NORFOLK, Va.-
Virginia’s governor traveled to England in December to help mark the date three ships set sail across the Atlantic to the Virginia colony 400 years ago.
In May, England’s Queen Elizabeth II will return the favor, heading to Virginia to recognize the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, America’s first permanent English settlement.
Although it’s not known yet whether the queen will visit Jamestown during the actual anniversary in May or some other time that month, her trip will add luster to the commemoration and already is piquing interest, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said.
“If the people who have been angling with me to get invitations to things are any indication,” Kaine said with a chuckle, interest in the anniversary “dramatically increased” when the queen announced her plans for a state visit to Virginia in May. She also visited Jamestown in 1957, the year of its 350th anniversary.
“The queen’s announcement is the thing that will really put the kind of double exclamation point on this,” Kaine said in a telephone interview before his trip to England.
Planners say they are on target to at least meet their goal of attracting 2.4 million visitors throughout the 18-month series of Jamestown 2007 events.
“We’re six months away from anniversary weekend, which is the pinnacle … but we are actually also six months into the commemoration, and I think we already have a success,” said Jeanne Zeidler, executive director of Jamestown 2007, part of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, a state agency that runs two history museums and is coordinating commemoration efforts.
For example, a total of more than 456,000 people attended the free festivals held at each stop when the commemoration kicked off last May with a replica of one of the settlers’ ships visiting six East Coast ports. Organizers had expected 250,000.
Jamestown-related events in England were another opportunity to call attention to the commemoration and to celebrate the friendship between the United States and Great Britain, Kaine told reporters from London on Dec. 19, the anniversary of the launch of the settlers’ three ships bound for Virginia.
The settlers brought with them “powerful founding virtues” of the rule of law, trial by jury, elected legislative leadership and religious freedom, said Kaine, who was in London at the Museum in Docklands for the opening of an exhibit about the outfitting and planning of their voyage.
Moored outside the Museum in Docklands is a replica of the Discovery, the smallest of the settlers’ three ships. The replica from Jamestown Settlement was transported to England aboard a royal navy ship for the exhibition. The Discovery later will tour Britain’s coast.
Jamestown began as a business venture operating under a royal charter. In the early years, the settlers were nearly wiped out by hunger and disease. Later, tobacco exports helped the colony survive financially.
Virginia has commemorated Jamestown’s birthday with big events every 50 years since 1807. The 2007 commemoration is the first to focus on all three cultures that converged at Jamestown: English settlers, native Indians and Africans.
In 2007, Jamestown-related events will be happening just about every month leading up the anniversary. Among the highlights:
–On Jan. 10, shortly after the 2007 legislative session opens in Richmond, Virginia lawmakers will board buses for Jamestown for a day of ceremonial observances.
–A month later, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson will join television and radio personality Tavis Smiley as Smiley brings his “State of the Black Union 2007” to Hampton University.
–In April, the Godspeed will set off on a journey up Virginia’s James River, re-creating parts of the Jamestown settlers’ original route.
–Also in April will be the opening of “The World of 1607,” a yearlong exhibition at Jamestown Settlement that will feature artifacts from around the world, including a 15th-century copy of the Magna Carta.
The premier event–“America’s Anniversary Weekend”–will be May 11-13 at Jamestown Settlement and Historic Jamestowne, the site of the settlers’ original triangular fort. President Bush has been invited to attend the festival, which is expected to draw 90,000 people.
Single-day tickets ($30 for adults, $15 for children) went on sale in December at Colonial Williamsburg’s visitor center and online at .
Events don’t stop with the actual anniversary.
In June and July, The Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., will feature Virginia, England and parts of West Africa, highlighting Jamestown’s roots and legacies.
The American Indian Intertribal Cultural Festival in July in Hampton will showcase the cultures of Virginia Indians, while a Black Cultural and Commerce Exposition being planned for August will feature contributions by Africans and black Americans to American society.
In September, Williamsburg will host the culminating forum of a series of conferences on the future of democracy sponsored by the federal commemoration commission.
The budget for the commemorative events is $30 million to $32 million, about $10 million below earlier planning numbers.
About half of the event money is coming from state funds. Private sponsors initially were slow to sign up, but a number have come on board since the commemoration began, Zeidler said.
“We look like we will be coming to a very successful conclusion for the commemoration,” she said.
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If You Go…
JAMESTOWN 2007 COMMEMORATION: “America’s Anniversary Weekend,” May 11-13 at Jamestown Settlement and Historic Jamestowne, is expected to draw 90,000 people. Single-day tickets ($30 for adults, $15 for children) went on sale in December at Colonial Williamsburg’s visitor center and online at . Jamestown Settlement is located on State Route 31, just southwest of Williamsburg, Va.; general information at or 888-593-4682. Other events for 2007 include “The World of 1607” exhibit, opening at the settlement in April.
MUSEUM IN DOCKLANDS: 150 London Wall, London. “Journey to the New World” exhibit on display through May 13; .
