Colonial Williamsburg's Harmony Hunter interviews William and Mary professor Jim Axtell to discover more about the Indian School, called Brafferton, that was build in 1723 on the campus of the College of William and Mary. Axtell discusses the school's primary function as a means to propagate the Christian faith among the Native Americans near Williamsburg.
Colonial Williamsburg's Harmony Hunter interviews author Mike Olmert to discover the significance of outbuildings. Some of the structures discussed in the podcast include: a smokehouse, an outhouse, and a dairy.
There is also a video, or vodcast, that accompanies this podcast, which can be viewed here.
Colonial Williamsburg's Harmony Hunter interviews historian Cary Carson, former Research Vice President. In the podcast, Carson describes how she helped develop programs to integrate African-American history into the preexisting historical narratives offered at Colonial Williamsburg.
To learn more about African-Americans and the institution of slavery in Colonial Williamsburg, visit Williamsburg's African American Experience page.
Colonial Williamsburg's Harmony Hunter interviews Bly Straube to discuss the importance of the well discovered at James Fort on Jamestown Island.
For information regarding the excavation of the well, see the podcast The John Smith Well.
In this podcast, Colonial Williamsburg's Harmony Hunter interviews archaeologist Bill Kelso. Kelso is the director of archeology on Jamestown Island and is currently working on excavating a well that was created in 1609 under the orders of Captain John Smith. Hunter and Kelso discuss the excavation process and the importance of the discovery.
Historian and archaeologist Ivor Noel Humes tells the few details known of the early English colony established on Roanoke Island in 1587. Following on a series of unsuccessful colonization attempts, the "Lost Colony" mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind only the word "Croatoan" carved on a fort gate.
Colonial Williamsburg's curator of zooarcheaology, Joanne Bowen, talks about how the bones left behind from kitchen waste can reveal information about the foodways of people from colonial days through the 19th century.
Colonial Williamsburg manager of museum education discusses the work behind a museum walking tour called "Migrating Cultures," which looks at artifacts brought to the British colonies by colonists or made by them in styles reminiscent of those in their countries of origin.
To discover more about the art on display at Colonial Williamsburg, peruse the The Colonial Williamsburg Art Museums website.
The story of Jamestown continues to unfold as archaeology proceeds at the fort site. One of the discoveries was an abandoned well where early colonists dumped oyster shells, which were studied by Juli Harding, the senior marine scientist at at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. She explains how oysters join the narrative of America's first permanent English settlement.
Note: this podcast is no longer available. To view a transcript of the original podcast, click here.
Buck Woodard of Colonial Williamsburg talks about instances of first contact between explorers and colonists and Native Americans, focusing on the diversity of Native American languages and problems of understanding and translation that arose at these meetings.