The Beginnings of Colonial Williamsburg

Join us for this talk and book signing! Williamsburg’s restoration has many roots, among them Americans’ nostalgia for the colonial period. But the restoration could not have happened without the vision of the Reverend Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin and the money of John D. Rockefeller Jr. This talk follows how the two came together to restore the appearance of colonial Williamsburg, and how that restoration began to evolve—often fitfully—into an even more ambitious project: to tell the story of the nation’s beginnings. Arrive early to explore the exhibition that connects this program Colonial Williamsburg: The First 100 Years, open one hour before the event begins. Book signing to follow the talk.

Paul Aron is the author of That the Future May Learn from the Past: 100 Years of Colonial Williamsburg. His previous books include American Stories, Founding Feuds, Why The Turkey Didn’t Fly and We Hold These Truths . . . And Other Words That Made America.