History in Action Volume I-Issue I

Featured Student: Sally Meyer, Class of 2015
This edition of History in Action showcases the work of Sally Meyer, a history student
who graduated from Christopher Newport in 2015. She created this virtual exhibition
during her internship at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum at Colonial
Williamsburg. Acting as a museum education assistant, Sally developed a family guide
for the museum’s exhibits, collaborated in the creation of the online, onsite family
program, RevQuest, wrote two blog entries on museum programming, and taught the
family program “Drawing on George” to homeschooling groups and kindergarteners.
In this journal, we highlight her work on the family guide, which is geared toward
younger audiences as they learn about natural history.
While Sally was at Christopher Newport, she exemplified the mission of the Public History Center at CNU:
inspiring and educating the public about history in meaningful ways. A native of Harrisonburg, Virginia, Sally
developed an early appreciation for history from her grandmother, who was a docent at Thomas Jefferson’s
Monticello. Following the same path, Sally completed her volunteer work and internships around the Hampton
Roads’ community, including at the Watermen’s Museum in Yorktown, the Virginia War Museum in Newport
News, and the Trible Library Archives at CNU. Sally graduated from Christopher Newport last May and is now
working on her master’s degree in history and museum studies at Tufts University. She also is serving as an
editor to Tufts Historical Review and as an interpreter at the Concord Museum in Massachusetts. Upon
graduating, Sally said, “I want to show people a different side of history—not just what students read in
textbooks—through museums and the use of public history.” Christopher Newport students like Sally will have a
lasting impact on how the public understands the course of human events and the significance of history.
From the Editor
Welcome to the inaugural issue of History in Action! Since 2007, I have directed the
public history internship program at Christopher Newport University. Over the years,
it has been a true privilege to be a part of a program that works closely with public
history agencies in Hampton Roads. It allows student interns to engage in community
service and to make a meaningful impact on the public’s understanding of history.
Many nuanced and exciting projects originated from these internships that are worthy
of attention. I am honored to introduce History in Action, an undergraduate public
history journal that showcases students’ service-learning research exhibitions with
local museums, archives, and the like. The impetus for creating this publication was to celebrate students’ hard
work and creativity, as well as their dedication to making a difference in their community.
History in Action aims to distribute knowledge gained through traditional historical methods (by reviewing
manuscripts, books, and artifacts) to the public using innovative approaches. For example, students use virtual
exhibitions as a cutting-edge tool to communicate historical findings. Working directly with public history
student interns every semester, I have the great pleasure of supervising these service-learning projects that flow
naturally out of their internship. These exhibitions feature artifacts and/or archival collections that have been
largely hidden from public view. Students shed new light on these collections with photos and detailed written
descriptions, and most importantly, explain the historical significance based on primary documents and
scholarly sources. Our public history interns now have the unique opportunity to use their research skills from
the classroom and bring history to life for a broad audience, making a lasting contribution on the Hampton
Roads community and beyond—a worthy pursuit as I am sure you will agree. I hope you enjoy Sally’s exhibition!
Sheri Shuck-Hall, Director of the Public History Center and Associate Professor of History at CNU, April 2016

BIRDS, BUGS, AND BLOOMS Volume I: Issue I
Birds, Bugs,
and Blooms
AT THE ART MUSEUMS OF COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG FAST FACTS
A naturalist is a person who studies plants
and animals in their surroundings.
Naturalists became very important in the
American colonies in the 1700s. They
traveled mainly to the southern colonies,
and many of them ended up in
Williamsburg at one time or another.
These people came all the way from
Europe to learn about the plants and
animals that populated the “New World.”
The naturalists then observed everything
they could and documented their
observations.
They would write descriptions of what
they saw as well as paint, print, and
sketch their observations. They were
challenged by how to display natural
objects on paper. Naturalists needed to
show the plants and animals accurately.
No two birds are exactly alike so they had
to generalize while still being accurate.
They also were charged with naming the
animals. Carolus Linneaus developed a
system of naming that is still used today.
These men were as much artists as
scientists, and their works can be studied
for their artistic and historic value. Mark
Catesby, Eleazar Albin, and George
Edwards made their talents evident in
their prints and watercolors. These
naturalists attempted to take an objective
view of nature. They wanted to show
things as they really were without their
own prejudice, but this was virtually
impossible. Each artist-naturalist had
their own style, evident in their work. The
prints displayed in this exhibit are works
of art and we can study them as such (Sue
Ann Prince, Stuffing Birds, Pressing Plants,
Shaping Knowledge, 56).
We will travel out into the galleries to
understand the power the naturalists had
over pioneering this new subject. Natural
beings appeared everywhere from wall
decorations to dinner tables. (See "Birds,
Bugs, and Blooms: Observing the Natural
World in the 18th Century" at the Art
Museums of Colonial Williamsburg).
Brasilian Jacupema of Marggraue, George
Edwards, 1740. Courtesy, The Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation
Naturalists in the Galleries
by Sally Meyer
Before cameras were invented,
naturalists had to be artists, too. They had
to describe and draw plants and animals for
other scientists and curious people. Today
in textbooks and studies of nature we use
photography to show them accurately.
What do you take pictures of?

