Trend & Tradition Summer 2025

Expand your idea of what life was like then. And of what a museum can be now.

In the 18th century, silver was not just a sign of wealth, it was made into functional objects found across many settings. One object that reflects this is a silver tankard made around 1795 by Paul Revere Jr., the famed Boston silversmith known for his historic midnight ride. This tankard, one of the largest forms made in his shop, showcases the blend of artistry and function that defined American silver. It’s now on view in Silver from Modest to Majestic, a new exhibition featuring over 120 objects that explore silver’s role in spaces from palaces and parlors to churches and battlefields. The tankard’s connection to a well-known maker and moment in history helps illuminate the broader story of silver’s place in American life.

Visit the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg to explore objects that connect past and present, and discover how global influences shaped everyday life in ways that still resonate today.

Paul Aron

MARIE DONIE

COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG FOUNDATION TRUSTEES

Carly Fiorina, Chair, Mason Neck, Va.

Cliff Fleet, President and CEO, Williamsburg, Va.

Kendrick F. Ashton Jr., Arlington, Va.

Frank Batten Jr., Norfolk, Va.

Geoff Bennett, Fairfax, Va.

Catharine Broderick, Lake Wales, Fla.

William Casperson, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Mark A. Coblitz, Wayne, Pa.

Ted Decker, Atlanta, Ga.

Walter B. Edgar, Columbia, S.C.

Neil M. Gorsuch, Washington, D.C.

Conrad Mercer Hall, Norfolk, Va.

Live & Learn

John Dickinson crafted two of the

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Katie Roy

DESIGNERS

Katherine Jordan

Lauren Metzger

PHOTOGRAPHER

Brian Newson

Antonia Hernandez, Pasadena, Calif.

John A. Luke Jr., Richmond, Va.

Walfrido J. Martinez, New York, N.Y.

Leslie A. Miller, Philadelphia, Pa.

Steven L. Miller, Houston, Texas

Joseph W. Montgomery, Williamsburg, Va.

Steve Netzley, Carlsbad, Calif.

Walter S. Robertson III, Richmond, Va.

Gerald L. Shaheen, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Larry W. Sonsini, Palo Alto, Calif.

Sheldon M. Stone, Los Angeles, Calif.

Y. Ping Sun, Houston, Texas

Hon. John Charles Thomas, Richmond, Va.

Jeffrey B. Trammell, Washington, D.C.

Alex Wallace, New York, N.Y.

CHAIRS EMERITI

Thurston R. Moore, Richmond, Va.

Richard G. Tilghman, Richmond, Va.

Henry C. Wolf, Williamsburg, Va.

TREND & TRADITION

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Catherine Whittenburg

EDITORIAL MANAGER

Pete Van Vleet

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul Aron, Ronald L. Hurst, Eve Otmar, Rachel West

COPY EDITORS

Patricia Carroll, Amy Watson

MEDIA COLLECTIONS

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Angela C. Taormina

PUBLICATIONS

COORDINATOR

Grenda Greene

Tracey Gulden, Jenna Simpson, Brendan Sostak

RESEARCH

Erin Lopater, Marianne Martin, Douglas Mayo

DONORS Please address all donor correspondence, address changes and requests for our current nancial statement to: Signe Foerster, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, P.O. Box 1776, Williamsburg, VA 23187-1776 or email sfoerster@cwf.org, telephone 888-293-1776.

Donations support the programs and preservation efforts of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, a not-for-pro t, tax-exempt corporation organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, with principal of ces in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Address changes & subscription questions: gifts@cwf.org or 888-293-1776

Editorial inquiries: editor@cwf.org

Advertising: magazineadsales@cwf.org or 757-220-7382

Trend & Tradition: The Magazine of Colonial Williamsburg (ISSN 2470-198X) is published quarterly in winter, spring, summer and autumn by the not-for-pro t Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 301 First Street, Williamsburg, VA 23185. A one-year subscription is available to Foundation donors of $50 a year or more, of which $14 is reserved for a subscription. Periodical postage paid at Williamsburg, VA, and additional mailing of ces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Trend & Tradition: The Magazine of Colonial Williamsburg, Attn: Signe Foerster, P.O. Box 1776, Williamsburg, VA 23187-1776. © 2025 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. All rights reserved.

NOTE Advertising in Trend & Tradition does not imply endorsement of products or services by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Building on a Foundation

Uncertain Times

The Revolutionary era offers lessons and inspiration

“I feel unutterable Anxiety. God grant us Wisdom, and Fortitude!”

JOHN ADAMS, DIARY ENTRY, JUNE 25, 1774

As America’s 250th anniversary nears, we more clearly recognize and wrestle with issues and circumstances present at the time of our nation’s founding that still resonate with us today. Now as then, our debates strike at the very core of who we are, where we’ve been and where we are going. Such contemplation and discourse are part of being an active and engaged citizen. As such, we must continually look to our collective past for perspective and informative context as we press forward into the future. As Patrick Henry famously declared 250 years ago this past March: “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past.”

We take those sentiments to heart at the Foundation. It would not be surprising to learn that Henry’s wise words echoed in John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s mind as he selected Colonial Williamsburg’s guiding mission, “That the future may learn from the past.” Though we will never fully overcome the fundamental obscurity of the future, our knowledge of the past profoundly and positively shapes how we approach it.

As I write these words, the Fourth of July is fast approaching the 250th anniversary of the year preceding our nation’s Declaration of Independence. From our modern perspective, it may seem that revolution and ultimately independence were certainties by this time in 1775. Relations with the British Crown were crumbling at an astonishing rate. The fighting at Lexington and Concord was nearly three months past, triggered by Massachusetts Royal Governor Thomas Gage’s move to seize weapons and gunpowder from the colonial militia. Similar violence threatened to unfold in Virginia. Weeks before that “shot heard round the world” in New England, the Second Virginia Convention had heeded Patrick Henry’s thunderous call to organize the colony’s own citizen mili-

tia in its defense. Virginia’s royal governor, Lord Dunmore, seized the gunpowder from the Magazine in Williamsburg, sparking outrage and narrowly avoiding an attack by local militia. Hostile skirmishes between the colonists and royal government continued, and on June 8 a fearful Dunmore fled the Governor’s Palace with his family to a nearby Royal Navy ship. He would never set foot in Williamsburg again.

Tensions continued to simmer as the summer heat intensified, and by July 5 the signs of approaching war were evident to both colonists and the Crown. But was revolution a certainty? It is telling that on July 5 the Second Continental Congress adopted neither an ultimatum nor a declaration of revolt but an olive branch to send the king. As you will read more about in this issue, Congress sought with the Olive Branch Petition to resolve their differences without further bloodshed. Even for those who formally declared the colonies’ independence one year later, reconciliation was still an option.

The uncertainty must have weighed heavily on people in the colonies as they continued to raise families, plow fields and ply their trades. One must look closely to find expressions of this uncertainty as this was an age of bold ideas with rhetoric to match. Reading the most well-known public pamphlets, essays and transcribed speeches of the day, it is easy to see only the stalwart determination, confidence and courage of America’s founding generation as the winds of revolution gained speed.

Some of their more personal writings, however, hinted at the uncertainty of the times and the trepidation it engendered. It is this link with the past on which I find myself now reflecting. For while today our nation is experiencing a period of rapid and often unpredictable change, the great uncertainty of the Revolutionary era offers a helpful point of reflection.

Since passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 and a volley of other offending policies, responses from the colonies ranged from violent protest to conciliatory appeals. For impatient revolutionaries like Henry, the vacillation was agonizing. Yet even for those most committed to the same cause, the best path forward was difficult to discern. “What can be done?” John Adams fretted in his diary on June 20, 1774, three months before he arrived in Philadelphia to join the First Continental Congress. “Will it be expedient to propose an Annual Congress of Committees? to Petition. Will it do to petition at all? to the K[ing]? to the L[ords]? to the C[ommon]s?... The Ideas of the People, are as various, as their Faces.”

One can easily appreciate the reluctance to rush toward revolution. Never before had colonies broken away from their mother country and designed a future destiny in the manner considered. Loss of life and family, financial ruin, imprisonment and death could easily result from choosing the wrong side of the conflict for people across the colonies. If rebellion posed serious risk to those who would seek it, the same was true for the colonies’ more cautious citizens. For years, loyalists had faced persecution and harassment of various forms from rebel mobs throughout the colonies. In 1774, an unidentified “Lady at Williamsburgh, in Virginia” expressed her growing unease in the pages of a British newspaper:

Building on a Foundation

only hope to maintain her presence of mind. “We know not what a day will bring forth, nor what distress one hour may throw us into.”

The prospect of war left many with difficult and sometimes impossible choices. American Indians were forced to make difficult and divergent decisions as they sought to preserve their sovereignty and tribal lands. With few credible assurances from either side, most sought neutrality or allied with the British, though others, including most of the Oneida and some Tuscarora, sided with the colonists. Enslaved Black Americans, meanwhile, faced new dangers as well as new opportunities for freedom. Virginia’s royal governor, a slaveholder himself, offered freedom to the enslaved if they joined the British army. Others, such as the spy James Lafayette, chose to side with the Americans seeking a different path to their own freedom.

Cliff Fleet

Today our nation is experiencing a multitude of economic, social and political changes cheered by some, protested by others, disruptive for many. Such shifting sands on so many fronts at once can be disorienting, but they have been an indelible part of the American experience since our inception. If the distant past seems enviably simpler by comparison, consider how a middling Virginia farmer or blacksmith must have felt while navigating the layers of colonial and royal governments that were increasingly, sometimes even violently, at odds.

“The State of Affairs in America at present wears a very gloomy Aspect,” she wrote in the published letter, which carried the dateline of June 1, the Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer that Virginia’s House of Burgesses had declared in response to the closure of Boston’s port. “The Measures fallen upon by those in Power on your Side of the Water will make the Americans desperate, as all the Colonies seem determined to unite in Defence of their Rights and Liberties.... What will be the Event God knows.”

With limited rights and resources in a society organized around patriarchal norms, the deteriorating political situation increased uncertainty and anxiety regardless of viewpoint. After the battles of Lexington and Concord, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John, that she could

That the colonies not only survived but overcame unimaginable odds to forge a new nation is a testament to the fortitude of our forebears. Today, the future is no more knowable to us than it was to them. But their resilience and resourcefulness are instructive reminders that our nation can and will prevail over whatever challenges we face.

Sincerely,

Cliff Fleet President & CEO

Colin G. and Nancy N. Campbell Distinguished Presidential Chair

A one-stop shop for educational and historical content and interactive learning colonialwilliamsburg.org/discover/ resource-hub/

colonialwilliamsburg.org/visit/ event-calendar/

People of the Past

Curated primary sources to discover the 18th-century residents of Williamsburg and the forces that shaped their lives colonialwilliamsburg.org/discover/18th-century-people/

A new home for America’s teachers.

The Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute of Colonial Williamsburg will welcome 500 teachers from all 50 states this summer to our new permanent home. The space provides modern state-of-the-art classrooms to share opportunities for reviewing teaching materials and to model best practices in classroom instruction that support the site-based hands-on learning and experiences from the 305-acre Historic Area.

Once home to the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, this newly renovated building will continue to

be a hub of learning. Bob & Marion Wilson recognized the important role teachers play in our communities and our country, and the Wilson family and the other 100+ donors to the Teacher Institute carry out that mission.

This building allows Colonial Williamsburg and the Teacher Institute team to continue to positively impact countless teachers and generations of students.

It is a true site so “That the future may learn from the past.”

James Armistead Lafayette was an enslaved man who served as a spy under the Marquis de Lafayette and left his legacy by risking his safety to pass critical information to the Continental Army. After the war, he twice petitioned the General Assembly to uphold their own ideals and grant him his freedom, which he received in 1787. Your legacy — through a gift in your will or estate plan — helps to preserve the very place where America’s story began. To learn more about including a gift in your will to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, contact the Gift Planning Office today at 1-888-293-1776 or legacy@cwf.org.

Nation Builder Stephen Seals portrays James Armistead Lafayette

About Town About Town

EXPLORE COLONIAL SITES AND HISTORY . PEEK BEHIND THE SCENES . PURSUE AND PLAN p. 22 A Breed Apart

HAPPY MEDIUM

When visitors use their artistic talents to show their appreciation of the Historic Area, the living history museum comes to life in a new light. What follows are examples of how people, places and even animals moved these artists to share their love of Colonial Williamsburg.

About Town

Williamsburg Garden

ARTIST HEIDI ROSE WATERCOLOR MEDIUM

“My watercolor miniature painting measures 2 inches wide by 3 inches tall. I felt that the intimate nature of a miniature painting was ideal for this subject matter.

“My husband and I came to Williamsburg for the first time to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. Being from the West Coast and Early American history buffs, we were captivated with the living history experience on our visit.

“I was running around taking photos of gardens, people, everything! I had plenty of reference material for painting when I got home.

“This beautiful garden in particular, with the woman strolling through it, provided the cozy scene I was looking for.

