43 Results for tag "Founding Fathers & Nation Builders"

• Visit a Nation Builder

  Step into the past with a Nation Builder and learn about their contribution to the founding of our nation.

• Visit a Nation Builder- Edith Cumbo

  Step into the past with Edith Cumbo, Free Black Sister, Mother, Fighter, Founder.

• A Public Audience with the 1st President, George Washington

  Meet with President Washington as he looks back over his long career in public service.

• A Public Audience with the 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson

  Meet with President Jefferson as he looks back over his long career in public service.

• A Public Audience with the 4th President, James Madison

  Join President James Madison as he reflects on the invention of the executive branch of the United States.

• Nation Builders Discuss the Institution of Slavery

  Join two Nation Builders to discuss how they viewed the complicated tragedy that was the institution of slavery.

• Nation Builders Discuss the Rights of Women

  Join two Nation Builders to discuss how they viewed and debated the rights of women.

• Across the Board

  Over a game of chess Thomas Jefferson and his manservant, Jupiter, challenge and amuse each other.

• Visit a Nation Builder- Patrick Henry

  Step into the past with Patrick Henry, the Revolution's Son of Thunder.

• Recollections of Virginia’s 1st Governor

  Join Patrick Henry, Virginia’s first governor, as he recounts the beginning of our republican experiment. Hear about his time in Virginia's highest executive office.

• Visit a Nation Builder- Reverend Gowan Pamphlet

  Step into the past with Gowan Pamphlet, Revolutionary Black Baptist Preacher.

• Visit a Nation Builder- Ann Wager

  Step into the past with Ann Wager, Educator of free and enslaved children.

• Visit a Nation Builder- Clementina Rind

  Step into the past with Clementina Rind, Mistress of a Free Press.

• Visit a Nation Builder- young George Washington

  Step into the past with young George Washington, Colonel of the Virginia Regiment.

• Visit a Nation Builder- James Madison

  Step into the past with James Madison, Scholar Statesman.

• Visit a Nation Builder- Marquis de Lafayette

  Step into the past with the Marquis de Lafayette, French Hero of Two Worlds.

• Visit a Nation Builder- General George Washington

  Step into the past with George Washington, Father of the Country.

• Meet Our Nation Builders

  Nation Builders portray real historic figures associated with 18th-century Williamsburg who made significant contributions to the American story. Meet a Nation Builder during your visit who helped shape their time, and whose legacy continues to influence and inspire American ideals.

• Man in the Making

  If you asked me 10 years ago if I could imagine myself portraying George Washington, I would have laughed.Fast forward to the present…I sometimes laugh at myself.I have the humbling honor and daunting challenge of portraying George Washington at Colonial Williamsburg. First President. General of the Continental Army. Leader of …

• Wythe 101

  I will admit to you, gentle reader: before I accepted a job at Colonial Williamsburg and moved from my home in South Atlanta to Virginia, I had never heard of George Wythe. I’m certain I had seen or heard his name at some point in my life of, then, 24 …

• Wythe 102

  So, you think you know George Wythe? Hey, I get it. A few months ago, you read my Wythe 101 blog post. Mulling over the exquisite verbal craftsmanship contained within its 1,616 words, your confidence soars. “I’m giddy with knowledge,” you tell yourself, “I know practically everything about the venerable …

• 5 Things You Might Not Have Known About Martha Washington

  Martha Washington could be considered a household name in America. There are Martha Washington cookbooks, children’s books, and even a Martha Washington Minuet!

• “5 Things You Might Not Know About Thomas Jefferson”

  With our nation experiencing a health crisis and a renewed understanding of the word “quarantine,” you might think that Thomas Jefferson would have nothing to say. Think again. Inoculation is just one of the five topics we’ll dive into in in this post.

• Questions I Get About Gowan Pamphlet

  I portray Gowan Pamphlet, the first known ordained black Baptist preacher in America, along with James Ingram. As Nation Builders, we research the real historic figures we portray and learn everything about them we can. I’ve been interpreting this influential man for about two years now and there are a …

• Getting to know Clementina Rind

  I’m Emma Cross, and I interpret a Nation Builder named Clementina Rind, who lived in Williamsburg from 1765-1774. Her husband ran one of the newspapers, and at his death she took over the business. Rind was the first female printer in Virginia and, as far as we know, the first …

• Nation Builder Book Recommendations

  Our Nation Builders have a few book recommendations to help combat quarantine boredom. Read up along with our pros, and if you're ordering on Amazon, be sure to use AmazonSmile and support The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. More information on how below.

