Both "museums" are mired in political correctness... the great bureacratic fear of the 21st century. -- Melinda C. P. Skinner Richmond, VA -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: Sunshine49 <[log in to unmask]> > Very interesting, thanks for posting this. I mostly agree. History > had to be broadened and made more equitable [I shake my head at some > of the things we were taught in Richmond Public Schools] , but it > seems that in many ways it has gone too far. I can willingly > acknowledge my many failing to my fellow humans, the times I've been > stupid and careless, those I have hurt, but please, can I celebrate > my birthday without carrying around a total guilt package? I am more > than the compendium of my sins. As are we all. Hair shirts are never > productive garments to wear 24/7. > > Nancy > > ------- > I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days. > > --Daniel Boone > > > > On Mar 2, 2007, at 4:32 PM, Jurretta J. Heckscher wrote: > > > From another listserv. . . . > > > > > > > > EDWARD ROTHSTEIN | Exhibition Review The New York Times, Mar. 2, > > 2007 > > > > Captain Smith, the Tides Are Shifting on the James > > > > > > JAMESTOWN, Va. - At the banks of the James River here, not far from > > where an > > archaeological dig has found pottery shards and remains of settlers > > from 400 > > years ago, a proud Capt. John Smith faces the waters and the > > setting sun. A > > wooden stockade extends near the shoreline - the water has moved > > inland over > > the centuries - showing where his frail fort once stood. But Smith > > stands > > heroically tall, his bronze cape seeming to ripple in the brisk winter > > winds. Even the inscription proclaims his importance: "Governor of > > Virginia, > > 1608." > > > > > > > > Governor? Virginia? At the time Jamestown consisted of a paltry > > isolated > > settlement of several dozen souls, with disease, starvation and > > battles with > > local Indian tribes regularly claiming almost as many lives as > > Virginia > > Company could send in delayed relief ships from England, the funds > > raised > > from wary investors. But the Smith statue does give an accurate > > sense of the > > scale of the leadership, strategic thinking, ruthlessness and > > courage Smith > > demonstrated during the brief period (not even two years) he led > > that first > > English colony in the Americas - qualities reflected in his own > > memoirs > > and other accounts (many of which are about to be republished by > > the Library > > of America). Nearby, offering further testimony to Jamestown's > > grandeur, a > > giant obelisk stands, erected, like the statue, a century ago, as > > part of > > the tercentennial celebrations of the founding. > > > > > > > > But now, two months before the 400th anniversary festivities > > begin , the > > monumental hardly matters anymore, and neither, it seems, does John > > Smith. > > Other kinds of commemoration have been prepared. It isn't that > > Jamestown is > > being treated as less important: it is still regarded as the place > > where the > > DNA of a nation was first laid out, where, in 1607, England > > established an > > early beachhead against the expanding empires of Spain and Portugal > > and so > > determined the main language we speak and many of the ideas we share. > > > > > > > > But a different understanding is made explicit here in the two > > historical > > museums and outdoor facilities devoted to the Jamestown theme. > > Jamestown > > Settlement, run by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation (a state > > agency), was > > established in 1957 just before the 350th anniversary so the nearby > > historical site would not be disrupted with the Settlement's outdoor > > "living-history" demonstrations, costumed guides, period crafts and > > reproductions of the Jamestown fort, an Indian village and the > > three ships > > that brought the first group of 104 men and boys to these shores. In > > October, Jamestown Settlement added a major 30,000-square-foot > > exhibition > > hall to its new visitors' center, telling an unusually detailed > > history > > of the area through the 17th century. > > > > > > > > Meanwhile the original site, now called Historic Jamestowne, is > > part of the > > Colonial National Historical Park and jointly run by the National Park > > Service and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia > > Antiquities. It > > incorporates the monuments of past tributes - the statue, the > > obelisk, a > > memorial church - but has just added a modest historical > > exhibition in its > > visitors' center, and, last spring, opened a 7,500-square-foot > > museum - > > the Archaearium - devoted to the Jamestown artifacts unearthed by > > the > > on-site excavations, ranging from cooking utensils and weapons to > > bones and > > coins. > > > > > > > > These exhibitions are ambitious and often informative, particularly > > the > > Settlement's, and provide much of the detail needed to begin to > > understand > > Jamestown. Yet a price is paid for the latest in museumware and > > historical > > thinking: One isn't quite sure what is being celebrated or why, > > or whether > > in fact a celebration is even occurring. > > > > > > > > The exhibition created by the Park Service, for example, repeats > > the classic > > tribute: "Jamestown's notable legacies include the introduction of > > representative government, English culture and heritage, and > > Protestant > > religion," all of which had an impact on the evolution of > > Virginia and > > the other colonies. But those legacies also include conflicts with > > Indians > > and the introduction of "race-based slavery." These matters, once > > considered secondary, have become central. Now Jamestown is seen > > as the > > precursor to "a multicultural society grappling with a legacy of > > slavery > > and racism." > > > > Another panel emphasizes the point: > > > > > > > > "Past Jamestown anniversaries were referred to as 'celebrations.' > > Because > > many facets of Jamestown's history are not cause for celebration, > > like human > > bondage and the displacement of Virginia Indians, the Jamestown 400th > > Anniversary is referred to as the Jamestown 2007 Commemoration." > > Throughout > > this introductory exhibition Jamestown is not the beleaguered > > settlement > > cheered on against all odds, but is a hothouse laboratory for > > conflict, > > oppression and perhaps accommodation. > > > > > > > > A similar, though slightly less polemical, vision suffuses the major > > Settlement exhibition, with its artifacts, textual panels, statues and > > dioramas. (Thomas E. Davidson was the curator and Gallagher & > > Associates the > > designers. ) When the institution was founded 50 years ago, > > accompanying > > exhibitions were about Virginia's British heritage and great > > achievements by > > Virginians. Now the theme is: "Three Cultures, One Century: America's > > Story." Jamestown becomes archetypal not because it laid the > > foundations for > > British influence on American political culture, eventually enshrining > > notions of rights and representation, but because it established a > > pattern > > of conflict with Indians and enslavement of Africans - something > > that is > > here homogenized into a more vague multicultural interaction. > > > > > > > > The first major galleries are devoted to the three cultures. They > > include > > descriptions of local Indian tribes (largely based on Smith's > > writings) > > accompanying a life-size diorama of a forest hunt; a depiction of West > > Central African ways of life with a diorama showing a man smoking > > outside a > > hut, a world from which the first blacks in Virginia had been > > wrested; and > > a depiction of an Elizabethan-era London street. The Indians, we > > read, were > > "in harmony with the land that sustained them" and formed an > > "advanced, > > complex society of families and tribes." English society - the > > society > > that gave us the King James Bible and Shakespeare along with > > stirrings of > > democratic argument - is described as offering "limited > > opportunity" in > > which a "small elite" were landowners; in London, we are told, > > "life was > > difficult," with social dislocation, low wages, unemployment, etc. > > > > > > > > True enough about England, except for the lack of perspective and > > the whiffs > > of implied equivalence between vastly different universes. Less > > true with > > its idea of an "advanced complex society" of Powhatans: all human > > societies, > > even agrarian ones, are complex in their methods of organization; > > in this > > case there is little information to suggest much more among these > > 30 warring > > tribes bound by a strong ruler's conquest. The overall impact of this > > three-culture mélange is only to diminish a visitor's sense of > > English culture. > > > > > > > > But finally the depiction of the three cultures begins to seem > > irrelevant, > > because it is never really shown that "it is from the interaction > > of these > > different cultural traditions that 17th century Virginia society > > was born." > > > > In what way, for example, apart from name places and types of food, > > was > > Powhatan culture a major influence on Virginia society? The > > continued state > > of conflict with the Indians was a major influence, in which > > negotiations, > > accommodations and episodes of trade were punctuated with battle. That > > conflict was not a simple matter. It was a confrontation between > > alien and > > opposing cultures possessing unequal powers, a conflict that has > > accompanied most cultures' migratory histories, from ancient times > > to our own. > > > > > > > > As for the influence of West Central African culture, with its > > described > > political hierarchies, and its own internal history of enslavement > > through > > conquest (referred to in the exhibition's text), it is also > > difficult to see > > just how Angolan or Kongo culture shaped early-17th-century > > Virginia. Even > > in later years the cultures created by American slaves are not > > replications > > of African cultures but distant echoes of it, something hinted at > > in one of > > the exhibition's later galleries. > > > > > > > > During the entire formative period of Jamestown - from 1607 > > through 1619, > > when the nature of the settlement was established and its economy > > finally > > began to find a footing with the growing of tobacco - there were no > > Africans in Virginia at all. The first black chattel servants were > > brought > > to Jamestown during that latter year almost by accident, just as > > representative democracy was also being established. These unfortunate > > 20-some prisoners were looted during a piratical English attack on a > > Portuguese slave ship. Systematic slavery doesn't appear to begin in > > Virginia for decades. > > > > > > > > So the idea of mutual interaction is not too convincing. Still, > > there is > > much to learn in the exhibition's unfolding: it touches on the > > European > > drive for colonial power, on sea navigation, the establishment of > > Jamestown, > > the story of Pocahontas, conflicts with Indians, the discovery of > > tobacco as > > a major source of income leading to the development of Virginia's > > gentlemen > > farmers (and the drive toward the importation of slaves), the > > evolution of > > Virginia's legislature. But John Smith's extraordinary interactions > > with the > > Powhatan chief - matching him as a wary warrior and negotiator > > - are not > > explored. The dominant statues in the exhibition galleries are of the > > Powhatan rulers, Wahunsonacock and Opechancanough, along with the > > African > > Ndongo ruler, Queen Njinga, who fought against the Portuguese and > > from whose > > lands the first blacks brought to America were pulled. > > > > > > > > So what exactly is being celebrated here? A closing gallery makes some > > suggestions: "Principles of Law and Justice," "Exploration and > > Discovery," > > "Representative Government." But also "Displacement of Indigenous > > People" > > and "Servitude and Injustice." What a change from the Tercentennial > > when > > Jamestown was the symbol of America's birth and President Theodore > > Roosevelt, Mark Twain and Booker T. Washington spoke. On the 350th > > anniversary Queen Elizabeth II made her first royal trip to the United > > States, and she is expected to come this time as well. But what > > will she > > find? Not the triumph of British influence, but the triumph of > > ambiguity, > > discomfort and vague multiculturalism. > > > > > > > > Of course much has changed in 50 years; much had to. Those 1957 > > celebrations > > themselves provided evidence of the sins of the past: the Virginia > > Chamber > > of Commerce withdrew some invitations to festivities after it found > > out they > > were sent to distinguished Virginians who happened to be black. > > Clearly too > > it is impossible to understand Jamestown without understanding the > > fate of > > Indian tribes. And, despite its flaws, the Settlement's exhibition > > does much > > to spur a greater understanding of Jamestown. > > > > > > > > But the impulse to commemorate rather than celebrate is a sign of how > > rigidly the Jamestown affair and its aftermath are now being > > seen. And > > unfortunately an extraordinary culture unable to celebrate itself > > and its > > past, with all its imperfections and failings, is not likely > > to have a > > clear vision of the present and future. > > > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the > > instructions > > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html