“We hope to return to Williamsburg someday soon with our grandchildren!”

The Christmas Gift

ARTIST AMY J. FARLEY STAMPED CROSS-STITCH MEDIUM

“I was 17 when I finished this project of stamped cross-stitch for my grandmother for Christmas in 1984. She loved Williamsburg! My parents spent their honeymoon in one of the [colonial] houses and eventually bought a timeshare nearby. My husband’s family lives close, just over in Yorktown, and my children have spent many vacations there attending Colonial Williamsburg events.”

Palace Green Panorama

ARTIST ANDREA SNYDER WATERCOLOR MEDIUM

“My inspiration came from my love and passion for history and historical architecture. I visited Williamsburg as a teenager and fell in love with the village and colonial homes and buildings preserved there. I absolutely loved the tour of the Palace and gardens I think it was my favorite building to tour. It’s stuck with me for years, and it seemed fitting as a subject for a painting. I also loved the setting of the green and the two closest houses to the Palace the Carter House and Everard House seemed perfect to flank the Palace itself for the pano. I have great appreciation for Colonial Williamsburg and other living history sites like it that see the value in preserving and presenting the past to visitors who might otherwise never know what life was like before technology.”

Waller Street Meetinghouse

ARTIST JUSTIN SPEERS

EGG TEMPERA ON WOOD MEDIUM

“Every visit to Williamsburg is an inspiration for me! I painted this meetinghouse because I’m always captivated by how the sunlight rests on it as we start and finish our days in Williamsburg.

“In 1956, my newlywed grandparents relocated to Williamsburg as my grandfather served in the Army at Fort Eustis. At the same time, my grandmother worked for Colonial Williamsburg. She was able to see the Visitor Center being built as well as the filming of The Story of a Patriot Visiting Williamsburg has been a family tradition ever since.”

About Town

The Quarter

ARTIST STEVE BLANKS OIL ON BOARD MEDIUM

“My wife and I lived in Williamsburg for 50 years, raising our two children here, and I was lucky enough to work on the business end of Duke of Gloucester Street for 25 years. We come back multiple times every year to visit and enjoy how everything is always changing through the seasons, and this has happily coincided with taking on a new hobby of painting. This building, The Quarter, is at the corner of Francis Street and Colonial Street and was built in the early 1800s. It always intrigued me in its simple, unique construction, with its bowed roof, and being near to other larger historic homes and how it plays in relation to the Williamsburg Inn.”

Colonial Williamsburg, A Whimsical Bird’s‑Eye View

ARTIST JOHN BRODERICK WATERCOLOR MEDIUM

“Both of my daughters are graduates of William & Mary, and Colonial Williamsburg and the college hold special places in the hearts of our family. In my paintings, I aim to capture in a special way the joy of being in the Historic Area of Colonial Williamsburg.

“I feel that I came into my own as an artist during the seven years my wife and I lived in Williamsburg. I would hope that my paintings would inspire others to immerse themselves and enjoy Williamsburg. This is a uniquely transporting place to spend time. I hope others decide to go for a walk, take some photos and maybe even make some paintings of their own!”

The Old Fifer

ARTIST WENDY PESKAR

ACRYLIC ON WOOD MEDIUM

“The Old Fifer was part of the street performers, and his name was Herb.

“I think Colonial Williamsburg is in my blood. I am addicted to the history. The architecture and the interpreters really bring it to life. We always stay in a colonial house when we visit annually. Love to hear the horses and carriages going down the street.”

Colonial Williamsburg Governor’s Palace Gardens

ARTIST CAROLINE GARRETT HARDY

PAPER MEDIUM

“In 2022, I began to create kimonos of gardens from around the world, many of which I had visited. I realized gardens are reminders of mankind’s and nature’s successful cooperation. Until recently, I had focused on gardens from a diversity of cultures and civilizations. One day as I was visiting Williamsburg (I live in Williamsburg and love the Historic Area), I thought, I have never created a garden kimono that pays homage to Colonial Williamsburg! I selected the Governor’s Palace gardens because of the combination of architectural features and the simple beauty.”

Colonial Stage Wagon

“I love the re-creation of our history that Colonial Williamsburg offers visitors and especially love to paint the carriages and reenactors traveling down colonial streets with historic buildings and trees allowed to grow to their full size as their backdrop. I have enjoyed portraying these scenes since moving here nearly 20 years ago. Proximity to Williamsburg’s Historic Area was a major reason we moved here, and we continue to enjoy living in these scenic historic and hospitable environs, with their more civil pace of life.”

ARTIST BOB CARLSON ACRYLIC MEDIUM

Governor’s Palace

Acie is a 22-year-old artist in Richmond, Va., who loves visiting Williamsburg. He is featured in the Winter 2024 issue of the magazine Folk Art Messenger in the article “Acie Brown: Autistic and Adventurous.” In his words, “I like to take photos of historical places. Williamsburg helps me travel through time. It’s a great town.”

About Town

Williamsburg Blues

“My wife and I started going to Williamsburg from Raleigh in the late 1970s, usually before Christmas. We eventually worked our way up to staying in one of the restored houses.

“I have always loved bluebirds. On one of our trips, I bought one of the pottery bird nesting boxes. I never got any bluebirds, but other birds loved the box.”

ARTIST ACIE BROWN

GOUACHE MEDIUM

ARTIST JASON M cDANIEL OIL ON CANVAS MEDIUM

The Second Shot Heard Round the World

A

PERFORMANCE AT THE MAGAZINE COMMEMORATED

EVENTS THAT IGNITED THE REVOLUTION

BY PAUL ARON PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN NEWSON

Sometime after 4 a.m. on April 21, 1775, about 20 men from HMS Magdalen, acting on orders from the royal governor, Lord Dunmore, seized 15 half barrels of gunpowder from the Magazine in Williamsburg. Townspeople soon gathered to demand the return of the gunpowder. The situation was potentially as explosive as that in Massachusetts, where a few days earlier British troops had marched on Concord to seize the colonists’ military supplies. Fighting broke out there, after what later came to be called “the shot heard round the world.” In Williamsburg, leaders such as Peyton Randolph calmed the crowd, but tensions remained high. The scene would play out again 250 years later at the exact same place in 1775 Gunpowder Plot , a theatrical performance that was one of the Historic Area’s signature events in the run-up to the anniversary of American independence. The performances took place April 18 –21.

Katharine Pittman and Kurt Smith took the lead in writing, directing and producing the play. Pittman noted that a performance like this one required collaborating with a great many colleagues across the Foundation. “These key moments remind us how many resources and experts our museum has,” Pittman said. “At these moments we come together as a town as we did in 1775.”

Pittman and Smith are among the Foundation’s Nation Builders, so both are experienced in all aspects of historical theater. Pittman regularly portrays Martha Washington, and Smith regularly portrays Thomas Jefferson.

About Town

(Previous pages): The performance featured the debut of Nation Builder Nathaniel Lasley as Patrick Henry. (Above left): New research led to lowering the height of the wall surrounding the Magazine, the site of the gunpowder incident and part of the set for the performance. (Above right): Coopers made 15 half barrels for a scene in which sailors steal gunpowder from the Magazine and for continuing interpretation. (Below): In the program Spark of Rebellion , townspeople discuss how to respond to the theft of the gunpowder.

Choosing the Characters

The key to creating the performance was choosing the characters, and that depended on a great deal of research. Smith and Pittman pored over numerous sources, ranging from depositions given to the House of Burgesses to reports in The Virginia Gazette s to personal correspondence.

“It takes a lot of digging to find those veins of gold,” Smith said.

The characters in the performance included brothers Peyton and John Randolph. Peyton was later elected to lead the Continental Congress. John became a loyalist and returned to England. In a dramatic twist, the narrator was ultimately revealed to be Patrick Henry, played by Nathaniel Lasley in his public debut as the newest Nation Builder.

Other characters were Gabriel Maupin, Beverley Randolph and Betty, who was enslaved in Peyton Randolph’s household. Men such as Maupin and Beverley Randolph guarded the Magazine. “Had they not vacated their post,” Smith said, “Williamsburg may have been the site of the second shot heard round the world.”

Filling the Gaps

Pittman and Smith depended on primary sources, but they were faced with gaps in the historical record. “We never just make things up,” said Smith. “We rely on sourced material to flesh out the most spartan stories.”

Stephen Seals, a Nation Builder who portrays James, an enslaved man who spied on the British at York town, consulted on the script. Seals brought a great deal of experience figuring out how to extrapolate characters from

limited sources. “If you take all the primary sources and oral histories and documentary histories we have about free and enslaved Black people, you will find answers that may not be connected to specific people but are connected to people in the given circumstances,” Seals said.

Peter Inker, the Foundation’s director of historical research, also consulted on the script. “Our audience has to trust that we know what we are doing, do not have an agenda and are doing our best to be as truthful about the past as possible,” Inker said.

That means, Inker continued, sticking to the facts. When historians do not have clarity or certainty, the question Inker and his fellow historians routinely ask is, is it historically plausible that this person would have known this thing or behaved this way?

Inker recognizes that writers have to take some liberties to bring alive their characters and subjects. “We recognize the need to condense, amalgamate or produce a representation, but these all still need to be historically plausible,” he said.

One way of making sure the known facts are not lost is to be transparent about what is fact and what is fiction. In this case, the performance concluded with characters explaining what historians know for sure and how they know it.

The same principles apply to all Foundation programs, including others tied to events 250 years ago. Regular programs include Spark of Rebellion , which is set the day after the gunpowder was taken and during which townspeople discuss how to respond, and The Gale From the North , which is set a week later when news from Massachusetts reaches Williamsburg. Coming this fall is a program on the anniversary of Dunmore’s proclamation, which freed those enslaved by

rebels in exchange for an agreement to fight for the British.

“Commemorating the anniversaries of these historic events allows us to show just how pivotal Williamsburg was in the lead-up to the Revolution,” said Robert Currie, the Foundation’s executive director for performing arts and signature events. “Through theater, we can bring the voices of the past to life in a powerful way. We hope our programming sparks the curiosity of our guests and inspires them to explore and learn more about their history. There’s no better place to do that than here.”

In the program The Gale From the North , news of the fighting at Lexington and Concord reaches Williamsburg.

rare breeds,

Training is key to securing the future of Colonial Williamsburg’s animals

rare skills

BY BEN SWENSON PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN NEWSON

Animals are as much a part of Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area as its buildings, gardens and costumed interpreters. Furred and feathered creatures animate the Historic Area drawing carriages along Duke of Gloucester Street, frolicking in green pastures, crowing greetings as the first blushes of daylight wash over the town.

Animals are also very much a part of Colonial Williamsburg’s faithful rendition of history. Nearly all colonial Virginians encountered domestic livestock in ways modern folks do not.

Proximity to livestock, both for rural Virginians and for city dwellers, was common in the 18th century. “On the 12th Day of the next Month,” reported Williamsburg’s Virginia Gazette in November 1739, “a FAIR will be held in this City, for the Buying and Selling of Horses, Cattle, Hogs, Sheep, &c.” Such markets were not out of place in colonial cities.

Many of the breeds of the past were lost in the march toward urbanization and agricultural uniformity. But a handful of breeds bucked the trend. Through its Rare Breeds program, Colonial

(Opposite): Dominique chickens, like the one Darin Durham of the Coach & Livestock team holds, is one of the first breeds developed in America.

Williamsburg keeps alive uncommon bloodlines, which have features different from their modern counterparts among them Leicester Longwool sheep, American Milking Devon cattle, Cleveland Bay horses and Dominique chickens.

Earlier this year, Colonial Williamsburg made a small administrative change that reflects the status of historical animal husbandry. The Foundation’s formerly independent Coach & Livestock department slid under the umbrella of Historic Trades and Skills, alongside the blacksmith,

printer, brickmaker and 20 others.

“These are specialty skills that were practiced in the 18th century, so the work aligns very closely with what our tradespeople do,” said Director of Historic Trades and Skills Ted Boscana.

Darin Durham, journeyman with Coach & Livestock, said that more frequent and consistent programming with the animals will give interpreters more opportunities to demonstrate bygone ways such as sheepshearing and plowing.

Learning to Shear

Like so many breeds that stood at the precipice of extinction, the skills needed to cultivate a close relationship with animals in a premodern world have all but vanished.

Regular and robust animal programming involves training interpreters in historical skills that have been largely lost to time. The less-mechanized way of caring for animals may be simpler, but not easier.

Take, for example, the shearing of Leicester Longwool sheep. The breed, developed in Britain, is known for long locks of lustrous wool. Because their fleece was a staple of 18th-century garment production, sheep filled the

About Town

The coachmen make their work look effortless, but they have undergone extensive training.

colonial countryside. But Americans’ slow drift away from woolen fabrics, not to mention their declining preference for mutton on the dinner table, meant that Leicester Longwools’ numbers ebbed. When Colonial Williamsburg established its Rare Breeds program in the mid-1980s, there was a single Leicester Longwool ram in North America.

