. The Tucker family’s story of discovery, outreach, connecting and building community is unique, painful and inspiring.
Tucker’s family are descendants of the first Africans to arrive at Old Point Comfort and of William Tucker, the first recorded African child born and baptized in Virginia.
Also joining the program is Antonio Charity, at 3 pm in the Robins Foundation Theater. Antonio Charity is an actor, writer, director and producer, originally from Surry County, Virginia. His current project is a feature length historical documentary, “Where Charity Began,” about the history of the Charity family, which is descended from some of the first Africans to arrive in Virginia in August of 1619. He sits down with Harvey Bakari, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation’s Curator of Black History and Culture, to discuss his work documenting his remarkable family history.
Museum gallery exhibits & films
Learn about African and African American experiences in 17th-century Virginia through Jamestown Settlement’s expansive gallery exhibits, dramatic films and engaging interactives that share the story of Virginia Indian, English and West Central African cultures.
Using period artifacts and innovative technology, exhibits share historical accounts of the first documented Africans taken from their homeland in Ndongo (Angola) in 1619 to life in the Virginia colony and the evolution of a new African American culture. The “From Africa to Virginia” multimedia presentation chronicles African encounters with Europeans, impact on African culture and the development of the transatlantic slave trade.
The documentary film, “1607: A Nation Takes Root” is shown every 30 minutes. The film traces the evolution of the Virginia Company that sponsored the Jamestown colony, examines the relationship between the English colonists and Powhatan Indians, and chronicles the arrival of the first recorded Africans in 1619 – including the story of Angelo, one of the first African women named in Jamestown’s historical record.
How to attend the First Africans Commemoration event
The First Africans Commemoration special event is included with museum admission.
BUT residents of James City County, York County and the City of Williamsburg, including William & Mary students, receive free admission with proof of residency! More Info
Author
