Patrick Henry and Ken Burns on Church Hill; tall sailing ships at Rocketts Landing; a sound and light show in the Museum District; and exhibitions, presentations and special events throughout the city and state: They are all part of Virginia’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
The coordination of the General Assembly-mandated Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission emphasizes the significance of the commonwealth’s contribution “To Form a More Perfect Union.” Using the phrase as a theme, VA250 strives to educate Virginians about the history of their state, country and system of government and engage them in events that tell that story. The commission’s work continues into 2032 and the anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown, the conflict that effectively ended the war.
Telling Tough History Well
“It’s quite powerful to walk in these places, often on the day the event happened,” reflects Cheryl Wilson, the commission’s executive director. “The years separate you, but you’re standing in the exact spot.”
Wilson has served as a legislative assistant in the General Assembly for 35 years and as such worked on the statewide commemorations for the Civil War at 150, World War I at 100 and World War II at 75, among others. Those events led to the creation of the current model, involving statewide partners. They also inform the present project; for example, specific concentration by VA250 on the Black and female experiences are in part based on the remembrances of the 1619 arrival of enslaved Africans in Virginia and the 1920 ratification of women’s suffrage.
However, the current commemoration marks not just the 250th anniversary of the United States but the significant and enduring role of Virginia during the Revolutionary War and the country’s early years. As the commission’s website notes, “Virginia’s History Is America’s Story.”
VA250 amplifies community commemorations by offering grant funding available through state agencies, such as those for tourism, arts and the humanities. “On top of that, we help them promote their events [and] provide logistical support,” Wilson explains. “We’re there as a resource.”
Each state supports a similar commission, but Virginia’s is one of the most robust. “This is how you tell tough history well,” Wilson says.
Among VA250’s signature events are three sold-out reenactments of Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech on March 23 at Historic St. John’s Church in Richmond; the Virginia International Tattoo in Norfolk April 24-27 featuring civilian and military performers from seven nations; Independence Day pageantry at Fort Monroe in Hampton on July 4 and at River’s Edge Park in Roanoke on July 5; and the recently ended commemoration of Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824 visit to Virginia. Dozens more locally sponsored events will take place across the commonwealth.
An interactive mobile museum experience called “Out of Many, One” will travel Virginia for three years. (Photo by Jay Paul)
An interactive mobile museum experience called “Out of Many, One” was launched in Roanoke in January. The expandable trailer will travel for three years with the goal of having students from every middle school in the state tour the exhibit, which includes videos, photos and touchscreen displays highlighting the roles of ordinary Virginians as well as famous historical figures. Similarly, the trailer’s exterior displays an array of faces — some famous, some folks. VA250 wants to lift up the awareness of this semiquincentennial moment and perhaps inspire visitors to both attend events in their localities and volunteer to assist in the productions.
The General Assembly chartered the commission in 2020. “Proud to say we were one of the first to start thinking about it,” says Jamie Bosket, the president of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. During 2017 and 2018, the VMHC (formerly the Virginia Historical Society, which marks its bicentennial in 2031) contacted museum leadership statewide to start the process for remembrance. “That led into VMHC encouraging the General Assembly to create a formal commission, which they did, named us as part of the executive committee, and so the rest is history.”
Jamie Bosket, president of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture (Photo by Carlos Bernate)
Bosket already knew of significant dates and ways to examine the complexities of history that would encompass everyone. “As individuals, we celebrate our birthday,” he says. “But it’s not just about the day we were born; we talk about the life we’ve lived. And I think commemorations are best done when everyone can see their connectivity to it, when you can actually talk about a journey, not just a point in time.”
Liberating History
The museum’s keystone contribution toward the commemoration is “Give Me Liberty: Virginia & the Forging of a Nation,” a five-section, 5,000-square-foot exhibition created in collaboration with the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. It opens at the VMHC on March 22 and runs through Jan. 4, 2026, after which it will travel to the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. A version of the showcase will be installed at Richmond International Airport in July 2026.
“Yes, we are borrowing those words from Patrick Henry’s speech,” Bosket says. “[They] are as interesting and compelling now as they were then, especially when you consider them in different dimensions. What did ‘give me liberty’ mean then, and what does it mean now? What are our aspirations for what it should mean? The exhibit will take you a bit on that journey. … You will see all the iconic people that played a huge role and people you may not have heard of who were caught up in history. And, in addition, there’s some real showstopper artifacts in the mix.”
Among the objects in the VMHC “Give Me Liberty” exhibit is the whalebone paper cutter associated with Patrick Henry’s famous speech. (Photo courtesy Virginia Museum of History & Culture)
Among the items showcased are the whalebone paper cutter that Henry used to emphasize “death” in his speech and a pair of his eyeglasses which, one observer remarked, brought to mind a knight raising a helmet’s visor when Henry lifted them to the top of his head. A portrait of a young George Washington, proudly posed in his British regimental uniform, will be displayed near the sword he carried in service of the Crown during the French and Indian War. His journey from loyal citizen of the British empire to leader of a breakaway republic is one part of a complicated story.