Now, thanks to the program, Colonial Williamsburg tends a healthy flock. These sheep share the prized trait of their ancestors fast-growing, ample coats. That wool must be shorn, and doing that with hand shears is a tall order.

An advertisement placed in a December 1776 edition of The Virginia Gazette sought “a Man who understands Dy[e] ing and Shearing” at a fulling mill in Hanover County. Shearing sheep by hand would have been second nature for the applicants for that job, but the number of people

who can tackle such a challenge has dwindled tremendously.

The first priority, according to Durham, is safety. Hand shears are a sharp, scissorlike tool without modern safety features. The task involves using both hands equally, keeping the skin tight while positioning the sheep precisely to avoid the real and dangerous prospect of injury.

The Leicester Longwool, with all its historic features, presents an additional challenge. “Our sheep are unique in that they have leg and belly wool,” Durham said. “The newer breeds have had those features bred out of them.”

The historical skills necessary to tend to the animals are practiced by relatively few people anymore. The Coach & Livestock team leans on experts in historical animal husbandry to train new generations of interpreters.

(Opposite, clockwise from top): Leicester Longwool sheep have long and lustrous coats. The shearing process requires two hands. The wool falls in ringlets. (Below): Cleveland Bay horses are among the rare breeds that can be found in the pastures of the Historic Area.

For training in shearing sheep, Colonial Williamsburg has partnered with Joe Schott of Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum in Lancaster, Pa. Schott is an expert in historical sheep shearing. Already one Colonial Williamsburg interpreter has learned the techniques for effective hand shearing from Schott. Durham hopes to send two more interpreters soon. The instruction focuses on following an effective pattern to remove the wool so that the haircut minimizes stress for the shearer and for the sheep.

Carriage Training

Partnering with other institutions is an essential part of re- creating 18thcentury life in the Historic Area. Another example is

About Town

the iconic horse-drawn carriages, a favorite of many guests.

The coachmen make their work look effortless, but they have undergone extensive training and certification with Colonial Williamsburg’s partner, the Carriage Association of America (CAA), an organization with 60 affiliate chapters in the United States and Canada. The

CAA’s seal of approval in training coachmen guarantees a degree of professionalism and integrity.

Colonial Williamsburg Head Coachman Edward Merkley said that training involves knowing not only how to safely navigate a wheeled vehicle but also how to command the twohorse team. Coachmen also learn to look for signs that could indicate trouble, such as a horse acting out of character.

The training takes three months at a minimum. Just moving the horses and carriage in a straight line is a hard skill to acquire. And commanding a vehicle among thousands of guests requires a certain levelheadedness. “It’s about how a coachman handles situations under pressure,” Merkley said. “They must know what to do if things start to go wrong.”

Coachman training illustrates how the Coach & Livestock team and all

How You Can Help

of Colonial Williamsburg’s interpretive staff tackle a delicate balancing act: marrying modern tools and best practices while creating an authentic and immersive experience. These simultaneous obligations to the past and the present underlay an ambitious vision for the future of Coach & Livestock.

That vision will become a reality in the forthcoming Randolph Stable, which will be constructed behind the Peyton Randolph House. Coach & Livestock currently lacks a hub within the Historic Area. At this new stable, currently in the research and design phase, guests will learn about rare breeds through firsthand encounters. Concealed behind the stable’s periodaccurate construction will be the modern needs of animal husbandry, such as running water, lighting and access to veterinary care.

Colonial Williamsburg’s Rare Breeds program presents animals that were or could have been here in the 18th century and might not be here if not for preservation efforts. Colonial Williamsburg’s carriages are also a link to the past, transporting guests just as such vehicles transported 18th-century visitors and residents.

To contribute to Colonial Williamsburg and advance its mission, please visit colonialwilliamsburg.org/ TT. For more information on how to support this work, email campaign@cwf.org

Apprentice Coachman

Dave Squires, with Head Coachman Edward Merkley, guides Mike and Kolton.

Modern History Modern History

NEWS AND EVENTS of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

A Common Cause to All

Speakers at “A Common Cause to All” included (clockwise from left) the Hon. John Charles Thomas, former justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia; filmmaker Ken Burns; Carly Fiorina, chair of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Board of Trustees and national honorary chair of the Virginia 250 Commission; and (left to right) Scott Stephenson, president and CEO of the Museum of the American Revolution, who moderated a panel on Indigenous perspectives with Chief Stephen Adkins of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe, and Kitcki Carroll, executive director of United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc.

Foundation hosts third and nal planning event for nation’s 250th anniversary

Nearly 600 leaders from 40 states and 61 Virginia localities, representing more than 100 cultural institutions, gathered in Williamsburg March 24 –26 for the largest-ever “A Common Cause to All” event. Hosted by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission, the three-day convening the third and final in a series brought

together preeminent historians, jurists, writers and filmmakers with museum and civic leaders to catalyze their planning to commemorate next year’s historic anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

“Like those who gathered in common cause at the dawn of our nation, we do not agree on everything,” said Carly Fiorina, board chair of The

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and the 250 Commission’s national honorary chair, during her keynote remarks. “And yet, with focus and determination, with tolerance and forbearance, we all here gather and agree that, as leaders of the semiquincentennial movement, we must work together to reclaim our past so we can build a better future.”

Over the course of the conference,

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an array of prizewinning thought and change leaders offered insights into the significance of this historic time and place for Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs. Speakers included Pulitzer Prize-winning historians Rick Atkinson and Alan Taylor; Emmy Award-winning journalist Pete Williams; the Hon. John Charles Thomas, former justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia and a Colonial Williamsburg trustee; Chief Stephen Adkins of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe; and many other leaders and educators from across the country.

Through a combination of lectures, panel discussions, interviews and breakout groups, commemoration planners gained perspective and practical resources to bolster their planning efforts back home. More importantly, the event fostered a palpable sense of community and shared purpose among the attendees.

“I think that the legacy of the 250th can, should and will be collaboration,” said Mia Nagawiecki, the Foundation’s vice president for

education strategy and civic engagement, during her remarks to Common Cause participants. “The way we can achieve impact is by working together, and by achieving impact, we ensure our legacy.”

On March 25, participants gathered with nearly 4,000 community members on Palace Green for a free preview of The American Revolution, directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and Williamsburg native

David Schmidt. The preview was followed by a fireworks show accompanied by the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums.

The conference concluded with a special performance in the heart of the Historic Area, featuring Colonial Williamsburg Nation Builders portraying Thomas Jefferson, James Lafayette, Martha Washington and James Madison as they reflected on the meaning of the words of the Declaration of Independence, both then and now. As the performance drew to a close, the crowd joined the Nation Builders in a call to action, repeating after them: “We mutually pledge to each other to uphold integrity to our shared history, to encourage civil discourse and debate, and to inspire future generations to our common cause.”

(Left): Fireworks followed a preview of The American Revolution. (Below): Colonial Williamsburg’s Nation Builders portrayed (left to right) James Lafayette, Martha Washington, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.

New agship website improves user experience

After two years of dedicated work, Colonial Williamsburg’s new flagship website has launched, bringing together resources, information, events and experiences for both on-site and online visitors. “The new website combines two previous sites,” explained Carson Cook, the Foundation’s senior web manager and strategist. “Our goal was to make the website easier than ever to navigate and make even more of our assets accessible.”

The new site creates a single place where educators, historians, researchers, donors and current and future guests can access information about Colonial Williamsburg. Furthering public education is at the forefront of the site’s purpose. “We have a new resource hub that links our on-site resources to online visitors,” said Carol Gillam, executive director of Foundation marketing and engagement. “In the hub, you can find primary sources, videos and interactive learning possibilities on a multitude of subjects.”

The resource hub makes it easier for teachers, students and researchers to find subject matter. “We have curated the pathways people can follow,” Cook explained. “So instead of introducing a topic like Martha Washington, for instance, and leaving the student or educator to

search for more material, we offer pathways. If you want to see primary sources about Martha Washington, follow this path. If you want to find a video of Nation Builder Martha Washington in the Historic Area, follow this path. You can do as deep a dive into the subject matter as you would like.”

For visitors to the Historic Area, the new site also offers a single source for events, programs, maps and ticket options, as well as resort information.

A feature called MyCW allows visitors to view and save their plans for the duration of their stay. “Previously, guests needed to visit separate sites to access both resort information and Historic Area information. Now these two functions are combined in a single site, which is great for helping guests plan a future visit,” said Gillam. “It is also a real benefit for guests who are already

here,” added Cook. “Everything can be viewed in real time on a mobile phone, allowing visitors to see what’s available and really make the most of their time here.”

In addition to offering a single access point, MyCW allows visitors to filter their results. “A family, for instance, can choose to see only the program options that are suitable for young children,” Gillam explained. There are also links to places in the Historic Area that are not related to events. “If a visitor wants to see historic buildings, or only things related to woodworking trades, they can filter that way as well.”

In the future, MyCW will connect guests to hotel and spa services and even donation options. “We really tried to think of everything that would improve the user experience,” Cook said. “We want the customer journey through the website to be as smooth and easy as possible. Our

goal is to bring anything and everything a guest might want into one accessible and easily navigated place.”

While they may have stewarded the project, both Cook and Gillam stress that the website was a group effort. “Colleagues from virtually every part of the organization contributed their time, energy and expertise to this site,” Gillam said. “The new website truly represents the entirety of Colonial Williamsburg,” Cook added. “The collaboration has been incredible to see. We had a shared goal, which was to allow as many people as possible from teachers to students to families and researchers around the globe to benefit from the incredible work being done here.”

Explore the new website at colonialwilliamsburg.org

Foundation Adds Decker to Board

The Home Depot Chair, President and CEO Ted Decker has joined Colonial Williamsburg’s board of trustees.

“Ted brings decades of experience leading one of America’s most trusted and recognizable companies to the Colonial Williamsburg board of trustees,” said Carly Fiorina, chair of the board. “We will benefit from his insights as we advance our educational mission and help Americans understand our shared experience in the lead-up to America’s 250th anniversary.”

Decker’s relationship with the Foundation extends back to his days attending William & Mary, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in English. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from Carnegie Mellon University.

“Preserving and honoring the spaces where the idea of our nation took shape brings important perspective and context to America’s history and how modern visitors view it today,” Decker said. “I look forward to working with Colonial Williamsburg to bring the stories of our nation’s history to life in new ways.”

His board election came as the nation turns its attention to America’s 250th anniversary in 2026.

“Ted deeply appreciates the importance of Colonial Williamsburg’s educational mission,” said Cliff Fleet, president and CEO of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. “We are fortunate that he is joining our board of trustees, where he will lend his vast expertise to our work to present a complete, fact-based history of our nation.”

Florida: Registration #CH10673. A COPY OF THE FOUNDATION’S OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE 1-800-HELP-FLA WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. Maryland: THE FOUNDATION’S CURRENT FINANCIAL STATEMENT IS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST AT THE ADDRESS LISTED ABOVE. FOR THE COST OF COPIES AND POSTAGE. DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION SUBMITTED ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE, STATE HOUSE, ANNAPOLIS, MD 21401 New Jersey: INFORMATION FILED WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL CONCERNING THIS CHARITABLE SOLICITATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY BY CALLING (973) 504-6215. REGISTRATION WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT. Pennsylvania: THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION OF THE COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG FOUNDATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF STATE BY CALLING TOLL FREE WITHIN PENNSYLVANIA 1-800-732-0999. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT. Virginia: A FINANCIAL STATEMENT IS AVAILABLE FROM THE STATE DIVISION OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER SERVICES UPON REQUEST. Washington: ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE CHARITIES DIVISION, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE, OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON, BY CALLING 1-800-332-4483. West Virginia: WEST VIRGINIA RESIDENTS MAY OBTAIN A SUMMARY OF THE REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE, SOLICITATION LICENSING BRANCH, AT 1-800-830-4989, STATE CAPITOL, CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA 25305. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT.

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The Foundation does not issue charitable gift annuities in Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, and Washington. In California — we are not yet able to issue charitable gift annuities.

Making History Fun for Students

Continuing partnership merges historical expertise of Foundation and game-building expertise of iCivics

Anew game launching this summer will expand Colonial Williamsburg’s online educational programming, ensuring a broader impact in classrooms across the nation and around the world. Developed in partnership between iCivics and Colonial Williamsburg’s educators, historians and interpreters, the game will bring to life the concepts that shaped early America’s quest for independence.

As part of an effort to transform its online presence to connect with students, teachers and lifelong learners worldwide, Colonial Williamsburg is working to develop and deliver high-quality, easy-to-use educational content designed for a broad range of audiences.

Last year, Colonial Williamsburg and iCivics released Uncovering Loyalties, set on the eve of the American Revolution. The game teaches elementary school students to apply critical-thinking skills and engage with multiple perspectives.

