Electronic Field Trips Announced!

Colonial Williamsburg has released the list of Electronic Field Trips for the 2007-2008 academic year. I have reprinted the summary here. For more information on cost and sign up procedures, visit the Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip page. My daughter is very excited about the episode entitled, “Emissaries of Peace,” because it deals with the Cherokee people prior to their march westward. Katherine the Great has discovered, of late, that my maternal family history contains a Cherokee woman named Zula who married a gentleman named Charles Edward Forsythe in Indian Springs, Maryland around 1732. But I digress…check out the listings and sign up today!

JAMESTOWN UNEARTHED
October 11, 2007
Take a look at how history is written and reevaluated as new methods of study are introduced. Explore the myths and misconceptions of Jamestown in 1607: revisit the documents, artifacts, and other evidence through archaeology. Learn how every generation sees the evidence in new ways, and how this affects our understanding of the past.

EMISSARIES OF PEACE (premiere)
November 8, 2007
During the turbulent era of the French and Indian War, the Cherokee people struggled to presere their independence. Follow Cherokee leader Ostenaco and Virginian Henry Timberlake on their 1762 journey from Chota (the capital of the Cherokee nation( to Williamsburg and London in search of lasting peace.

FOUNDERS OR TRAITORS? (premiere)
December 6, 2007
The months of late 1776 were “the times that try men’s souls.” Join Edward Rutledge, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams as they attend a conference with British admiral Lord Howe, hoping to end the American rebellion peacefully. Discover the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and the risks they took.

FOR READY MONEY
January 10, 2008
Join a young merchant apprentice as he learns his lessons in money and accounts. Just as today, everyone in colonial America from gentleman to slave had access to coins, bill, notes, and credit. Discover how the colonial economy worked.

NO MASTER OVER ME
February 7, 2008
Ann Ashby tells the story of her life as a free black during the days of slavery. Discover how she and her husband, Matthew, made a life for their family: Matthew purchased his wife and children and had them freed. This is the story of balancing between slave and free communities in this poignant reminder of what our freedom is really worth.

TREASURE KEEPERS (premiere)
March 6, 2008
You’ve seen their work in every museum --- but what do conservators really do? Learn how conservators prevent or slow the damage caused by “agents of destruction.” Explore how and why preserving history is important for future generations.

THE INDUSTRIOUS TRADESMEN
April 10, 2008
Follow the lives of several journeymen fresh from their apprenticeships in trades and business as they learn how skill and opportunity will impact their careers. Discover which ones will achieve their dreams and become masters of their own shops.