Jamestown 400th Anniversary commemorative gold five dollar coin obverse

Jamestown 2007 is the name of the organization which planned the events commemorating the 400th

anniversary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the List of national independence days, date of independen ...

(quadricentennial) of the founding of

Jamestown, Virginia The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent British colonization of the Americas, English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James River, about southwest of present-day Willia ...

in 1607, the first permanent English-speaking settlement in what is now the United States of America. ''America's 400th Anniversary'' was an 18-month-long commemoration including 10 Signature Events, hundreds of community programs and dozens of partner and programs and events. Activities took place throughout

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, in major cities along the East Coast, and in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The 400th anniversary commemoration helped redefine Jamestown's role in American history. Long regarded by many Americans as a failed settlement or a historical footnote, Jamestown's contributions were brought into sharper focus. Jamestown's legacies of democracy, free enterprise and cultural diversity linked the nation's earliest days to contemporary American life. Claims to these legacies were supported by new archeological discoveries by

William Kelso William M. Kelso, C.B.E., Ph.D., F.S.A. (born 30 March 1941), often referred to as Bill Kelso, is an American archaeologist specializing in Virginia's colonial period, particularly the Jamestown settlement. He is currently the Emeritus Director ...

at Historic Jamestowne and new scholarly research by respected historians such as James Horn of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. One of the commemoration's greatest achievements was active participation by the three Jamestown cultures - the

European-American European Americans are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes both people who descend from the first European settlers in the area of the present-day United States and people who descend from more recent European arrivals. Since th ...

colonists,

African-Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

and Virginia Native Americans. While major Jamestown observances have been held every 50 years since 1807, ''America's 400th Anniversary'' marked the first time representatives of all three cultures developed their own events and messages.

UK events

The ''Discovery'', one of Jamestown Settlement's re-created ships, was replaced in early 2007 with a more historically accurate version. The older ship was then transported to the

London Docklands London Docklands is an area of London encompassing the city’s former docks. It is located in inner east and southeast London, in the boroughs of London Borough of Southwark, Southwark, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Tower Hamlets, London ...

, where she has been moored outside the Museum in Docklands in conjunction with the "Journey to the New World: London 1606 to Virginia 1607" temporary exhibition. This exhibition focussed on connections between London and the Virginia settlement, and ran from 23 November 2006 to 13 May 200

Another major special exhibition in the UK for the anniversary has been "A New World: England’s first view of America", running from 15 March to 17 June 2007 at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and focussing on the drawings of John White

US celebrations

In February 2006, it was announced that retired Supreme Court of the United States, Supreme Court

Associate Justice An associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some ...

Sandra Day O'Connor Sandra Day O'Connor (March 26, 1930 – December 1, 2023) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, O' ...

would become the honorary chair of ''America's 400th Anniversary''. (In October 2005, she had accepted the ceremonial role of becoming the 23rd

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest instit ...

, which was founded in nearby Williamsburg in 1693.) The Commonwealth of Virginia made a major commitment to Jamestown 2007 and enlisted the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation as well as large corporate sponsors such as

Verizon Communications Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

and the Norfolk Southern Corp. (which itself has a rich Virginia history, being involved in early railroads; the Norfolk Southern Railway's predecessor railroads, including the

Norfolk and Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

and the

Virginian Railway The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads. History ...

, provided major transportation services for attendees at the 1907 Jamestown Exposition). The commemoration was launched in May 2007 with the 2006 Godspeed Sail, a visit of the replica ship to Alexandria, VA, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, Boston and Newport, RI. Other major events included Tavis Smiley's 2007 State of the Black Union, the American Indian Intertribal Festival and Jamestown Live!, a webcast reaching more than a million students. The centerpiece of the commemoration was America's Anniversary Weekend, a three-day festival and observance held on the weekend of Jamestown's 400th anniversary (May 11–13, 2007). Among other festivities, the Weekend featured performances from high school choirs throughout the country from Newton, Massachusetts to Alabama, coming together in a 1607-member chorus with a 400-member orchestra. In January 2007, the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

held a session at Jamestown, where a speech was given by then U.S. Vice-President

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...

, and Virginia's Governor at the time

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States ...

delivered the "State of the Commonwealth" speech. Queen

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of 32 sover ...

and

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

attended the main ceremonies in May 2007. Participating dignitaries included

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, retired Supreme Court Justice

, actor James Earl Jones, journalists such as

Jim Lehrer James Charles Lehrer ( ; May 19, 1934 – January 23, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. He was the executive editor and a news anchor for the ''PBS News Hour'' on PBS and was known for his role as a debate ...

Gwen Ifill Gwendolyn L. Ifill ( ; September 29, 1955 – November 14, 2016) was an American journalist, television newscaster, and author. In 1999, she became the first African-American woman to host a nationally televised U.S. public affairs program ...

and

Tavis Smiley Tavis Smiley (; born September 13, 1964) is an American talk show host and author. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, and grew up in Bunker Hill, Indiana. After attending Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University, he worked durin ...

, and musicians

Bruce Hornsby Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, folk music, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock music, rock, heartland r ...

, Ricky Skaggs and

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

. The commemoration's major partners included

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in Williamsburg, Virginia. Its historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, wh ...

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

, the U.S. Mint, the

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

, the Virginia Arts Festival and

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

. Jamestown Partners included the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. Some members of Virginia Indian tribes did not attend the festivities, out of concern over what they perceive the settlement to represent for their people.

Royal visit

In November 2006, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom announced that she and her husband,

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

, would make a state visit to the U.S. in May 2007, her first since 1991. She arrived in Virginia on May 3, 2007. Elizabeth II was not only a direct descendant of

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 unti ...

, the settlement's namesake, but also the direct descendant of

George III of the United Kingdom George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great ...

, under whose reign Great Britain lost the same territory in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

Commemorative objects

Jamestown is also the subject of two United States commemorative coins celebrating the 400th anniversary of its settlement. A silver dollar and a gold five dollar coin were issued in 2007. Surcharges from the sale of the coin were donated to Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Secretary of the Interior and Preservation Virginia to support programs that promote the understanding of the legacies of Jamestown.

References

External links