Following the launch of Uncovering Loyalties, the Foundation began developing Investigation Declaration . In this new game, high school students trace how Enlightenment ideas shaped the Declaration of Independence and traveled across the Atlantic World, impacting movements for rights and freedom from 1750 –1850.

As they play Investigation Declaration, students will connect the ideas of natural rights, popular

sovereignty and state sovereignty to the people, locations and events that influenced their development. Locations and dates for gameplay include Williamsburg, in 1765; Paris, in 1770 and 1789; Philadelphia, in 1776; Gonaïves, Haiti, in 1804; Caracas, Venezuela, in 1811; Washington-onthe-Brazos, Texas, in 1836; Monrovia, Liberia, in 1846; and Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848.

By the end of 2024, in partnership with iCivics, the game teams had completed the conceptual development and the alpha build of the game. Beta testing began in March 2025, with a soft launch running through the summer. Investigation Declaration will launch publicly on Aug. 24, 2025.

A Q&A WITH KEN BURNS

‘History Is the Greatest Teacher’

On March 25, 2025, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation hosted a public preview of The American Revolution, a new six-part, 12-hour documentary series directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt. Nearly 4,000 people gathered to watch history unfold on a large outdoor screen in Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area, where the revolutionary ideas that fueled the Revolution were first debated.

Colonial Williamsburg’s Ellen Peltz spoke with Burns after the event to discuss the project.

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Q&A: KEN BURNS

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO MAKE THIS FILM AT THIS MOMENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY?

We began work [on this project] almost 10 years ago. So it’s really not an attempt to speak to the present, though we’re always aware that when we attend to something assiduously without thinking about the contemporary situation, whenever we finish and lift our heads up, we begin to realize the ways in which it resonates with today. Which, I think, proves the argument I’ve made for years that history is the greatest teacher.

YOU’VE BEEN MAKING DOCUMENTARY FILMS FOR ALMOST 50 YEARS. WHAT ABOUT THIS PROJECT FEELS PARTICULARLY UNIQUE OR MAYBE CHALLENGING?

There are no photographs or newsreel from this period, so you have to recalibrate and figure out new ways of telling the story. How do you know what somebody looks like? Sometimes there’s a sketch but more often

than not it’s their handwriting, it’s their bible, it’s where they lived or places where they might have lived. So you can see the multidimensional chess game and complexity involved in putting together a story like this. Having said that, I will not work on a more important film than this. The American Revolution is without parallel in the history of the world. And our film is essentially a celebration of the fact that for the first time in human history people were beginning to transition from being subjects to being citizens, which is about as moving a story as I can think of.

MUCH OF THE FOOTAGE THAT YOU END UP USING IN THIS FILM WAS CAPTURED IN COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG’S HISTORIC AREA. WHY WAS THAT?

Colonial Williamsburg gave us the opportunity to feel what colonial America and then Revolutionary America felt like we could visit the rooms, the taverns, the workshops

and then populate our film with the sort of activity and energy of first the colony and then the state. It was an unbelievable resource, and there’s no way we could ever adequately express our gratitude for the cooperation that we received from Colonial Williamsburg and other places in the area that helped us bring this film alive.

WHAT ROLE DID VIRGINIA PLAY IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION?

From the very beginning of the American Revolution, Virginia plays a huge part because of its population, because of its wealth and because of the extraordinary individuals who are there. You’ve got the author of the Declaration of Independence. You’ve got the head of the Continental army who will become the first president of the Constitutional Convention and then the first president of the government they created, George Washington. And many, many other people that make Virginia one of those centers of both thought and action an engine of revolution and of the complicated aspects involved in trying to make a revolution happen.

WHEN PEOPLE HEAR THE NAME KEN BURNS, WHAT DO YOU HOPE JUMPS TO MIND FOR THEM?

Oh, just a good filmmaker. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to be, just a good filmmaker.

The American Revolution will premiere on Sunday, Nov. 16, and air for six consecutive nights through Friday, Nov. 21, at 8 –10 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS. For more information visit www.pbs.org/kenburns/ the-american-revolution

Nearly 4,000 people gathered on Palace Green in March for a preview of The American Revolution.

Silver Treasures

Made in England and America, the objects on display range from common to very rare

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON COPES

(Clockwise from top): The silver chamber pot dates to 1743–1744. Also in the exhibit are a 1795 tankard by Paul Revere and the earliest known Virginia-made racing trophy.

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Silver from Modest to Majestic

DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum

With more than 30 galleries at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, there is always plenty to see. As exhibitions change, some favorite objects are retired for a while to make way for others, but they do come back. Recently opened in the Mary Jewett Gaiser Silver Gallery, Silver from Modest to Majestic features highlights from previous exhibitions. Included is the stunning silver chandelier made in London in the late 17th century for King William III and acquired by Colonial Williamsburg in 1938. It is just one of many silver objects in the Foundation’s world-class collection of British silver. More recently, the focus has been on building the collection of silver made in early America. A modest yet beautiful piece is a caudle cup made in Boston around 1670. This cup, the earliest piece of American silver in the Colonial Williamsburg collection, was fashioned by the first silversmiths working in what is now the United States. More than 90 silver treasures are on display, ranging from the common to the exceedingly rare and including some used by royalty. They date from the 1650s through the 1820s. Other highlights include a silver chamber pot made for a British earl, a tankard made by famed Boston silversmith Paul Revere, and a racing trophy made in Richmond, Va., and won by a horse named Madison in 1810.

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Just Arrived

Soon after George Washington died in December 1799, Americans began clamoring for material ways to memorialize him. The range of mourning accessories worn in honor of the late president included black crepe armbands, silk ribbons, gloves and rings like the one shown here. Featuring a print of George Washington surrounded by a decorative enamel border, this mourning ring was likely the work of two French émigrés: artist Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin and jeweler Jean-Simon Chaudron. The French and Haitian revolutions, respectively, had caused the men to immigrate to the United States in the 1790s. Saint-Mémin quickly earned acclaim for his profile portraiture, including the likeness of Washington on this ring, while Chaudron established himself as a jeweler and watchmaker. At the time of Washington’s death, the two shared

a shop in Philadelphia. Their proximity suggests that this is one of the “Mourning Rings, With an elegant PORTRAIT of the late illustrious GENERAL WASHINGTON” that Chaudron advertised in January 1800.

The ring bears an additional and especially important French connection: It descended directly through the family of the Marquis de Lafayette. In the course of their military work during the Revolutionary War, Washington and Lafayette developed a close, almost familial relationship that has been likened to a father and adopted son. Lafayette may have come into possession of the ring soon after Washington’s death or during his 1824–1825 tour of the United States. Remarkably well preserved, it was recently given to Colonial Williamsburg by Michael and Carolyn McNamara.

Where every book has a past.

The Colonial Williamsburg Bookstore is more than shelves and spines—it’s a treasure trove of early American life. Whether you’re searching for historical fiction, beautifully bound classics, or a unique gift steeped in early American charm, you’ll find it here. Take a piece of the past home with you—one page, one story at a time. Visit the Bookstore at 440 WEST DUKE OF GLOUCESTER STREET, WILLIAMSBURG, VA 23185

Tea Time

NEW OFFERINGS WERE INSPIRED BY 18TH-CENTURY TASTES

by ANGELA TAORMINA

The story of tea’s popularity in 17th-century England begins with... coffee. Coffeehouses, to be precise. The sea routes that compressed the world introduced tea from Asia, coffee from the Middle East and chocolate from the Americas to a European world unaccustomed to hot beverages. Coffee first appeared as diplomatic gifts, but these naturally bitter substances did not get much attention until advances in sugar production made them more palatable to a market eager for imported novelties.

England’s first coffeehouse opened in Oxford in 1651 serving coffee, tea and chocolate to patrons who were energized by caffeine, a substance that had been unknown to Europe but quickly became indispensable. These

beverages crossed the Atlantic with other household necessities.

By 1730 tea became a more significant import. Enthusiasm moved easily from taking tea socially in public spaces to the hosting of tea parties in private homes, and all manner of tea accoutrements became the mark of stylish entertainment. Many examples of such accessories are on display at Colonial Williamsburg’s Dewitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum.

In modern usage, “tea” refers to a wide variety of beverages made by steeping plant materials in boiling water, but in the 18th century it was reserved for the decoction of Camellia sinensis leaves. They were prepared in different ways to produce a range of green and black teas with distinct flavor profiles. “Hyson [green], congo,

A 1758 engraving by Richard Houston, after a work by Philippe Mercier, portrays a woman enjoying her tea and breakfast. Harney’s Earl Grey blend, a perennial favorite, is packed in a crisp chinoiserie-inspired blue and white tin.

and bohea teas [black]” were advertised for sale at John Greenhow’s store, along with china tea and coffee cups. With its popularity, tea seemed a ripe product for generating revenue through the imposition of taxes, but Britain’s Tea Act of 1773 was met with resistance that went beyond the familiar Boston Tea Party. Patriots signaled their defiance by choosing coffee and chocolate over tea. Other “liberty tea party” fare included drinks made from sassafras and other indigenous herbs, including yaupon, a relative of holly consumed by Native Americans. Despite coffee’s preeminence in America today, tea continues to have a loyal and growing following. When Colonial Williamsburg’s brand and licensing team sought to expand its offerings, tea seemed an obvious choice. In 2020 the Foundation began working with U.S.-based Harney & Sons, a company founded four decades ago after John Harney learned to blend teas from a retired third-generation tea blender at London’s venerable Fortnum & Mason.

The Colonial Williamsburg and Harney teams worked closely to develop a flavor blend to evoke the wintry essence of Grand Illumination and introduced Holiday Heritage. This black tea blend includes citrus and cinnamon, both of which would have been available in Williamsburg in the 18th century, said Paul Harney, vice president of Harney & Sons. Summer Afternoon was the next blend the company created, incorporating lemon peel, verbena and marigold petals, this time in a green tea base. Williamsburg Ginger Cake pays tribute to the Raleigh Tavern Bakery’s iconic treats. Classic Earl Grey and vibrant Pomegranate Garden round out the collection. The tea sachets are presented in decorative tins inspired by Williamsburg gardens and items from the collections.

Sales of Harney products support the preservation, research and educational programs of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. To learn more, visit shop. colonialwilliamsburg.com

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(Above): In addition to black and green tea blends, Harney & Sons has developed a Craft & Forge blend made from yaupon, the only plant native to the western hemisphere that contains caffeine. (Below): The pattern chosen for the Pomegranate Garden Tea was inspired by a circa-1785 Chinese porcelain dish that includes a circular motif representing a cross-section of a pomegranate.

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History needs all of us. Donate today!

From the 18th century to now, belief in a brighter future has always moved Americans to act. The voices of ordinary people shaped this nation as we know it today, and your support helps us carry their legacy forward. By telling these important stories, we further our mission: That the future may learn from the past. Choose one of these three convenient options to make your gift: Website — colonialwilliamsburg.org/give Phone — 1-888-293-1776

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Nation Builder Bryan Austin portrays James Madison

DATE 1841

PLACE Washington, D.C.

Portrait of William King Jr.

ARTIST James Alexander Simpson

King of the Castle

WILLIAM KING JR. BUILT FURNITURE FOR PROMINENT WASHINGTON HOMES, INCLUDING THE WHITE HOUSE

BY PAUL ARON PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON COPES

Just before British forces burned the White House during the War of 1812, first lady Dolley Madison arranged for the removal of boxes and trunks full of government documents and, most famously, an 8-foot-tall portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart. Still, the President’s House, as it was then more often called, was gutted.

In 1815, a year after the building burned, workers began to repair it. The work included replacing begrimed stone and scrubbing away smoke damage.

To refurnish the White House, President James Monroe turned to, among others, the respected Washington furniture maker William King Jr. Monroe commissioned King to make nearly 30 pieces, including four large sofas and 24 upholstered armchairs.

King also made furniture for other prominent Washingtonians, including a sofa and matching chairs for bank president Clement Smith and his wife, Margaret Clare Brice Smith. “Along with other cabinet wares in the late neoclassical style, these so-called ‘Grecian’ sofas gained enormous popularity in America during the second decade of the nineteenth century and were widely produced by the 1820s,” wrote Ronald L. Hurst and Jonathan Prown in Southern Furniture 1680 -1830: The Colonial Williamsburg Collection. “ While some models were extensively carved, gilded, and painted and others were plain, the King sofa fell somewhere in the middle of the available decorative range. The majority of its exposed frame is ornamented with simple reeding, but the crest rail features carved vines, foliage, and clusters of grapes set on a punchwork ground, a motif that was widely employed on the most stylish furniture and silver of the period.”

King was born in Ireland and came to America just before the Revolution. He served as an apprentice to the important Annapolis cabinetmaker John Shaw. By 1795, he opened his own cabinet business in Georgetown.

