Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown regularly curate special exhibits that explore history in fascinating, fresh ways. Read about past exhibits for a taste of the exciting stories featured in our special exhibits.

FOCUSED: A Century of Virginia Indian Resilience

February 4, 2021 - March 25, 2022

Focused on 100 years of Virginia Indian resiliency, this exhibit featured personal and professional photography collections charting this century of change, from the passage and repeal of the Racial Integrity Act of 1924 to state and federal recognition today.

Forgotten Soldier

June 29, 2019 - July 8, 2020

“Forgotten Soldier” lets visitors discover personal stories of enslaved and free African Americans on both sides of the American Revolution and their contributions toward establishing an independent nation.

TENACITY: Women in Jamestown and Early Virginia

November 10, 2018, - January 5, 2020

This special yearlong exhibition explored little-known, captivating personal stories of real women in Jamestown and the early Virginia colony – women like Anne Burras Laydon, Cockacoeske and Angelo – and their tenacious spirit and impact on a fledgling society.

AfterWARd: The Revolutionary War Veterans Who Built America

June 10 - November 27, 2017

“AfterWARd” chronicled the post-war lives of famous and lesser-known veterans of the Siege of Yorktown. The exhibit explored these historical figures as veterans, allowing visitors to make connections with the lives of soldiers and veterans, past and present.

Bartering for a Continent

June 4 - December 10, 2016

This special exhibit explored the importance of trade between American Indians and English colonists, from the founding of Jamestown through the American Revolution, and the role of Virginia in the development of a new world of exchange in goods and commodities in North America.

Botanical Virginia

December 5, 2015 - February 28, 2016

The beauty and variety of Virginia plant life was showcased in this three-month exhibit opening at Jamestown Settlement. “Botanical Virginia” explored documentation of native plants by naturalist Mark Catesby and botanist John Clayton in the 18th century and the Flora of Virginia Project in the 21st century.

Working and Racing on the Bay: The Chesapeake Log Canoe

September 19, 2014 - September 8, 2015

Curated by The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Va., and featuring objects from its collection, this yearlong exhibition traced the evolution of the dugout canoe through the centuries, from the watercraft of the Powhatan people 400 years ago to multi-log trade vessels and work and racing boats.

Jamestown’s Legacy

March 1, 2013 - January 20, 2014

“Jamestown’s Legacy to the American Revolution” showcased artifacts that would later be featured at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. The exhibit examined the lives of Revolutionary War-era descendants of people associated with 17th-century Jamestown, colonial Virginia’s first capital.

Gateway to the Modern World

November 16, 2011 - August 15, 2012

Exploring the transformational impact of scientific advances, economic developments and social change of the 17th century, this exhibition was organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in cooperation with the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. Sixty-five objects from the VMFA collection were selected to illustrate seven themes in the exhibition.

Werowocomoco: Seat of Power

May 15, 2010 - June 30, 2011

Artifacts spanning 10,000 years from Werowocomoco – Virginia’s original “capital” city and the principal residence of Powhatan, paramount chief of 30-some Indian tribes in Virginia’s coastal region at the time English colonists arrived in 1607 – were shown for the first time in a museum setting in the Jamestown Settlement special exhibition

Jamestown and Bermuda: Virginia Company Colonies

March 1 - October 15, 2009

This special exhibit explored the shared history and links between England’s first two permanent colonies in the New World, on the occasion of Bermuda’s 400th anniversary. It featured more than two dozen artifacts from the Sea Venture underwater archaeological site.

Virginia Company Colonies

March 1- October 15, 2009

Beginning with the wreck of the Sea Venture, upon which Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” is based, the exhibition traced Bermuda’s 400-year history, highlighting its importance as a strategic location and emergence as a premier travel destination in the 20th century.

A New World

July 15 - October 15, 2008

Jamestown Settlement exhibited the 16th-century watercolor drawings of John White from the British Museum’s “A New World: England’s First View of America.” The drawings are the earliest visual record by an Englishman of the flora, fauna and people of the New World.

The World of 1607

April 2007 - April 2008

Presented in four cycles, this exhibition showed early Jamestown as a crossroads of peoples and empires, trade routes and ways of war, and cosmologies and technologies. It put the founding of Jamestown in a global context and focused on worldwide cultural developments during the late 16th and early 17th centuries.