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Conversation: Meet a Nation Builder
Find a Nation Builder, a significant figure of 18th-century Williamsburg, around Palace Green for some informal conversation.
Open to the Public
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Film: Williamsburg – The Story of a Patriot
See the 1957 film, in its vibrant 70mm format, that tells the story of a Virginia planter deciding to join the patriot cause.
Open to the Public
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For Donors: Visit a Nation Builder
Donors who have access to the donor reception center in the St. George Tucker House as part of their giving advantages are invited to meet with a Nation Builder.
Donor Exclusive
Free Event Ticket
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Homeschool Performance: Nation Builder
Step into the past with a Nation Builder. Through stories, discussion, and questions, explore the hopes, choices, and challenges they faced.
Art Museums Admission
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Performance: A Dance of Dissolution
In May 1774, the Washingtons must decide where their family will stand publicly and privately when the government of Virginia is dissolved.
Art Museums Admission
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Performance: Before Revolution: Fairfax Resolves
Join George Mason in 1774 as he reflects on the philosophies, conversations, and circumstances of others and witness how he uses these to create The Fairfax Resolves.
Art Museums Admission
Map & Program Guide
Download our printable map and guide to help plan your path around the largest outdoor educational living museum in the country.
Click to Download-
Performance: Designing Virginia's Seal
Join George Mason and George Wythe as committee members to design the new seal of a free and independent Virginia.
Art Museums Admission
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Performance: Finding Jane Vobe
A sneak peek behind the scenes into the research behind Colonial Williamsburg's newest Nation Builder Jane Vobe.
Art Museums Admission
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Performance: Good Progress
Meet Mrs. Wager, teacher of the Williamsburg Bray School, as she debates the nature of her school with Elizabeth DeRosario, a free Black woman.
Art Museums Admission
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Performance: Pursuing Happiness
Witness imagined conversations between Thomas Jefferson, John Locke, and King George III to discover the ghosts behind Jefferson’s drafts of the Declaration of Independence.
Art Museums Admission
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Performance: The Offering
Colonel William Byrd III, one of the most powerful loyalists in Virginia, has suddenly abandoned his allegiance to the king by seeking a commission in the Continental Army.
Art Museums Admission
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Performance: The Washingtons' Road to Revolution
Join the Washingtons before he leaves for Congress in 1774 to learn about how the year’s events affected life both publicly and privately on the Road to Revolution.
Art Museums Admission
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Performance: Visit a Nation Builder
Step into the past with a Nation Builder. Through stories, discussion, and questions, explore the hopes, choices, and challenges they faced.
CW Admission
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Performance: Visit with Ann Wager
Step into the past with Ann Wager, Educator of free and enslaved children. Through stories and questions, explore the hopes, choices, and challenges she faced.
CW Admission
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Performance: Visit with Colonel George Washington
Step into the past with George Washington, Colonel of the Virginia Regiment. Through stories and questions, explore the hopes, choices, and challenges he faced.
CW Admission
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Performance: Visit with General George Washington
Step into the past with George Washington, father of the country. Through stories and questions, explore the hopes, choices, and challenges he faced.
CW Admission
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Performance: Visit with George Mason
Step into the past with George Mason, father of American rights. Through stories and questions, explore the hopes, choices, and challenges he faced.
CW Admission
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Performance: Visit with George Wythe
Step into the past with George Wythe, teacher, lawyer, judge, and revolutionary. Through stories and questions, explore the hopes, choices, and challenges he faced.
CW Admission
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Performance: Visit with James Armistead Lafayette
Step into the past with James Armistead Lafayette, Enslaved Revolutionary Spy.
CW Admission
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Performance: Visit with Jane Vobe
Step into the past with Jane Vobe, keeper of the tavern "where all the best people resorted". Through stories and questions, explore the hopes, choices, and challenges she faced.
CW Admission
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Performance: Visit with Marquis de Lafayette
Step into the past with the Marquis de Lafayette, French hero of two worlds. Through stories and questions, explore the hopes, choices, and challenges he faced.
CW Admission
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Performance: Visit with Martha Washington
Step into the past with Martha Washington, our Nation’s first First Lady. Through stories and questions, explore the hopes, choices, and challenges she faced.
CW Admission
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Performance: Visit with Patrick Henry
Step into the past with Patrick Henry, the Revolution’s son of thunder. Through stories and questions, explore the hopes, choices, and challenges he faced.
CW Admission
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Performance: Visit with Reverend Gowan Pamphlet
Step into the past with Gowan Pamphlet, revolutionary Black Baptist preacher. Through stories and questions, explore the hopes, choices, and challenges he faced.
CW Admission
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Performance: Visit with Thomas Jefferson
Step into the past with Thomas Jefferson, The Rebellious Philosophe.
CW Admission
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Performance: Washington and the Shawnee War
Washington had a long history with the Shawnee as allies and enemies. Come hear his perspectives on the war against the Shawnee in the frontiers of Virginia in 1774.
Art Museums Admission
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Presentation: Excavation to Programming
Join a Nation Builder and a Colonial Williamsburg Archaeologist as they discuss important sites in Williamsburg from the 18th century to today.
Art Museums Admission
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Special Event: Celebrating Lafayette
A celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824 Return Visit to Williamsburg with music, pomp, and military salutes.
Open to the Public
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Special Event: Custis Square Community Open House
Join us for a day of archaeology at Custis Square! Free flow exploration all day and conversations with George and Martha Washington.
Open to the Public
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Special Event: Did You Know? History Game Show
Come on down to the Hennage Auditorium to test your knowledge of history. Expand your mind! Impress your friends! Win a prize! Featuring special guest Thomas Jefferson.
Art Museums Admission
Event Ticket
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Special Event: Il Était Une Fois-Once Upon a Time
In this dramatic presentation, the Marquis de Lafayette returns to Williamsburg on October 20, 1824, and reflects upon the people and events that he experienced in his life.
CW Admission
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Special Event: Lafayette's "Homecoming"
Commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette’s Honorary Degree of Laws from William & Mary.
Open to the Public
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Special Event: Mr. Jefferson and The Giant Moose
An amazing tale in which Jefferson obsessed over a very large, very dead moose that he believed could help quash early French arrogance toward the fledgling American republic.
Art Museums Admission
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Special Event: The Crisis of 1798
How must a democracy work if it is to survive? How should citizens disagree? What is a loyal opposition? Explore these questions through America's constitutional crisis in 1798.
Art Museums Admission