“Portraits of cabinetmakers and other craftsmen are quite rare, so it is especially significant for Colonial Williamsburg to have four pieces of furniture attributed to King along with his likeness,” said Senior

About the Artist

James Alexander Simpson (1805–1880) painted mostly portraits in oil on canvas and in miniature formats, although he also completed several landscapes of the campus of Georgetown College (now Georgetown University) and scriptural paintings. Simpson sitters tended to be middleincome merchants or tradesmen, as was the case with this portrait of fur niture maker William King Jr. Simpson occasionally painted famous people, including Stephen Decatur and George Washington. His bestknown work is a portrait of Yarrow Mamout, a prominent African American landowner in Georgetown.

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Curator of Furniture Tara Chicirda. “While we have no direct knowledge as to the frame maker, the striking bird’s-eye maple and cherry frame may have been made in King’s shop as well.”

Like most other 18th- and 19th-century furniture makers, King also provided funeral services and supplies. His “Mortality Books” record his making 7,141 coffins between 1795 and 1854. When her husband died in 1839, Margaret Smith turned to King for a mahogany coffin. King also arranged for the use of his hearse and horses, for digging the grave and for carrying mourners from the city to Smith’s farm.

Funerals were an important part of King’s business. The cost for Smith’s funeral and related services was about the same as the price King charged in 1818 for four armchairs for the White House.

The portrait of King was made for his 70th birthday. On the table beside King are three books labeled “Holy Bible,” “Declaration of Independence U.S.” and “Constitution of the U.S.”

The sofa (above) and chair (right), both made between 1815 and 1825, were inspired by furniture forms from ancient Greece and Rome.

Live

Fabric can tell stories that would otherwise be lost to history

Martha Washington’s QUILTS

by ZARA ANISHANSLIN

(Above): Martha Washington was 60 years old when Archibald Robertson painted this miniature portrait in 1791 or 1792. (Opposite): As the center panel of a quilt, this handkerchief would have been surrounded by borders of different fabrics in contrasting and complementary colors.

An image centered on a cloth handkerchief tells an American story. Likely made by John Hewson, a calico printer in Philadelphia, around 1776, the cotton and linen handkerchief decorated with red floral motifs, cannons and flags including one reading “Don’t Tread Upon Me” sent a patriotic message. In the center of the 3-foot-square cloth, Gen. George Washington poses in military uniform riding a horse. His sword is drawn, and text surrounding his figure dubs

him “Foundator, and Protector of America’s Liberty, and Independency.”

Washington’s wife, Martha, was among the first Americans to want a copy of the handkerchief. In her 1843 book about the Revolution, Sarah Alcock, Hewson’s daughter, recalled how Martha Washington had visited her father’s shop and asked “whether a representation of the General on horseback could be made so as to occupy the centre of a handkerchief.”

This 1775 engraving inspired the figure of George Washington on a handkerchief. Words printed below the image include: “Done from an Original, Drawn from the Life by Alexr. Campbell, of Williamsburgh in Virginia.”

To modern eyes, a handkerchief seems a strange place to find one of the earliest images of the commander of America’s Continental army. But handkerchiefs in the 18th century were often quite different from today’s pocket-sized versions. More like a print than a tissue, these handkerchiefs displayed maps, histories and art and sometimes served, like this one did, as centerpieces for quilts.

Although only four versions of this handkerchief are known to survive today, it was mass-produced, meant to be sold to numerous consumers rather than serve as a precious keepsake. Sewing patterns on a surviving example indicate the handkerchief was sewn into a quilted coverlet for a bed. There it would have been a constant visual reminder of Revolutionary military history and one seen by women and children as well as men.

The fact that Martha Washington was linked to the story of its creation invites more careful thought about the important and underacknowledged role she played in Revolutionary politics. She and other women of her time and after used cloth to tell and preserve histories of America’s founding era.

Embracing Politics

The figure of General Washington on the handkerchief came from the first engraving done of him, which was created by an unknown artist in London in 1775. The artist, who used the fabricated name “Alexander Campbell,” clearly had never seen Washington. His work was desirable nonetheless because it was the first print made of the increasingly famous soldier. Making calico in Revolutionary America was a dangerous thing, forbidden by British imperial law. Instead of making their own, colonists were sup -

posed to buy calico imported by the East India Company or copies of calico made in Britain. So making calico in Philadelphia in 1776 was a declaration of economic independence. And it was not one the British took well. One reason oral history instead of written records tells about Martha Washington’s role in creating the handkerchief was that the British destroyed Hewson’s calico manufactory and its records when they occupied Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War.

Any commission she made featuring her husband as the leader of American troops would have had patriotic politics behind it. But there may also have been a more practical reason for Martha Washington to want the handkerchief. She may have hoped to use it as the centerpiece in a quilt herself. She owned quilting frames, and a few completed and partially completed quilts designed by Martha, as well as a quilt associated with her dresses, survive as material evidence of how women have used cloth across space and time to tell narratives about American history.

Among them is one that indicates that Martha Washington clearly recognized the symbolic and actual importance of cloth in American history. The Penn’s Treaty quilt, which she began making around 1790, showcases a famous painting of a scene in American colonial history in which textiles played a pivotal role.

That painting, “Penn’s Treaty with the Indians,” was completed nearly 20 years before by Benjamin West, an American painter who moved to London and became historical painter to King George III. West depicted an event from the 17th century showing Quaker William Penn, founder of the colony

The subject of their bargaining, and the visual center of the painting, is cloth, a fitting recognition of the economic and symbolic importance textiles had within the British Empire.

(Above): The granddaughter of Tobias Lear, who served as George Washington’s personal secretary from 1784-1799, Louise Lear Eyre inherited this “very valuable and unique quilt, made by Mrs. Washington’s own hands, which was used on George Washington’s bed,” as she wrote in 1906. (Left): John Hall’s engraving “ William Penn’s Treaty with the Indians, when he founded the Province of Pensylvania in North America 1681” was based on a work by Benjamin West.

of Pennsylvania, discussing a treaty of settlement with the colony’s Indigenous inhabitants, the Lenni Lenape tribe. The subject of their bargaining, and the visual center of the painting, is cloth, a fitting recognition of the economic and symbolic importance textiles had within the British Empire.

The painting’s image turned out to be wildly popular and was copied onto paper prints, printed onto toile fabric (in multiple color options) and, in Martha Washington’s hands, made into the centerpiece of a quilt that survives today. The quilt contains about 20 different fabrics, a few chintzes likely imported from India and at least one a plaid that also survives in the form of a dressing gown worn by George Washington.

More than simply a quilt, the textile is a physical reminder of the intertwined lives of George and Martha Washington and of Martha’s awareness that cloth, whether through West’s paintbrush or a woman’s needle and thread, could shape politics and tell histories.

Symbolic Dress

Martha Washington’s own clothes played an important symbolic role in conveying the impression that citizens of the new republic were motivated by virtue more than vice. Women patriots used their clothes to send the political message that they were deliberately avoiding luxurious overconsumption and the moral corruption people associated with it. Martha Washington’s fashion choices were as important as her husband’s in conveying this image not just at home but around the world.

As the newly elected first president of the United States wrote about his wife to British historian Catharine Sawbridge Macaulay Graham, “Her wishes coincide with my own as to simplicity of dress, and every thing which can tend to support propriety of character without partaking of the follies of luxury and ostentation.” Martha Washington knew that what she wore as first lady mattered, that it had political meaning, just as first ladies’ fashion has sent political messages ever since.

But for much of her life, Martha Washington was not the first lady, and she was not always so restrained in her fashion choices. Instead, as the ensemble she wore to marry George Washington in 1759 demonstrated a yellow damask dress and purple silk shoes bedecked with sparkling trim Martha was a bit of a fashionista. As a young widow, Martha Custis placed orders for finery from London merchants Cary & Co., including the fabric for her wedding dress and other silks from the London neighborhood of Spitalfields. A thread case, a utilitarian container for needles and thread, made from scraps of her silk dresses, acts as a sampling of the types of silks she owned. Among them are a variety of flowered

This is a quilt made from fragments of Martha Washington’s dresses.

silks and brocaded silks shot through with metallic threads.

Many of these silks are reminiscent of the fabric designs of Anna Maria Garthwaite, one of Britain’s few women silk designers. Garthwaite, a clergyman’s daughter with connections to British nobility and scientifically curious men in the Royal Society of London, is a mysterious yet intriguing figure. Although it is unclear how she learned to design flowered silks the most expensive silks made in London and fabrics that required great technical skill both to design and to weave design them she did. Over 800 of her designs survive.

Garthwaite’s fabric, highly desired for its hallmark naturalistic style, was worn everywhere around the British Empire. In her designs she often included plants from the Caribbean and North America, such as aloes and magnolias, as well as more common plants like roses. A pioneer in using a shading technique that made the plants look three-dimensional and realistic, Garthwaite designed multicolored floral patterns that meandered across cream backgrounds, often winding a base design of cream on cream under the polychrome flowers. Her distinctive, naturalistic designs made women who wore her silk look very much like they were wearing the botanical illustrations men at places such as the Royal Society and Philadelphia’s American Philosophical Society enjoyed studying.

The similarity between Garthwaite’s designs and many of the flowered silk scraps in Martha Washington’s thread case suggests that silk designed by Garthwaite was among those she bought from London. But it is a quilt that provides additional tantalizing evidence.

Made in a log cabin design of pieces of silk stitched for the top layer, and with a

Anna Maria Garthwaite’s designs were very fashionable in England and America. This silk fragment dates to 1740 -1742.

Quilts are not just practical; often they are symbolic. Quilters do not just piece together fabric; they also piece together stories.

(Above): Martha Washington made this quilt between 1800 and 1802. (Right): This sewing case from about 1800 was made from pieces of Washington’s dresses. The silks appear to date from 1760 -1800.

linen backing, the quilt was made by Jane Washington sometime before she died in 1791. Jane, or Jenny, as she was called, was born in Virginia, possibly at Mount Vernon, in 1759. Jenny was a Washington through and through. The daughter of George Washington’s brother John Augustine, she also married a Washington, her half first cousin William Augustine Washington, the son of one of George Washington’s half brothers.

Among Jenny’s children was Bushrod Washington II, who married Henrietta Brayne Spotswood in 1806. Bushrod and Henrietta’s daughter Frances Louisa Augusta Washington, or Fannie, was born in 1828. Fannie inherited her grandmother Jenny Washington’s quilt, and it was Fannie who first put it on display at Boston’s Old South Meeting House in 1886. After she fell on hard times as a widow, Fannie sold it to philanthropist Mary Hemenway. The quilt was dear to Fannie and Hemenway alike because Jenny Washington claimed that she had made it from scraps of fabric that Martha Washington had given her. Among the largest pieces of silk is fabric woven with naturalistic, polychrome flowers in yellow, pink and green atop a cream-on-cream design silk that was designed across the Atlantic by Anna Maria Garthwaite.

Whether the silk actually belonged to Martha Washington is not certain. As with the handkerchief with Washington’s image, oral history carries the burden of truth here. But Martha Washington did order, own and wear Spitalfields silk. More often than not, women simply did not leave the same written traces that men did. After Martha Custis married George Washington, for example, she continued to wear silk and other finery ordered from Cary & Co. in London,

but it was her husband who wrote the orders rather than she herself. Material artifacts like fabric she wore and quilts she made, and oral histories about them, reveal more about early American women like Martha Washington than written sources alone.

These artifacts offer glimpses of other women’s lives as well. Both Jenny Washington and Martha Washington lived their lives surrounded by enslaved people. Enslaved women and girls worked as seamstresses and laundresses of the Washingtons’ clothes and other textiles, and they no doubt helped make, launder and repair their quilts too, including the Penn’s Treaty quilt and the log cabin silk quilt. Enslaved women at Mount Vernon included Caroline Branham and Ona Judge, who, before she self-emancipated, was described by George Washington as “handy & useful to [Martha Washington], being a perfect Mistress of her needle.” Quilts are not just practical; often they are symbolic. Quilters do not just piece together fabric; they also piece together stories. These quilts associated with Martha Washington trace a story across space and time, pulling together the threads of women’s lives enslaved and free in multiple centuries in London, Philadelphia, Boston and Virginia. Women, both famous and little known, have often used fabric to shape political culture and preserve history. The quilts they made and saved are monuments in cloth.

Zara Anishanslin is a historian at the University of Delaware. Her latest book, The Painter’s Fire: A Forgotten History of the Artists Who Championed the American Revolution, comes out July 1, 2025.

A Moderate

REV OLU TION ARY

by CHRISTOPHER F. MINTY

OFTEN MISREPRESENTED AS RESISTING

THE REVOLUTION, JOHN DICKINSON

DOCUMENTS

John Adams dismissed John Dickinson as a “piddling Genius,” but history tells a more complex story. Overshadowed by louder, more radical voices like Adams’, the more moderate Dickinson nonetheless played a pivotal role in the early years of the American Revolution, navigating the delicate line between protest and diplomacy. He clashed with Thomas Jefferson as well as Adams, but with a pen as sharp as his convictions, he shaped some of the most critical documents of the era.

