Beloved PBS host Samantha Brown is showcasing local history in Williamsburg. In an upcoming episode, her popular program Places to Love features her visits to Historic Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown Battlefield, and the American Revolution Museum.
Visit Williamsburg recently hosted a premiere event at the Kimball Theatre, where Brown kicked off the evening via Zoom and local attendees enjoyed a sneak peek of the episode.
Brown begins her visit at Jamestowne, home of the first permanent English colony in America and the capital of Virginia until 1699. She marvels as a team of archaeologists dig and discover new 17th century artifacts just inches below the surface.
In nearby Colonial Williamsburg, she explores this living history museum that recreates and tells the story of the rise of this powerful Virginia colony. Here she meets “Patrick Henry” in the local wig shop and strolls the historic streets, stopping in at the Bray School, the first documented school for free and enslaved blacks in Virginia. Adjacent to the school, she finds a cluster of grey markers denoting the graves of the original First Baptist Church and Cemetery and one of the most significant archaeological historical sites in the country.
Founded in 1776, the church has moved to a different location in Williamsburg, but its congregation still preaches the message of freedom for all, as Brown finds out when she meets a congregant whose family can trace its American roots back to the 1630’s.
More than just a fascinating historical destination, Williamsburg is also a diverse community, and one immigrant family is bringing the heart of India to Williamsburg at a restaurant called Masala Craft. Punjabi food brimming with spices and peppers--all grown on site—offers travelers an unexpected treat.
Virginia is known for its museums, but the Virginia Musical Instrument Museum is a hidden gem. Located in the back of a piano sales showroom, it boasts the favorite instruments of musical legends as well as obscure items, including early Thomas Edison inventions like cylinder records, and coin-operated machines that play a mean violin. It also contains the Virginia Musical Hall of Fame, featuring artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Patsy Cline.
No visit to Virginia would be complete without a nod to the American Revolution. Brown is treated to a fife and drum band performance in Yorktown before paying a visit to the Yorktown battlefields. Here she learns how the fife and drums were used for battlefield communications during the Revolutionary War.
Delving deeper, Brown visits the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, which includes a living history museum that recreates a period-appropriate troop encampment and farm. Here, she is privileged to witness a naturalization ceremony welcoming new citizens into the fold with a multi-cannon salute.
Samantha Brown’s Places to Love: Williamsburg airs Friday, Feb. 13, 8:30 p.m. on WHRO TV 15. You can also watch it on WHRO+.