
WILLIAMSBURG, Va., August 17,
2018 — "TENACITY:
Women in Jamestown and
Early Virginia," a special
yearlong exhibition opening
November 10 at
Jamestown Settlement, a
museum of 17th-century
Virginia history and culture,
will explore little-known,
captivating personal
stories of real
women in Jamestown and
the early Virginia colony
and their tenacious spirit
and impact on a fledgling
society.
The special exhibition
is a legacy project of
the 2019 Commemoration, American Evolution, a
national observance of the
400th anniversary of key
historical events that
occurred in Virginia in
1619 and continue to
influence America today.
Women's roles in
the events of early
Virginia history were
rarely recorded. History
gives us only fragments of
their lives – a name here, a
date of arrival there, a
court case, marriage or
death. Some of their stories
have never been told.
This story-driven
special exhibition will feature
artifacts, images and
primary sources – some
on display in America for
the first time – to examine
the struggles women
faced in the New World
and their contributions.
Visitors will hear stories
of the first English women
in the Virginia colony
beginning in 1608 and the
Powhatan Indian women
they encountered.
Exhibits will examine stories
of the first documented
African woman to
arrive in Virginia in 1619,
and the Virginia
Company of London's
effort that same year to
encourage the growth of
the Jamestown colony by
recruiting single English
women. From women's
roles to women's rights,
the exhibition will connect
issues of the 17th century
and their relevance today.
Discover the stories
of Anne Burras
Laydon, an English
woman who arrived in
1608 at the age of 14 as a
maidservant;
Cockacoeske, a Virginia
Indian woman who was
recognized by the colonial
government as the
"Queen of the Pamunkey"
and ruled until her death
in 1686; and Mary
Johnson, an African
woman who arrived in
1623 and labored on a
Southside Virginia plantation
and later gained her
freedom and became a
landowner in Virginia.
Along with the
James town-Yorktown
Foundation's collection of
17th-century objects, the
special exhibition will feature
more than 60 artifacts
on loan from 22 international
and national institutions,
including the
Victoria & Albert
Museum, Museum of
London, Master and
Fellows of Magdalene
College Cambridge,
Shakespeare Birthplace
Trust, National Archives,
Museum of Early
Southern Decorative Arts
and the Virginia
Department of Historic
Resources.
"TENACITY: Women in Jamestown and
Early Virginia" is funded
in part by the
Commonwealth of
Virginia, James City
County and 2019 Commemoration, American Evolution, with
additional support from
the Robins Foundation.