Jamestown 350th

The "Jamestown Festival," to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the founding of the colony on Jamestown Island, consisted of a series of events—speeches, historical reenactments, military demonstrations, concerts, and exhibitions—held throughout the state. As a centerpiece, the commission built a new state historical park, Jamestown Festival Park (now Jamestown Settlement), on a point of land within sight of Jamestown Island. Designed as a living-history museum, it featured a number of architectural re-creations, including one of James Fort, pictured here just prior to the opening of the festival. Despite this effort, the festival still presented the history of the colony from the perspective of the white, male English settlers. The experience of Native Americans and African Americans, and the origins of slavery and its central role in the development of the colony received little attention or representation.