Captain Smith, the tides are shifting on the James River
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...
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...
But a different understanding is made explicit here in the two historical museums and outdoor facilities devoted to the Jamestown theme...
Read entire article at New York Times
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...
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...
But a different understanding is made explicit here in the two historical museums and outdoor facilities devoted to the Jamestown theme...