While Adams and Jefferson became household names, Dickinson’s contributions as a quiet force helping to shape the nation’s founding principles remain largely overlooked. That is unfortunate because Dickinson played a key role in drafting the Second Petition from Congress to the King, better known as the Olive Branch Petition, and the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms. These two documents justified to colonists and the world the necessity of armed resistance.

Extending an Olive Branch

The Olive Branch Petition came about in May 1775 when the Second Continental Congress authorized the preparation of a conciliatory petition to King George III. The petition attempted to delicately balance assertiveness and reconciliation in a tense political climate.

Congress appointed a committee of five to draft the petition. The committee included Dickinson and Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and John Jay of New York. Their task was to craft a document that would prevent further bloodshed while also asserting colonial grievances.

Jay took the lead on the first draft, drawing inspiration from letters by New York Chief Justice William Smith Jr. and a recent petition from the New York General Assembly. Jay’s version criticized Britain’s post-French and Indian War governance and Parliament’s overreach. Many in Congress also

Live & Learn

JOHN DICKINSON’S ROLE

DICKINSON CRAFTED A PETITION THAT BALANCED LOYALTY WITH FIRM RESOLVE.

believed Britain had gone too far, but Jay’s draft failed to rally broad support.

When Jay’s draft fell short, Dickinson stepped in. Dickinson had authored “Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies,” a series of essays published in 1767 and 1768 against the Townshend Acts. Dickinson’s “Farmer’s Letters” were reprinted throughout the colonies. His ability to craft persuasive, unifying language and his reputation for galvanizing public support through his writings made Dickinson the ideal choice for the delicate enterprise of improving Jay’s draft.

To enrich and enhance the New Yorker’s work, Dickinson used materials that had influenced Jay. For example, one of Jay’s inspirations was Smith’s letter to Lewis Morris. Dickinson’s final draft of the Olive Branch Petition contains similar wording to the letter. And Dickinson likely drew on another source Jay used: a petition to George III that the New York General Assembly adopted on March 25, 1775, that denied Parliament’s right of taxation without the colonists’ or their representatives’ consent and questioned the legality of laws passed since the end of the French and Indian War.

While Dickinson did build on Jay’s draft, there were several striking differences between the two men’s work. For example, Jay suggested suspending “every irritating Measure” whereas Dickinson demanded the outright repeal of offensive statutes. Jay urged King George III to appoint “good & great Men” to investigate colonial grievances while Dickinson called for a formal process to ensure a “happy and permanent reconciliation.” Where Jay’s language hesitated, Dickinson’s was assertive yet diplomatic.

Dickinson also ensured that the delegates signed the document as individuals rather than as representatives of their colonies a subtle gesture aimed at reinforcing the personal devotion of America’s leaders to their monarch. Careful not to make unnecessary admissions or concessions, Dickinson crafted a petition that balanced loyalty with firm resolve. On July 5, 1775, Congress approved the Olive Branch Petition with little debate, sending it across the Atlantic in a final attempt to avert an escalation of the war.

Not everyone in Congress supported the Olive Branch Petition. Adams, one of its

John Dickinson (opposite) collaborated with Thomas Jefferson on a Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms (above).

Live & Learn

JOHN DICKINSON’S ROLE

DICKINSON, KNOWN FOR HIS CLARITY AND PRECISION, REVIEWED JEFFERSON’S DRAFT.

most vocal critics, viewed the petition as overly cautious. He only begrudgingly signed it. Adams later noted his opposition: “There were different opinions concerning the Petition to the King in the Year 1775.” Those “different opinions” would deepen into a public rift between Adams and Dickinson, underscoring the ideological divides within Congress during this tumultuous time.

Adams would later include in his autobiography a lengthy description of Dickinson’s activities against him during the Continental Congress. According to Adams, Dickinson had been urged to oppose Adams’ “designs.” Adams later recalled a heated exchange with Dickinson over the Olive Branch Petition, a moment that cemented their fraught relationship for the rest of their lives. Adams wrote in his autobiography that he “was opposed to [the Olive Branch Petition], of course; and made an Opposition to it, in as long a Speech as I commonly made.” Dickinson, Adams reported, “began to tremble for his Cause.”

Shortly after he delivered a speech against the Olive Branch Petition, Adams departed Congress, but as he made his way out, Dickinson chased after him. “He broke out upon me in a most abrupt and extraordinary manner,” Adams wrote, adding:

In as violent a passion as he was capable of feeling, and with an Air, Countenance and Gestures as rough and haughty as if I had been a School Boy and he the Master, he vociferated out, “What is the Reason Mr. Adams, that you New Englandmen oppose our Measures of Reconciliation. There now is Sullivan in a long Harrangue following you, in a determined Opposition to our Petition to the King. Look Ye! If you dont concur with Us, in our pacific System, I, and a Number of Us, will break off, from you in New England, and We will carry on the Opposition by ourselves in our own Way.”

Adams was stunned but kept his cool. In his autobiography, he recalled his response to Dickinson:

Mr. Dickenson, there are many Things that I can very chearfully sacrifice to Harmony and even to Unanimity: but I am not to be threatened into an express Adoption or Approbation of Measures which my judgment reprobates. Congress must judge, and if they pronounce against me, I must submit, as if they determine against You, You ought to acquiesce.

These were likely the last words that John Adams and John Dickinson exchanged in private. From that moment on, they had a strictly professional relationship.

John Adams signed the Olive Branch Petition but only reluctantly.

Sparring with Jefferson

Dickinson soon came into conflict with a young lawyer from Virginia on the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms.

On June 21, 1775, Jefferson joined the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Days later, Congress appointed a committee to draft a declaration justifying armed resistance. Its members included Franklin, Jay and John Rutledge of South Carolina. This declaration, intended for Gen. George Washington’s army, would explain to colonists and the world why the colonies had taken up arms.

The committee’s first attempt, led by Rutledge, failed to capture the urgency and gravitas Congress sought. On June 26, the task was recommitted, this time with two new voices: Jefferson, the eloquent newcomer from Virginia, and Dickinson, the seasoned Pennsylvania statesman renowned for his pen. Congress hoped their combined talents would produce a declaration with the power to inspire and unite a call to arms that would stir both soldier and civilian.

For two weeks, Jefferson and Dickinson sparred over the draft. Jefferson started with Rutledge’s version in hand, but his initial effort drew criticism. William Livingston quipped that Jefferson’s work was typical of “our Southern gentlemen,” filled with lofty rhetoric but lacking gravitas.

Dickinson, known for his clarity and precision, reviewed Jefferson’s draft, annotating it with suggestions and corrections in the phraseology as well as several queries about other points that might be added to the report. Jefferson rejected all the suggestions and accepted only one or two of Dickinson’s language edits. Despite Jefferson’s resistance, however, the back and forth between the two men did sharpen their respective visions for the declaration.

When Jefferson submitted his draft to the full committee, it did not advance. Evidently, some members agreed with Dickinson that Jefferson’s version lacked the necessary punch. The committee enlisted Dickinson to prepare another text.

Instead of starting from scratch, Dickinson reworked Jefferson’s draft. He retained Jefferson’s structure and many of his passages but made revisions that provided clarity and emotional resonance. For example, Dickinson’s straightforward approach led him to write, “we mean not to dissolve that Union,” while Jefferson was more verbose, writing, “we mean not in any wise to affect that union with them.” When speaking of independence, Dickinson was equally blunt: “Necessity has not yet driven us into that desperate Measure.” Jefferson, on the other hand, had written, “That necessity must be hard indeed which may force upon us this desperate measure.”

Dickinson’s aim was to create a cohesive and compelling declaration that would appeal to both skeptical colonists and potential allies abroad. To that end, he sharpened the document’s rhetoric and added memorable flourishes. One striking addition

Christopher F. Minty is an editor at the Center for Digital Editing at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Unfriendly to Liberty: Loyalist Networks and the Coming of the American Revolution in New York City.

John Jay, portrayed here by Gilbert Stuart, wrote the first draft of the Olive Branch Petition.

Live & Learn

JOHN DICKINSON’S ROLE

THEIR COLLABORATION BLENDED JEFFERSON’S IDEALISM WITH DICKINSON’S PRAGMATISM.

proclaimed: “Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal Resources are great, and, if necessary, foreign Assistance is undoubtedly attainable.”

Historians have long debated whether Jefferson’s draft failed for being too radical or whether Dickinson was overly conservative. More likely, their collaboration blended Jefferson’s idealism with Dickinson’s pragmatism. Together, they created a document that balanced colonial grievances with a commitment to reconciliation, laying the groundwork for broader support.

On July 6, 1775, Congress approved Dickinson’s draft with minor revisions. Copies were quickly sent to Boston, where Washington shared the declaration with his troops to bolster morale. From there, it spread like wildfire across the colonies, rallying support for the cause. By October, translations had reached European capitals, where the document underscored the colonies’ resolve and their appeals for foreign alliances.

(Below): This Gilbert Stuart painting of Thomas Jefferson was likely completed in 1805. (Opposite): Alexander Purdie printed the text of the Olive Branch Petition in the Dec. 15, 1775, edition of The Virginia Gazette.

How Jefferson and Dickinson remembered this moment in their political lives gave birth to an authorship dispute. In 1801, Dickinson claimed authorship of the declaration in the introduction to his collected Political Writings. He insisted that all documents attributed to him in the volumes were indeed his work, stating that he would never take credit for writings he did not compose.

Jefferson made two notable statements regarding the declaration’s authorship. In an unpublished note, which scholars believe Jefferson likely wrote before the publication of Dickinson’s Political Writings, Jefferson recalled that Dickinson had been asked to “retouch” his draft, suggesting some degree of collaboration or revision. Decades later, in his 1821 autobiography, Jefferson provided a conflicting account, asserting that Dickinson rejected his draft as too strong, rewrote it entirely and retained only the final four and a half paragraphs. This later account, written when Jefferson was 78, contains demonstrable errors but nonetheless influenced generations of historians.

Historians have often portrayed the Jefferson-Dickinson collaboration as a clash of ideologies, with Jefferson representing radicalism and Dickinson conservatism. However, a closer examination reveals a partnership that blended their strengths. Jefferson brought ambition while Dickinson grounded the document in practical diplomacy. Their combined efforts produced a declaration that was neither radical nor timid but instead a masterful balance of defiance and conciliation. It resonated widely, rallying support for the Continental army and signaling to the world that the colonies were prepared to fight but still hoped for peace. Dickinson’s efforts have often been overlooked, and his name kept from the roster of the nation’s most important influences, but his quiet brilliance is a reminder that the Revolution was not just fought on battlefields it was also written into history with words.

The Road to Revolution

The key events leading up to the American Revolution beginning with January through August 1775

March 23, 1775

Liberty or Death

Patrick Henry delivers his fiery speech to the Second Virginia Convention in Richmond. Henry argues that Britain’s unwillingness to reason and installation of troops in the colonies have made war inevitable.

April 21, 1775

The Gunpowder Incident

Fearing an uprising by colonists, Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of the Virginia colony, orders sailors from HMS Magdalen to seize the gunpowder stored in Williamsburg’s Magazine.

April 18–19, 1775

First Shots Fired British Gen. Thomas Gage orders the seizure of munitions in Concord, Massachusetts. At Lexington, Massachusetts, colonial militia minutemen respond, and armed skirmishes ensue.

May 2–4, 1775

Armed Response

May 10, 1775

Second Continental Congress

Colonial leaders meet in what is now Philadelphia’s Independence Hall as a de facto provisional government to discuss their response to British legislation and the recent armed clashes with royal troops.

A militia led by Patrick Henry marches on Williamsburg to demand the return of the seized gunpowder. A payment is negotiated in recompense for the powder, and Henry’s troops de-escalate.

GUNPOWDER INCIDENT

In the wake of the Coercive Acts, the Virginia House of Burgesses alarmed Lord Dunmore by declaring support for Boston and a ban on English imports. Patrick Henry’s speech further fanned the flames of discontent and convinced delegates to the Second Virginia Convention to raise forces to defend Virginia from British aggression. Dunmore then thought it prudent to order the gunpowder seized from Williamsburg’s Magazine.

Even though the sailors acted under the cover of darkness, colonists discovered the removal and gathered in front of the Governor’s Palace. Earlier in April, there had been insurrections reported among the enslaved in Prince Edward County, Chesterfield County and Norfolk. Without the gunpowder, colonists feared they would be unable to defend themselves against an uprising.

An agreement was reached, and 300 pounds was paid in lieu of returning the gunpowder, restoring a tentative and temporary peace.

June 1–24, 1775

General Assembly Reconvenes

Lord Dunmore reconvenes the General Assembly for the first time since May 1774 to respond to Lord North’s Conciliatory Resolution. The Assembly rejects the resolution, stating that “it only changes the form of oppression, without lightening its burthen.”

June 8, 1775

Dunmore Flees

Early in the morning, Dunmore flees Williamsburg. With the last royal governor of Virginia gone, the General Assembly continues to meet. Later in the month, 24 men, including future president James Monroe, break into the Governor’s Palace and remove hundreds of guns and swords.