But far from focusing on the Founding Fathers, the exhibition also portrays the roles of Indigenous and enslaved peoples, who fought on both sides of the war — Virginia’s last royal governor, John Murray, the fourth Earl of Dunmore, offered freedom to those who rallied to the British standard, while others hoped the Revolutionary cause would lead to liberty. The contributions of women are highlighted as well. For example, Clementina Rind took over her husband’s Williamsburg printing business after his death and continued producing official documents and the Virginia Gazette newspaper as the first female newspaper printer and publisher in Virginia.
Additional VA250 offerings from the museum include smaller versions of the signature exhibition, which will be traveling the commonwealth from March 2025 through December 2027, and a “Give Me Liberty” book written by the curators and scholars behind the exhibit, coming in June. A multiseason podcast, “Revolution Revisited,” examines the origins and impacts of the war. “Virginia Explorer: The American Revolution in Virginia Virtual Tour” will present 360-degree views of the VMHC and historic sites across the state, and “Civics Connects” provides educational materials about civics and government for middle school students and teachers.
In March 2026, a new exhibition called “We the People” will highlight the diverse nationalities that immigrated to the United States and the major movements of people that made Virginia and the nation what they are today.
In June 2026, in cooperation with the city of Richmond and Operation Sail, an international organization that commemorates maritime history, the VMHC will sponsor the visit of several tall ships to Rocketts Landing. They will be part of a flotilla of 60 masted ships from 20 countries that depart New Orleans in May 2026 for ports of call along the Gulf and East coasts. The ships will converge in Norfolk after the visit to Richmond.
And there’s a party — a big one — in July 2026. The celebration will take place outside the museum and present the nation’s history in a 15-minute video that will be projected on the Arthur Ashe Boulevard facade of the VMHC. Many more details to follow.
First Person
Christy Coleman, executive director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, emphasizes that the VA250 effort is not only about giving voice to the famous figures. This is a story, as Coleman says, of ordinary people living through extraordinary times. “When we started this whole endeavor, we wanted to stress the importance of the idea that a revolution is more than a war,” she explains. “From that perspective, the cultural institutions, in starting our work, were really adamant in letting the history drive, to explore areas the public may be not aware of, which means covering a wide territory and diving deep into what happened.”
Modern Americans often forget or perhaps don’t know that support for the independence movement was not unanimous in the colonies. According to the National Constitution Center, approximately 20% were loyal to the British crown — some of whom encountered violence or even lost their lives — while another quarter were largely neutral. Thus, the eight-year conflict was a civil war as well as a fight for independence from a wide-ranging British authority that included the Crown, its taxes and the sanctioned Anglican church.
Reasons for the war were more complicated than “Schoolhouse Rock” taught, too. The Stamp Act is infamous, but the reason for it — garrisoning British forts to prevent conflict between the Indigenous peoples and restless American colonists and wealthy property owners (including Washington and Jefferson) looking to expand westward into Native lands — is less well-remembered. Among Jefferson’s list of grievances against King George III in the 1776 Declaration of Independence was that he had “endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.”
Stephen R. Adkins, chief of the Chickahominy tribe since 2001, is a member of the VA250 executive committee. (Photo by Marcus Ingram)
Those lines are recalled by Stephen R. Adkins, the chief of the Chickahominy tribe since 2001 and a member of the VA250 executive committee. He’s an advocate for Virginia’s federally recognized tribes and a frequent speaker on the history and memory of his people. When asked to join the VA250 commission, Adkins considered what the nation’s formation meant then, especially for Native peoples, and what it means today.
The hook for Adkins is Jefferson’s statement, also in the Declaration, that all men are created equal. Adkins realizes that Jefferson didn’t include Native Americans or Black people in the statement, “but the same creator who made him made me,” he says.
He notes that Jefferson cited Native peoples’ warfare while leaving out colonists’ brutal reprisals. Both sides launched attacks, and treaties were repeatedly made and broken, as the Europeans and the Native American population battled for land and dominance.
During the Revolution, promises of improved conditions led some Native Americans to fight for the British while others fought for the Colonies. “The political machinations even then …” Adkins says. He also cites the early 20th century, when Virginia authorities classified Native peoples as Black, denying their heritage. “Black and brown people were divided when we should’ve been allied against the oppression of the nominal culture.
“You see, these kinds of things were in my psyche when I was thinking about the invitation,” Adkins reflects. He decided to join the commission in part because, when he lectures at high schools and universities, “without exception all of them ask, ‘Why am I only hearing about this now?’”
Adkins views the VA250 initiative as a way for Native Americans as well as Black Americans to reclaim their history within that of the United States. “We can tell our story of resilience and resistance but also building blocks we contributed to create the greatest country in the world,” he says. “Even with all our faults and political turmoil, ... we got to work hard to maintain those basic principles upon which the U.S. was built so that we can engage in free civil discourse and uphold the rights to which the founding documents entitle us.”