• 5 Facts About George Washington

  This story is perhaps the most well-known myths of Washington. The famous story of Washington admitting to his father that he had in fact cut down the infamous cherry tree. Interestingly, this story first appears in 1806, in the fifth edition of Parson Mason Weems’s biography of George Washington.The story …

• The Patron Saint of self-isolation

  Thomas Paine coined these words just five months into America’s independence, and since then, she’s been fighting on. Through her enduring story, she’s battled against prejudice, inequality, and foreign entanglement.Yet the great equalizer, for both time and nations, is sickness. The Founders experienced it through smallpox and yellow fever, and …

• More than the Voice of the Revolution

  Patrick Henry is best remembered for his famed “Liberty or Death” speech in 1775, but his contributions to the birth of our nation are immeasurable. He served for more than 20 years as a Burgess, member of Congress, Commander-in-Chief of the Virginia Army, and first governor of Virginia for five …

• 3 things you might not know about America’s Favorite Fighting Frenchman

  The Marquis de Lafayette was a French aristocrat who volunteered his services to General Washington and the American cause, to help win Independence for the United States of America. The name Lafayette is widely recognized — perhaps where you are from you have a town, street, county, or park named …

• Getting to know James

  James Armistead Lafayette was an enslaved spy during the American Revolution. That’s what we had. It wasn’t all we had at the time, but it was close. We knew nothing about his life in slavery, we knew a bit more about his life as a free man when it was …

• Four Facts about George Mason

  George Mason is admittedly a lesser-known name in the founding father pantheon. Despite inspiring Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence and giving America its first Bill of Rights, his name is too often left on the cutting room floor of history. Why is this?As someone who has had the privilege to bring …

• Being Uncomfortable in Character

  When I tell people that my full-time job is being a character interpreter for The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, I get lots of different responses. Sometimes people say, “How cute! I would love to play dress-up for work!” Other times, the response is a little more caustic: “Why would you want …

• Freedom of the Press in the eyes of the Founding Fathers

  The founding fathers’ understanding of a free press has a long history and is one that we inherited under English law, but that doesn’t mean that England always had a free press.Starting in the year 1534 England, wrote into its laws what would become known as the Licensing Laws. These …

• America’s First Bromance

  While the country was experiencing its first steps under a Republic, there were already divisions. On one side, the Federalists stood with the weight of Washington, Hamilton, Adams and others. Theirs was the party of the United States. The only party. From that party, other ideas began to emerge and …

• The Great Cake Debate

  While portraying Martha Washington for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation there have been several constants. One is that inevitably guests all come with a base knowledge of who the Washingtons are (wooden teeth included) and another is that Christmas is always our busiest season of the year. Christmas, however,has sometimes proven …

• One Last Thing …

  Let’s imagine a text conversation between the Washingtons.

• Flying thro’ the Air

  Many a visitor to Williamsburg, while driving on Richmond Road past the College of William and Mary have no doubt seen the Virginia Historical Marker W-40, which reads,“On May 7, 1801, J.S. Watson, a student at William and Mary, wrote a letter detailing attempts of flying hot air balloons on …

• Creating an Embroidered Coat for George Washington

  Late last year the Costume Design Center was tasked with constructing a civilian suit for George Washington interpreter Daniel Cross to wear for dance programs at the Governor’s Palace, portraying Washington before the Revolution. Today this would be considered a “semi-formal” dress suit.To inform our design, we consulted the known …

• Washington’s First War

  From 1754-1758, George Washington fought in his first armed conflict, the Seven Years War, commonly referred to as the French and Indian War. This war was foundational to who he would become, as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and later, the first President of …

• Myth Busting with Martha

  “Have you heard the one about George Washington’s wooden teeth?!” Yep, I’ve heard it. I’ve also heard the one about the cherry tree, and (to my amusement) the one about Martha Washington actually being a man and George a woman—yes, you read that correctly. I hear a lot of myths …

• The Race for Rights

  With the Ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788, America had a new framework of government that endeavored to fix the deficiencies of the previous Articles of Confederation. Five years after the Treaty of Paris secured its Independence, the United States was still struggling to discover a way for …

• The Bloodless Revolution

  It is a truly unprecedented moment in America’s short history. Four years of the current administration have left the people divided across vitriolic political battle lines in a way they never have been before. The current President’s policies have seen foreigners labelled ‘aliens’ and unwelcome on American shores. The President’s …