June 3 –4, 1775

Spring-Gun Incident

Three men are injured when a group breaks into Williamsburg’s Magazine to steal weapons. In an echo of the Gunpowder Incident, the event is blamed on Lord Dunmore, causing unrest and the mobilization of Williamsburg’s Volunteer Company.

June 14–15, 1775

June 17, 1775

Bloody Victory

In one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War, British Maj. Gen. William Howe assaults Breed’s Hill in Boston. It later becomes known as the Battle of Bunker Hill.

A Continental Army

The Continental Congress adopts the New England Army of Observation as a “continental” army that represents the 13 colonies. Congress asks George Washington to serve as its commander in chief. He agrees and soon leaves for Boston.

July 5– 6, 1775

War of Words

July 17–Aug. 26, 1775

The Third Virginia Convention

The Third Virginia Convention establishes a Committee of Safety that resolves to better defend the colony. Six resolutions state plans to raise two new regiments, revise military regulations and provide more money for munitions.

As a final effort to avoid war, the Continental Congress adopts the Olive Branch Petition, but the king will refuse to read it. The following day Congress also adopts the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms to justify its position of self-defense.

July 31, 1775

Congress Rejects North Congress resolves to reject Lord North’s Conciliatory Resolution because it violates an established right to raise revenue. Congress characterizes the resolution as “unreasonable and insidious” concluding that “Parliament has no right to intermeddle with our provisions for the support of civil government, or administration of justice.”

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Nation Builder Nat Lasley portrays Patrick Henry

A Little Goes a Long Way

Cayenne peppers add avor...and heat

BY BARBARA RUST BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN NEWSON

CULTIVATION

Start seeds indoors. Sow seeds ¼-inch deep and keep the soil continuously moist. Transplant to the garden, 15 inches apart, when nighttime temperatures remain above 60°F.

NOTE Plants bene t from rich soil and the support of a trellis since the branches can be brittle.

VARIETY

Cayenne

Inside caves in the valley of Tehuacán, Mexico, archaeologists found evidence of wild peppers dating to 7000 B.C. These peppers were domesticated by Indigenous tribes 3,000 or 4,000 years later. Like many other products, peppers likely moved about the world on the ships of Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish traders.

Because the pepper arrived in Europe from multiple sources, many believed the plant came from India, and the confusion lasted for centuries. The English first mentioned peppers in the 16th century, referring to them as “Guinea” peppers, believing they came from the west coast of Africa.

According to Master of Historic Gardening Eve Otmar, Portuguese sailors took peppers out of Mesoamerica and, through trade, spread them all over the world, eventually making their way back to the Americas from Africa, via the slave trade. “Hence the

tendency to believe they came from Africa,” noted Otmar.

The cayenne pepper is named for the capital city of French Guiana on the northern coast of South America, furthering its reputation for international origins.

Today cayenne peppers are grown in Colonial Williamsburg’s Sankofa Heritage Garden, a working display of the type of garden the enslaved might have tended for themselves in the 18th century. Such gardens were found on farms or plantations, and the owner would have had to give permission for his enslaved people to have a garden, Otmar said. She also pointed out that food was rationed, and enslaved people who grew some food of their own were better fed and therefore healthier.

The pepper was a popular ornamental plant in English gardens in the 18th century, and it slowly made

its way into English cuisine. Hannah Glasse, in the 1755 edition of her popular cookbook The Art of Cookery, included “a little Cayan Pepper” in her recipe “ To dress a Turtle, the West India Way.” She cautioned, “Take Care not to put too much.” As Richard Bradley in Dictionarium Botanicum (1728) observed, “’Tis very hot, so that a little of it goes a great way.” John Randolph mentioned the red pepper in his Treatise on Gardening (1793) only once, indicating that it was a minor part of the Virginia diet.

Historic Foodways offers a recipe for a zesty vinegar made with cayenne pepper. The recipe, from Mary Randolph’s cookbook, is typical of the Southern cooking methods for which she was known. Randolph’s cookbook was the first to describe Southern dishes and ingredients such as catfish, turnip tops, okra, doughnuts and vinegar flavored with cayenne pepper.

Peppers were often found in ornamental gardens before becoming more common in English cuisine by the 18th century.

Pepper Vinegar Historic Foodways

Adapted from The Virginia House-wife by Mary Randolph (Washington, D.C., 1824)

YIELDS 4 CUPS

12 cayenne peppers*

4 cups white vinegar

1. Cut the peppers in half and remove the stems and seeds. (Wear plastic or latex gloves for protection, especially with hotter peppers, and have plenty of ventilation.)

2. In a saucepan, bring the peppers and vinegar to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Cool, strain out the peppers and bottle up the pepper vinegar.

4. Use in preparations of sauces, soups and other foods or as a table condiment. No need to refrigerate but keep sealed.

*Adjust the exact amount and type of peppers as desired.

THE WILLIAMSBURG INN’S Executive Chef Julianne Gutierrez did not work with fresh cayenne peppers early in her career. But she does recall using what were known as “fish peppers,” grown by fisheries to make hot Cajun sauce before the widespread use of Old Bay Seasoning and other spicy mixes.

“When I worked in the Caribbean, we used hot sauces quite a bit,” said Gutierrez. Today she uses cayenne in a variety of ways as a dredge for chicken, to add a kick to fried food and as a brine for chicken. “If you soak chicken overnight in a mixture of water, salt and hot sauce, it will provide the flavor but not the heat to roasted chicken,” she said.

“If you want less heat in your dish, steer clear of the seeds,” she advised.

When purchasing fresh cayenne peppers, Gutierrez recommends being careful to select peppers with clean stems and no spots.

Gutierrez offers a complete meal: a cedar plank oven-roasted salmon with innovative Southern sides.

Barbara Rust Brown is a freelance writer living in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Cedar Plank Roasted Salmon with Cajun Cream Sauce, Succotash and Miso-Candied Collard Greens Williamsburg Inn

NOTE The collard greens take about 1 hour to prepare and cook. They can be prepared in advance and reheated with a splash of broth.

Salmon food-grade cedar planks (enough to hold the 6 fillets)

6 salmon fillets, 6 –8 ounces each kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper butter

1. Soak the cedar planks in water for at least 20 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

3. Season the salmon generously with salt and pepper.

4. Place the salmon on a hot grill briefly to mark the top side (optional).

5. Place the salmon, skin side down, on the cedar planks and roast in the oven to an internal temperature of 130°F for medium doneness, 15 –20 minutes.

6. Top each fillet with a pat of butter and allow the fish to rest for 3–4 minutes.

7. Top the fish with the Cajun Cream Sauce and serve with the Succotash and Miso-Candied Collard Greens.

Cajun Cream Sauce

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

½ medium yellow onion, minced

1 large shallot, minced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 rib celery, minced

¼ cup minced cayenne pepper (or other hot pepper)

SERVES 6

¾ cup white wine

1 pint heavy cream

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil.

2. Add the onion, shallot and garlic and sweat until translucent.

3. Add the celery and peppers and cook until tender.

4. Deglaze the pot with the white wine.

5. Mix in the cream and allow the mixture to thicken.

6. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Succotash

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 onion, minced

2 cups lima beans

2 cups corn

1 red bell pepper, minced

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

ground cayenne pepper to taste

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved butter

1 bunch parsley, stripped and chopped

1. In a sauté pan over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil.

2. Add the onion and cook until translucent.

3. Add the lima beans, corn and red bell pepper. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Add a touch of cayenne pepper and cook until all the vegetables are tender.

5. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for another few minutes until warm.

6. Finish with a knob of butter and garnish with fresh parsley.

Miso-Candied Collard Greens

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

3 yellow onions, sliced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1¼ cups brown sugar

½ cup miso, white or yellow

1½ cups apple cider vinegar

1½ cups mushroom broth (vegetable broth may be substituted)

2 bunches collard greens, stems removed and torn into large pieces

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. In a large frying pan over low heat, heat the oil and sauté the onions for a few minutes until golden brown. If needed, use a little water to lift any fond off the bottom of the pan.

2. Add the garlic and cook a few minutes until aromatic.

3. Add the brown sugar and miso, stirring continuously until they caramelize the onions, a few minutes.

4. Mix in the vinegar and broth. Then add the collard greens.

5. Cover and cook until the greens are tender, about 45 minutes. Remove the lid and cook until the liquid has reduced.

6. Season with salt and pepper.

POCAHONTAS

&

JOHN SMITH

The Love Story Was Fiction... but Loved

by PAUL ARON

Live & Learn

(Above): John Davis’ 1803 book described a “tumultuous extasy of love.” (Opposite): The 17th-century artist and engraver Simon van de Passe created portraits of Pocahontas and John Smith, which appeared in Smith’s Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles.

They are America’s Romeo and Juliet: John Smith, the handsome captain who commanded the settlers at Jamestown, the first lasting English settlement in the New World, and Pocahontas, the beautiful American Indian princess who saved his life and the colony.

The love story is entirely fiction. When John Smith met Pocahontas, she was 10 or 11 years old. Pocahontas did later marry a colonist, but the colonist was John Rolfe, not John Smith.

Still, the origins and evolution of the love story reveal much about how Americans have thought about their early history.

The Storytellers

Among those who told the story of the colonists’ interactions with Native Americans was Smith himself. In his Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles, Smith described how he was captured by Powhatan warriors and how Pocahontas, the daughter of the Powhatan king, threw herself between Smith and the clubs of her father’s warriors. But Smith said nothing about a love story.

man, John Davis, embellished the story in his Travels of Four Years and a Half in the United States of America; During 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, and 1802. He turned what he called the “broken fragment” of Chastellux into a true romance. Davis added a few years to Pocahontas’ age and wrote that she “obeyed the invitation of Captain Smith to wander with him... along the banks of the river” and then “gave loose to all the tumultuous extasy of love; hanging on his arm, and weeping with an eloquence much more powerful than words.” Davis conceded that Pocahontas married Rolfe, not Smith, but that was because Smith had stirred up her feelings. “The breast of a woman,” Davis explained, “is, perhaps, never more susceptible of a new passion than when it is agitated by the remains of a former one.”

To learn more... see a reading list at colonialwilliamsburg.org/ pocahontasmyths

Colonists must have told stories about the pair because the Marquis de Chastellux, a Frenchman, reported that he heard some when he visited Virginia in 1782. As Chastellux told the story in his Travels in North-America, in the Years 1780, 1781 and 1782, when Pocahontas and Smith were reunited during her 1616 visit to England, she “threw herself into his arms.” But Chastellux’s Pocahontas saw Smith more as a father, not a lover.

It was not until 1803 that an English-

Davis later expanded his tale in two 1805 works, Captain Smith and Princess Pocahontas, An Indian Tale and The First Settlers of Virginia, An Historical Novel.

North vs. South

For many of Virginia’s gentry, Pocahontas became, at least symbolically, an honored ancestor.

George Washington Parke Custis, the stepgrandson of George Washington, penned the 1830 play Pocahontas; or, The Settlers of Virginia. Custis’ Pocahontas

was not motivated by lust but by Christianity, to which she converted. Similarly, in Charlotte Barnes’ 1844 play, The Forest Princess, or Two Centuries Ago, a pious Pocahontas has a vision of Native Americans and white people living in peace.

The appeal of these versions was that the love story suggested an attractive alternative history of how the white population spread across North America. If only more American Indians could have been like Pocahontas and taken on the ways of the settlers, many found it nice to believe, then so much bloodshed could have been avoided. In this sense, the love stories about Pocahontas and Smith were much like stories told of the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth: In both, English settlers and American Indians lived together peacefully.

As the Civil War approached, the Southern and Northern versions of a peaceful beginning competed, and New England’s version gradually supplanted Virginia’s in the imaginations of most Americans. More generally, many Americans came to think of Plymouth and not Jamestown as the place where America began.

“The story of one Indian girl’s bravery,” wrote art historian Ann Uhry Abrams, “could hardly compete with an entire army of self-righteous pilgrims.”

Still, Pocahontas and John Smith have remained a part of American culture. Musicians including Peggy Lee, Elvis Presley, Madonna and Beyoncé covered “Fever,” a song that includes lyrics about Smith and Pocahontas having a “very mad affair.” Hollywood too has been unable to resist the love story, which is central to Disney’s 1995 animated Pocahontas and Terrence Malick’s 2005 The New World

Title Page

A Revolution for All Ages: New Books for Children

Rebellion 1776

BY LAURIE HALSE ANDERSON Atheneum Books for Young Readers

“Rebellions are unexpected, violent things,” says Elsbeth Culpepper, the 13-year-old narrator and heroine of Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel for ages 10 -14. “If you ever wind up in one, know that most days, you’ll be swimming in uncertainty.” For Elsbeth, the uncertainty of life in Boston in 1776 is increased by her mother having died; by her status as a servant, first to a loyalist judge and then to a patriot spy and his family; and by a raging smallpox epidemic. Through it all, Elsbeth hopes to reunite with her father, who disappears the day the British forces evacuate Boston. Amid America’s battle, she struggles to achieve her own independence and advises her readers: “You must equip yourself with the tools of courage: a strong body, a quick mind, and good friends. Thus armed, you will weather any storms that the Fates send your way.”

