In the shadow of the debacle of the federal shutdown, the Virginia House of Delegates has commended archeologist Bill Kelso for his accomplishments with the discoveries at Historic Jamestown, as reported by the Virginia Gazette.
2014 will mark the 20th year since Kelso used his spade to turn up the first evidence of the remains of James Fort. Since then, he and his Jamestown Rediscovery team have enabled historians to recover vital affirmation of our heritage from the myths of failure and indolence to enlighten us about our ancestors’ struggles and back-breaking work to establish the first permanent English settlement in the New World. They brought with them their customs, industry and self-governance principles that evolved into what we today enjoy as a nation, which is Jamestown’s most lasting legacy.
The House of Delegates offered its commendation at the October 2 inaugural meeting of the recently formed Jamestown Discovery Society, which has been established to offer a means of public support for continuing the work of Dr. Kelso and the Jamestown Rediscovery team. The creation of this new donor group and contact information was announced in the Jamestown Rediscovery Newsletter.
Last month, we posted more evidence of the preservation of our national heritage with the completion of phase I of the repair and restoration of the 17th century church tower. Andrew Zellers-Frederick, Director of the Historic Jamestown Fund at Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, expects that there will be an announcement of the scholarly finds (of which there were several) once there is mutual agreement on them. As we have noted before, he will offer members of the Jamestowne Society a comprehensive update on the project and its future at their November 2 meeting in Richmond.
