The following article appeared in the Tuesday, January 30, 2007 edition of
the Daily Press (http://www.dailypress.com/) in the Money & Work section.
Selma Stewart
> Another debate of historic proportions
>
With the 400th anniversary at hand, who looms
> larger in history, Jamestown or Plymouth Rock?
>
> BY VICTOR REKLAITIS
> 223-5682
> January 30, 2007
> WILLIAMSBURG -- Promoters of the Jamestown 2007 commemoration are drawing
> fire from another historic place.
>
> This time, it's fans of Massachusetts' Plymouth Rock taking shots at the
> Virginia settlement and its 400th anniversary events.
>
> "Virginia tosses dirt on the Rock" blared the headline of an article in
> Sunday's Boston Globe.
>
> The article says, "While Jamestown's settlers came to America to look for
> gold, get rich quick, and go home to spend it [and failed], Plymouth's Pilgrims
> came to build an enduring community based on values."
>
> The promoters of Plymouth - where Pilgrims landed in 1620 - join bigwigs in
> New York City and St. Augustine, Fla., in criticizing the hoopla around
> Jamestown. The Jamestown 2007 commemoration, often billed as "America's 400th
> Anniversary," is an 18-month series of events aimed at boosting tourism and
> marking the anniversary of the New World's first permanent English settlement.
>
> "I think it's good for everybody," Jamestown 2007 spokesman Kevin Crossett
> said of the debate in the recent Globe article. "Anytime we can talk about
> Jamestown and Plymouth, I think both sides win."
>
> While the 1607 settlement in Virginia predates Plymouth by 13 years, the
> Massachusetts settlement traditionally has gotten much more attention from
> history books. Crossett said 2007 organizers are not trying to toss dirt on
> Plymouth Rock.
>
> "We're promoting Jamestown just to make sure that people are aware that
> Jamestown existed," he said.
>
>
>
>
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