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"America's 400th Anniversary": Jamestown 2007
During her second visit to the U.S. in 1957, Queen Elizabeth II of England appeared before a crowd of 25,000 people at the Jamestown Festival Park (now Jamestown Settlement) as part of the 350th anniversary celebration of the first surviving British colony in the New World. As part of this year's 400th anniversary commemoration, the queen is scheduled to pay another visit to Jamestown. For those planning to travel when the semester ends, keep in mind that the Jamestown anniversary weekend will be May 11-13. Several Web sites of interest are useful in anticipation of this historic occasion.
According to the official Web site promoting this event, (http://www.jamestown2007.org/),the May gala weekend is only one of many activities scheduled in or near Jamestown. Click on "Signature Events" to get a listing of symposia, sailings of the replica ship Godspeed, concerts, fireworks displays, African-American and native American heritage showcases, and a culminating forum on the legacy of the democratic system first realized at the Jamestown colony. The Web site also includes video clips from honorary chair Sandra Day O'Connor and event host Tavis Smiley, children's activities and tourist/ticket information.
An ongoing project coordinated by the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech, Virtual Jamestown (http://www.virtualjamestown.org/) encapsulates the history and legacy of the settlement using maps, panorama images and documentary texts, including public letters, letters and other first-hand accounts, and the complete works of Captain John Smith. These also are searchable by name and keyword, as are the contracts for indentured servants—valuable for genealogical as well as historical use.
Archaeological projects continue at the Jamestown settlement site. Two sites, Historic Jamestowne (http://www.historicjamestowne.org/) and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities' Jamestown Rediscovery (http://www.apva.org/jr.html) focus on the numerous artifacts that have been uncovered dating from the 17th century, ranging from human remains and household objects to entire structures from James Fort previously assumed to have been washed away.
To add amusement to your learning, you may wish to try your hand answering the question, "Can you do any better than the real colonists?" in The Jamestown Online Adventure (http://www.historyglobe.com/jamestown/). Beginning with the arrival of the British off the Virginia shore, you are faced with crucial decisions regarding location of the settlement, relations with the Powhatans, food provisions, health and morale. After you have made your decisions, you can compare their consequences to the actual fate of the settlers.
Further information on the history and legacy of the Jamestown colony can be accessed easily using UB's resources. The best start is to type "jamestown va" as a subject keyword in the BISON catalog. Also, a highly recommended database is America: History and Life (http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/e-resources/am_history_life.html), which can retrieve citations, abstracts or full texts of articles from more than 100 journals, as well as dissertations.
—Rick McRae, University Libraries