Liberty Celebration
July 4 at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown
This Fourth of July, take in Liberty Celebration and salute the 246th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The American Revolution Museum at Yorktown offers a special lineup July 4 to mark the patriotic occasion.
From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., visitors can enjoy interpretive programs, artillery demonstrations and learn about the challenges that faced our nation’s founders, including those who signed the Declaration of Independence, as well as those for whom the new nation’s rights of freedom and liberty did not yet apply.
A Declaration of Independence broadside, printed on or about July 18, 1776. JYF2009.12. Gift of The Gladys & Franklin Clark Foundation.
Indoors and out, enjoy these liberty experiences:
- See a rare July 1776 broadside of the Declaration of Independence duplicated in mass to spread the word of liberty from town to town featured in an immersive gallery exhibit surrounded by signatures of this famous document’s signers.
- Catch “Liberty Fever” – the museum’s introductory film, shown throughout the day in the main theater.
- Take part in patriotic programming in outdoor re-creations of a Continental Army encampment and Revolution-era farm.
- Join in the “Great American 4th of July Sing-along” led by the Cigar Box String Band, playing songs from American history that everyone knows by heart at 12, 2 and 3:30 p.m. Enjoy songs played on the fiddle, banjo and bones.
- “Meet John Rollison” at 12:30 and 2:15 p.m. with character interpreter James Cameron as John Rollison (c.1723-1780), a free Black man from York County, Va., who signed the Oath of Allegiance to the Patriot government in 1777 and provided supplies to Patriot militia troops and navy.
- Throughout the day, enjoy one of six 30-minute indoor presentations on the events that led to the Declaration of Independence and the people inspired by its message.
- Share your thoughts on liberty by adding them to the “Liberty Tree,” an interactive on a 17-foot sculptural tree, rooted in the museum galleries.
Artillery & Military Drills
At the Continental Army encampment, historical interpreters describe and depict daily routines of American soldiers, with demonstrations of musket and artillery firing, 18th-century surgical and medical practices, and the role of the quartermaster in managing troop supplies. In the artillery amphitheater, feel the thunder of a cannon blast as historical interpreters fire a salute to our nation’s founders during artillery demonstrations at 11 a.m., 3 and 4:30 p.m., weather permitting. At 1:30 p.m., visitors can take part in a militia drill to train as a member of the Virginia militia.
Revolution-era Farm Life
Discover the variety of activities that would have been part of daily life on the farm for both the middling farmers and enslaved people, including cooking, gardening, basket-weaving and pastimes.
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., visitors can learn how families were fed during the disruption of the Revolutionary War. Special programs at the quarter for enslaved people will illustrate what foods were eaten and how they were prepared and preserved. Food preparation is for demonstration purposes only.
About the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown
The American Revolution Museum at Yorktown is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and located on Route 1020 near the Colonial Parkway in Yorktown. Admission tickets can be purchased online or in person.
The American Revolution Museum at Yorktown tells the story of the nation’s founding, capturing the transformational nature and epic scale of the Revolution and its relevance today. Gift shop and café open during museum hours.
Parking at the museum is free for museum visitors. A free shuttle service is available to Historic Yorktown from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the Yorktown Trolley. Learn more about Fourth of July festivities in Historic Yorktown.
The Liberty Celebration special event is included in museum admission: $18.00 for adults, $9.00 for youth ages 6-12 and free for children age 5 and under. A value-priced combination ticket with Jamestown Settlement, a museum of 17th-century Virginia, is $30.00 for adults and $15.00 for ages 6-12. Residents of York County, James City County and the City of Williamsburg, including William & Mary students, receive complimentary admission with proof of residency.
“Liberty Celebration” is funded in part by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Inc. Annual Fund.