Latest / New Discoveries at Jamestown / 01 - New Discoveries at Jamestown by John L. Cotter, J. Paul Hudson

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01 - New Discoveries at Jamestown by John L. Cotter, J. Paul Hudson · New Discoveries at Jamestown

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  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. This recording is by Mark Smith
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  Speaker 1: of Simpsonville, South Carolina. New Discoveries at Jamestown, Site of
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  Speaker 1: the first successful English settlement in America, by John L.
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  Speaker 1: Cotter and J. Paul Hudson, Printed in Washington, d c.
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  Speaker 1: Nineteen fifty seven. Preface Jamestown, a name of first rank
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  Speaker 1: among historic names, saw the birth of English America. Here
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  Speaker 1: on an island in the James River, in the heart
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  Speaker 1: of Tidewater, Virginia. The English carved a settlement out of
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  Speaker 1: the wilderness. It grew from a rude, palisaded fort into
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  Speaker 1: a busy community, and then into a small town that
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  Speaker 1: enjoyed many of the comforts of daily living. For thirteen
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  Speaker 1: years until sixteen twenty, Virginia was the only English colony
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  Speaker 1: on the American mainland. Jamestown served this colony as its
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  Speaker 1: place of origin and as its capital for ninety two
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  Speaker 1: years from sixteen oh seven to sixteen ninety nine. After
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  Speaker 1: its first century of prominence and leadership, Jamestown entered a
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  Speaker 1: long decline precipitated in seventeen hundred by the removal of
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  Speaker 1: the seat of government to Williamsburg. Its residents drifted away,
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  Speaker 1: its streets grew silent, its buildings decayed, and even its
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  Speaker 1: lots and former public places became cultivated fields. Time passed
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  Speaker 1: and much was forgotten or obscured. So it was when
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  Speaker 1: it became a historic area in part in eighteen ninety three,
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  Speaker 1: and when the whole island became devoted to historical purposes
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  Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty four. Since these dates, the Association for
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  Speaker 1: the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities and the National Park Service
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  Speaker 1: have worked toward the preservation of all that still exists
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  Speaker 1: of old Jamestown and are dedicated to learning its story
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  Speaker 1: more completely. Thus the American people can more fully understand
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  Speaker 1: and enjoy their historic heritage of Jamestown. A great deal
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  Speaker 1: of study along many lines has been required, and much
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  Speaker 1: more is still needed to fill the many gaps. Libraries
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  Speaker 1: have been searched for pictures, documents and plans, Land records
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  Speaker 1: have been carefully scrutinized, and old existing landmarks studied. Seventeenth
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  Speaker 1: century buildings and objects still surviving in England, America and
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  Speaker 1: elsewhere have been viewed, as well as museum collections. A
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  Speaker 1: key part of the search has been the systematic excavation
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  Speaker 1: of the town site itself in order to bring to
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  Speaker 1: light the information and objects long buried there. This is
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  Speaker 1: the aspect of the broad Jamestown study that is told
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  Speaker 1: in this publication, particularly as it relates to the material
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  Speaker 1: things large and small, of daily life in Jamestown in
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  Speaker 1: the seventeenth century. These valuable objects are a priceless part
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  Speaker 1: of the Jamestown that exists today. Collectively they form one
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  Speaker 1: of the finest groups of such early material that has
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  Speaker 1: been assembled anywhere. Although most are broken and few are intact,
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  Speaker 1: they would not be traded for better preserved in more
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  Speaker 1: perfect examples that do exist elsewhere. These things were the
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  Speaker 1: property and the possessions of the men and women who lived, worked,
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  Speaker 1: and died at Jamestown. It was because of these people
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  Speaker 1: who handled and used them in their daily living, and
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  Speaker 1: because of what they accomplished, that Jamestown is one of
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  Speaker 1: our best remembered historic places. Written April sixth, nineteen fifty
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  Speaker 1: six by Charles E. Hatch, Junior, Colonial National Historical Park
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  Speaker 1: and of preface