Reserve Your Seat and Subscribe to the Six-Part Series Showcasing Prominent Educators, Scholars, Authors and Academy Award winner

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., January 4, 2024 – Jamestown Settlement’s popular Director’s Series returns for the 2024 season on January 17, featuring Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee R. Guidera. The yearlong series will showcase the work of prominent scholars, authors and an Academy Award winner.

The Director’s Series, now in its third year and sponsored by TowneBank, allows guests to join Christy S. Coleman, executive director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, as she sits down with scholars and public figures for lively and enlightening conversations surrounding our shared legacies of American history. Coleman, a public historian, accomplished screenwriter and history consultant for historical films and documentary programs, was awarded the prestigious David McCullough Prize in American History in 2023.

Conversations will take place at 7 p.m. in Jamestown Settlement’s Robins Foundation Theater. Guests can reserve their seats in-person with a live audience or virtually for $10 per program or $50 to subscribe to the six-part series. Admission is limited and tickets must be purchased online in advance at jyfmuseums.org/events/directors-series.

Special guests in the 2024 Director’s Series at Jamestown Settlement will feature:

January 17: Secretary Aimee R. Guidera

Aimee R. Guidera is the Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia, overseeing public education from early childhood to postsecondary learning. During her 35-year career, she has championed high expectations for every student and the changes needed to deliver on that commitment.

March 20: Joseph McGill, Jr.

Joseph McGill has a 30-year career in public history. He is founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, which allows people to sleep in extant slave dwellings to raise awareness and preservation of these often-neglected structures. His new book, "Sleeping with the Ancestors," was released in 2023.

May 2024: Ruth E. Carter

Ruth Carter is a two-time Academy Award-winning American costume designer for film and television, best known for her collaborations with Spike Lee, Ryan Coogler and Steven Spielberg. Her visit coincides with the May 11, 2024 opening of her “Afrofuturism in Costume Design” exhibit at Jamestown Settlement. Exact date to be announced.

September 18: Dr. Ned Blackhawk

Ned Blackhawk, an enrolled member of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada, is the Howard R. Lamar Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University, co-director of the NYU-Yale American Indian Sovereignty Project and winner of the National Book Award for "The Rediscovery of America."

October 16: Dr. Julian Zelizer

Julian E. Zelizer is the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University, a New York Times best-selling author, CNN political analyst and a regular guest on NPR’s “Here and Now.” His latest book is "Myth America."

November 20: Dr. Edward L. Ayers

Ed Ayers is a two-time Bancroft prize-winning historian, University of Richmond professor and president emeritus, and former University of Virginia Dean of Arts and Sciences. He has been honored as National Professor of the Year and received the National Humanities Medal in 2012. He is the author of numerous books, most recently “American Visions: The United States, 1800-1860.”

The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, an educational agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, raises awareness and understanding of the shared legacies of American history through its two history museums, Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, and a myriad of education programs.

Jamestown Settlement, open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s days, is located at 2110 Jamestown Road near Williamsburg, Va. For more information, call (757) 253-4838 or visit jyfmuseums.org. Follow the museums on social media @jyfmuseums.org.

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Media Contacts

Tracy Perkins, tracy.perkins@jyf.virginia.gov or (757) 253-4114

Meghan van Joosten, meghan.vanjoosten@jyf.virginia.gov or (757) 253-4175