Patrick Henry delivered his “liberty or death” speech at Henrico Parish Church, now known as Historic St. John’s Church. (Photo courtesy Richmond Region Tourism)
The Lamp of Experience
The reenactment at Historic St. John’s Church of Patrick Henry’s “give me liberty” speech may be the longest-running theatrical experience in Richmond. The anniversary performances on March 23 have been sold out for months. The filmmaker Ken Burns will speak, and the 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. programs will be streamed at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture so visitors can view the program there.
In March 1775, some 122 delegates from the far corners of Virginia crammed into what was then called the Henrico Parish Church; it was said to be the only room in Richmond big enough to hold the convention. The location also put distance between the delegates and the capitol at Williamsburg, where the Royal Governor Lord Dunmore, who had disbanded the colony’s ruling House of Burgesses, presided.
The convention caused a commotion in Richmond town, which then had a population short of 1,000 (about half of whom were enslaved). The curious went to peer at the windows and attempted to hear the goings-on inside.
Long tradition maintains that one onlooker, 27-year-old Edward Carrington, heard Henry’s speech and was so taken with its power that he remarked to those nearby that, when the time came, he wanted to be buried at that spot. He joined the fight, serving as a lieutenant colonel of artillery in the Continental Army and in the Continental Congress, and later held public offices ranging from the jury foreman in Aaron Burr’s treason trial in Richmond to city mayor (1807-08 and 1809-10). He is buried by the window at Historic St. John’s.
A commemorative event occurred in 1927 using a script created by then state archivist Hamilton James Eckenrode and Richmond News Leader newspaper editor Douglas Southall Freeman, who also portrayed Henry. His voice was broadcast over the airwaves of WRVA radio.
In 1975, actors from the Barksdale Theater — the production company based at the old Hanover Tavern, where Henry briefly tended bar — performed at the church on the anniversary date for invited guests. Burt Edwards headed the cast of 12 and a Barksdale founder, Muriel McAuley, directed. Either McAuley or another founder, Nancy Kilgore, recalled the event in “Going On…” a history of the theater’s first 31 years: “It was humbling, performing in the same spot, on the same wide floorboards, looking through the same windows, sitting in the same pews — everything the same except the moment.”
The program moved that afternoon to the Richmond Coliseum for a show that was open to the public. Several old church pews were brought in as a minimalist set. The audience of 3,000 paid a dollar each for the costumed reenactment, patriotic and historic music performed by Langley Field’s Tactical Air Command Concert Band and the Fort Myer Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, and 18th-century military drills by the Fort Myer George Washington Commander-in-Chief ‘s Guard of the Revolution, dressed in bright Continental Regular uniforms.
A few weeks later, the cameras of WCVE, then the local PBS affiliate, recorded the reenactment at the church, which was broadcast throughout the country. The show was brought back in summer 1976 for the nation’s bicentennial and has continued ever since, presented on Sundays from Memorial Day to Labor Day weekends. In addition, 100 reenactments are presented off-site at schools and special events each year.
The script was fine tuned in the 1990s and the cast rotated, although some members stayed on for decades. The present production is managed by stage veteran Dean Knight, who portrays Richard Henry Lee. “It’s a great part,” he enthuses. “Lee as a speaker is second-only to Henry — and he seconds the resolution to form a militia.”
Stephen P. Wilson, the director of the St. John’s Church Foundation, expects some of the excitement of 1775 to be replicated this year as audiences come and go for the three anniversary shows, each of which has a different Henry. “Some people will hear about this on the news,” Wilson predicts, “and they’ll show up without tickets, and then maybe some of them will be like Edward Carrington at a window.”
For more semiquincentennial events in Richmond and across the commonwealth, visit va250.org.
Photo courtesy Scotchtown
Leaving Scotchtown
Scotchtown is the only original home of Patrick Henry still standing, and it’s the dwelling he left to deliver the “Give me liberty or give me death” speech. A special ticketed program, “Henry’s Ride for Liberty,” takes place at Scotchtown from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 15.
The meaning of liberty at the time will be considered through living history tableaus portraying Henry, members of his family and their enslaved workers. At noon, a panel discussion convenes with interpreters representing Henry, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Armistead Lafayette, a New Kent County enslaved man who became a valuable spy for the Revolutionary cause and served with the Marquis de Lafayette. Then, Henry will mount his horse for the journey to Richmond.
The event is cooperatively sponsored by Hanover County’s committee of VA250, the St. John’s Church Foundation, and Preservation Virginia, which maintains and operates the house and grounds. Tickets are $10 at preservationvirginia.org.
Ken Burns Does the Revolution
The renowned documentarian Ken Burns, with co-directors Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt and the writer Geoffrey Ward, is releasing a six-part, 12-hour series titled “The American Revolution.” Actor Peter Coyote narrates the film and 200 voices of those who lived through the history are provided by notables such as Kenneth Branagh, Josh Brolin, Hope Davis, Morgan Freeman, Michael Keaton and Meryl Streep. The series debuts on PBS television, pbs.org and the PBS app on Sunday, Nov. 16.
A screening of one episode will occur at 7 p.m. March 23 at the Altria Theater. The event will include a panel discussion with Burns, Botstein and three historians who participated in the film.
As of press time, a limited number of tickets ($33) are still available. altriatheater.com