George Washington’s Spectacular Spectacles: The Glasses That Saved America BY SELENE CASTROVILLA, ILLUSTRATED BY JENN HARNEY Calkins Creek

The Newburgh Conspiracy might seem an unlikely topic for a picture book. In March 1783, officers of the Continental army, frustrated by Congress’ failure to pay the troops, considered a military takeover. Their plans were thwarted when Washington addressed the officers at their camp in Newburgh, New York, and denounced the conspiracy. Washington closed by pulling out a letter from a Virginia congressman who had expressed his support for the army. Struggling to read the letter, Washington took out of his pocket a pair of glasses, explaining that he had not only grown gray but almost blind serving his country. This display moved the officers and ended the threat. The book, which is appropriate for children ages 7-10, presents a Washington who is embarrassed but still heroic.

Revolutionary Mary: The True Story of One Woman, the Declaration of Independence, and America’s Fight for Freedom BY KAREN BLUMENTHAL AND JEN McCARTNEY, ILLUSTRATED BY ELIZABETH BADDELEY Roaring Brook Press

Many visitors to Williamsburg have learned about Clementina Rind, who published The Virginia Gazette as well as Thomas Jefferson’s A Summary View of the Rights of British America. Rind was not the only woman printer of the period. Mary Katharine Goddard published The Maryland Journal and later ran a bookstore. When Congress decided to send a copy of the Declaration of Independence to each of the 13 states, it appointed Goddard to print them. She produced a special broadside with the names of all the signers and added her own name as printer of the document, making her the only woman to put her name on an official version of the Declaration of Independence. In simple and clear prose appropriate for children ages 4-8, the authors declare: “Mary was brave and revolutionary.”

DIY: WOODBLOCK PRINT

From Sea to Tree

A shell design works in many mediums

A PROJECT FROM THE CABINETMAKERS PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN NEWSON

Stylized seashells like those on the front legs of this 1746 chair were a popular motif among 18th-century carvers looking to ornament fine furniture. The chair, the seashells in particular, inspired Master Cabinetmaker Bill Pavlak to make this woodblock for printmaking.

The chair was made by Robert Walker, a Scottish immigrant who resided in King George County, Virginia. The chair’s sophisticated carvings include, besides the seashell pattern, a pierced splat (on the back) with an interlaced diamond above a heart-shaped piercing and a three-leaf pendant. While cabriole front legs with shells on the knees and claw feet were familiar throughout colonial America, Walker’s shop had a distinctive way of handling each element that set its work apart. The precision of execution and attention to detail of this Virginia chair are characteristic of the most carefully constructed examples of contemporary British furniture.

*

(A) India ink

(B) Ink (oil or water based)

(C) Glass, plexiglass or flat tile

(D) Printmaking paper (numerous sheets)

(E) Carbon paper

(F) 5½ × 5½-inch block of wood*

(G) Bench hook or rubber shelf liner

(H) 4- to 6-inch brayer

(I) Carving tools (fine gouges of V and U shapes)

(J) Pencil

(K) Paintbrush

(L) Small, smooth piece of wood

Fine-grained woods such as cherry, basswood or pear are traditional, but Shina plywood is preferred among many modern workers and available through art supply stores.

STEP 1

Using the paintbrush, apply a coat of india ink over the block of wood to darken it, which will make the carved surface easier to read while working on it. Allow the ink to dry.

STEP 2

Once the block of wood is dry, use the carbon paper to transfer the template onto the block. Reinforce the transferred lines with the pencil. (Remember that you are drawing the reverse of the image you intend to print.)

STEP 3

Place the block of wood on the bench hook or rubber shelf liner to hold the block while carving. Use a V-shaped tool to carve the outlines of the major shapes. Hold the tool with both hands and take care to always carve away from yourself. Use smaller and larger U-shaped gouges to work down the background areas. Finally, using a mix of tools, cut in the fine details and the shading to produce the final woodblock.

NOTE Carving a block can become disorienting, so go slow. The areas where the wood is carved away will show white on the print while the raised areas will take the ink and transfer to the print.

6 1 4 2 5 3

STEP 4

Place a small amount of the oil- or water-based ink on the glass, plexiglass or tile. Distribute the ink evenly onto the brayer by rolling the brayer up and down and then side to side on the glass, plexiglass or tile. Repeat until there is a thin, even coating of ink on the brayer.

STEP 5

Use the brayer to apply ink evenly to the woodblock. Again, work from multiple directions to carefully spread the ink. Take care not to overload the surface so as not to obscure the finer details on the print.

STEP 6

Carefully place the printmaking paper face down on the inked woodblock and use the small piece of wood to press the paper evenly onto the surface of the woodblock. Run the small piece of wood over the paper repeatedly with mild pressure to transfer the ink evenly. Slowly remove the print from the woodblock. Run a few test prints to check how much ink is needed. Set the final print aside to dry following the recommended drying times listed for the ink used. Lastly, wash up following the ink’s instructions before it has a chance to dry on the brayer or woodblock.

Shopping. Dining. Patriot watching.

Discover Merchants Square, the vibrant heart of downtown Williamsburg. Shop and dine local with over 40 unique stores and restaurants, offering curated treasures and unforgettable flavors. Steps from history, it’s the perfect blend of charm and community.

Aromas Café

Baskin-Robbins

Berret’s Seafood

Restaurant & Taphouse Grill

Blink

Blue Talon Bistro

Brick & Vine

Campus Shop

The Carousel

Children’s Boutique

The Cheese Shop

Chico’s

The Christmas Shop

Colonial Williamsburg Bookstore

Colorful Stitches

Fine Yarn

Danforth Pewter

DoG Street Pub

Eleva Coffee Lounge

Everything Williamsburg

Fat Canary and Downstairs at Fat Canary

FatFace

illy Caffé

J. Fenton

J. McLaughlin

Kimball Theatre

lululemon athletica

Mellow Mushroom

Pizza Bakers

Monkee of Williamsburg

The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg

Scan

Penny and a Sixpence

Pepper Palace

Williamsburg

Precarious Beer Project

The Precious Gem

R. Bryant Ltd.

R. P. Wallace & Sons

General Store

SaladWorks

Scotland House Ltd.

Secret Garden

Sole Provisions

The Shoe Attic

The Spice & Tea Exchange of Williamsburg

Talbots

Three Cabanas: A Lilly

Pulitzer Signature Store

The Williamsburg Winery

Tasting Room & Wine Bar

Walkabout Outfitter

Wythe Candy & Gourmet Shop

Puzzles & Prize Puzzles & Prize

Wordplay: From the 18th century to today

Trade Talks

by Ben Swenson

TRADE TALKS

Across

by Ben Swenson

1. Greek Ts

5. Country legend McEntire

ACROSS

1. Greek Ts

9. Latin: "That is to say..."

50. Reagan’s “Star Wars” initials

5. Country legend McEntire

14. Renowned chef Lewis

15. Major work

9. Latin: “That is to say...”

14. Renowned chef Lewis

16. Totaled: 2 words

15. Major work

16. Totaled: 2 words

53. “The Queen’s Gambit” actress Taylor-Joy

54. Chair designer Charles

17. Human rights activist Clooney

17. Human rights activist Clooney

18. The wigmaker couldn’t stop fumbling her words because she was having a ...

55. “Amahl and the Night Visitors” composer

58. Bad guys, to cops

18. The wigmaker couldn't stop fumbling her words because she was having a

20. Foolish

20. Foolish

22. On deck: 2 words

59. The mantua-maker forgot what she was saying so she began speaking ...

62. Endure

64. Donald Duck nephew

22. On deck: 2 words

23. Arson or larceny

23. Arson or larceny

24. Tinted

24. Tinted

26. Married

26. Married

27. The silversmith kept repeating himself so his commentary had a ...

31. Classi ed abbr.

65. Long story

66. Those: Spanish

67. Past or present

68. Followers

69. Car ad abbr.

27. The silversmith kept repeating himself so his commentary had a ...

32. 18-wheeler

31. Classified abbr.

33. market

36. The carpenter got tongue-tied but nevertheless he ...

32. 18-wheeler

33. ___ market

41. Biblical twin

42. Neighbor of Kan. and Wyo.

DOWN

1. Earl Grey or oolong

2. Worthy of praise

3. As one

4. Deli meat

5. Judge’s garb

6. Pollution org.

36. The carpenter got tongue-tied but nevertheless he ...

7. Future ower

8. More pallid

9. Eye part

43. Hollywood special effects: abbr.

41. Biblical twin

45. The harpsichord maker’s dialogue resonated with people so she really ...

21. “ Blu, Dipinto Di Blu”

59. The mantua maker forgot what she was saying so she began speaking ...

23. Head bean counter: abbr.

9. Eye part

37. Pas’ pals

38. Nevertheless

39. Pre x meaning 10: variation

10. Bar projectile

24. of the dog

25. Pressing need

62. Endure

10. Bar projectile

11. Provide with funds

42. Neighbor of Kan. and Wyo.

12. Ogle

28. Anger

64. Donald Duck nephew

65. Long story

13. Tri ed (with)

43. Hollywood special effects: abbr.

Our Prize Enigma

40. Lawyers’ org.

11. Provide with funds

44. Egos’ opposites

12. Ogle

29. Eagles and Falcons org.

13. Trifled (with)

30. Day- paint

66. Those: Spanish

19. “The King ”

45. The harpsichord maker's dialogue resonated with people so she really ...

50. Reagan's "Star Wars" initials

Each line of this 18th-century wordplay puzzle o ers a clue to a single answer of up to three words. Can you solve it? Email your answer to puzzles@cwf.org for a chance to win Williamsburg Ginger Cake Tea by Harney & Sons.

53. "The Queen's Gambit" actress Taylor-Joy

54. Chair designer Charles

55. "Amahl and the Night Visitors" composer

58. Bad guys, to cops

34. Include

35. Assailant

67. Past or present

68. Followers

69. Car ad abbr.

Down

1. Earl Grey or Oolong

2. Worthy of praise

3. As one 4. Deli meat

5. Judge's garb

50. Young salmon

51. “Robinson Crusoe” author

39. Prefix meaning 10: variation

52. Jokingly: 2 words

40. Lawyers' org.

56. R&B’s Redding

57. Bygone pronoun

44. Egos' opposites

46. Leave a Yelp review, for example

47. Worldwide relief org.

19. "The King ___"

48. Mediocre grade

21. "___ Blu, Dipinto Di Blu"

49. Renaissance

23. Head bean counter: abbr.

24. ___ of the dog

25. Pressing need

28. Anger

29. Eagles and Falcons org.

30. Day-___ paint

34. Include

58. One-stripe GIs

46. Leave a Yelp review, for example

60. tree (cornered): 2 words

61. Dorsal

47. Worldwide relief org.

63. Recipe meas.

48. Mediocre grade

49. ___ Renaissance

50. Young salmon

ANSWERS

51. "Robinson Crusoe" author

52. Jokingly: 2 words

56. R&B's Redding

Check our Autumn issue for the answers to these puzzles.

57. Bygone pronoun

58. One-stripe G.I.s

6. Pollution org.

Here’s to those who nd their niche when others call retreat. Case in point: In widowhood this woman found her feet. Wedded to a merchant who by 46 was dead, She wallowed not, believing that her best years lay ahead. It turns out that she had a knack for shepherding new life, And thus earned admiration as an eminent midwife. is calling late in life was neither cursory nor short: Some 3,000 babies met the world with her support.

7. Future flower

8. More pallid

Assailant

Pas' pals

Nevertheless

60. ___ tree (cornered): 2 words

61. Dorsal ___ 63. Recipe meas.

PUZZLE ANSWERS

PICTURE PERFECT

PRIZE ENIGMA

The Shoe

Congratulations to Donna P. Griffith of Winchester, Va., whose entry was chosen from a pool of correct answers to the puzzle in the Spring issue. She received a Colonial Williamsburg “Join or Die” Widemouth Water Bottle.

Want to play, too? Here are the rules: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. Sweepstakes ends 8/6/25

For entry and official rules with complete eligibility, prize description, odds disclosure and other details, visit www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/trend-and-tradition-prizerules. Sponsored by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Void where prohibited.

WAYNE REYNOLDS

Parting Shot

Horse of a Different Color

Robin Beers took this photo while visiting family in Williamsburg. The horses are Brigadier (left) and General, both recently retired. “I enjoy snapping the photos and looking back on my many visits,” Beers said. “I always see something a little different every time.”

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SUBMITTED PHOTOS. PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING! Send your favorite Colonial Williamsburg photo a .jpg or .tif that is at least 300 dpi at 5"×7", please to partingshot@cwf.org. Tell us why you love the image, and we may choose it for “Parting Shot” in an upcoming issue. Don’t forget to include your hometown.

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