BIRDS, BUGS, AND BLOOMS | Volume I: Issue I 2
Naturalists relied on their
senses. They had to know how the plants
and animals survived by knowing what they
ate, where they found shelter, and what ate
them. Read on to learn more about the
naturalists!
The History
The Enlightenment in the 17
th
and 18
th
centuries resulted in a new focus on
human reasoning and science. The
illustration below is the Fly Catching
Macaroni; it is a satire of Sir Joseph Banks,
a British naturalist who was fascinated by
insects. This print pokes fun at the desire
to travel the globe simply to catch bugs
and collect seeds.
.
Throughout the 18
th
century this
profession of “naturalist” became more
accepted, and studying plants and
animals became more popular.
Naturalists flocked to the American
colonies to learn about the unusual plants
and animals that lived there.
DID YOU KNOW?
Europeans had never seen bugs like the
monarch butterfly, blooms from the
dogwood tree, or birds like the blue jay until
they traveled to the New World.
Many naturalists traveled by way of South
Carolina, as they discussed not only the
environment, but also the society and the
economy. They traveled up and down the
colonies. The idea of studying nature
spread to Williamsburg as well.
Naturalists frequently requested samples
and seeds from Williamsburg residents.
Artists used the botanical images to sell
their works. Naturalists had to find cost
effective ways to produce printed images
from their drawings of plants and animals.
Mark Catesby, for example, learned to
etch himself so he would no longer need
to pay to have it done.
One of the first items at the entrance to
the gallery is a list of subscribers for
Robert Furber, a horticulturalist, to offset
the costs of his seed catalogue.
Subscribers would pay to receive his
catalogue before it was completed. This
became a common practice as naturalists
sought more ways to make money from
their works.
Americans also appreciated and studied
the world around them with the help of
the Enlightenment. Well-known
Americans like Thomas Jefferson,
Benjamin Franklin, and Charles Willson
Peale were extremely interested in the
natural sciences. Thomas Jefferson in
particular loved the natural sciences and
the flora and fauna in Virginia. During the
Revolutionary War, he decided to prove to
the Europeans that American plants and
animals were just as good as European
ones. He even had a moose delivered to
the esteemed French naturalist Count
Buffon! (see Lee Alan Dugatkin, Jefferson
and the Giant Moose, x).
Portrait of Thomas Jefferson,
Gilbert Stuart, 1805. Courtesy, The Colonial
Jefferson also wrote his Notes on the State
of Virginia. Jefferson’s book is an
impressive work where he analyzes
everything from American slavery to
common plants and animals. Perhaps
John Banister, an earlier American
naturalist, inspired Jefferson.
John Banister (1650-1692) was an early
American naturalist. He wrote his Treatise
on the Flora and Fauna of Virginia, a highly
influential work. Copies have been found
in the effects of the first governor of
Virginia. Why do you think naturalists
would find Virginia to be interesting?
Natural sciences were important in
Williamsburg as well. The Bodelian Plate
shows the importance of botanicals in
Williamsburg.
Bodleian Plate, ca. 1740. Courtesy,
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Not many sketches were done of rural
cities like Williamsburg in the early days
of the colonies. The buildings were so
spread out it was difficult to get an
accurate picture of the important ones.
This plate was commissioned by William
Byrd II, to show off the unique and
beautiful architecture in Williamsburg.
This copperplate would have been used to
make ink prints of the College of William
and Mary, the Capitol, and the Governor's
Palace. It also contains pictures of
important bugs and creatures. Do you
see the little seahorse? Why do you
think the person who designed this
picked these plants and animals?
The Fly Catching Macaroni, 1772.
Courtesy, The Colonial

Meet Mark Catesby
Bison, Mark Catesby, ca. 1750. Courtesy,
Mark Catesby is known predominantly as
the English naturalist who completed the
Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the
Bahama Islands. He covered a wide span,
and his work is predominantly visual.
Catesby believed that “illustration is the
most effective vehicle for conveying a
meaningful conception of the natural
world” (Amy Meyers, Mark Catesby’s
Natural History of America, 11). Catesby
did preparatory drawings and then did his
own etchings for his tome on natural
history. The project took him over twenty
years, an impressive masterpiece, that
has stood as one of the best works of its
kind.
Catesby was raised in Essex and most
likely studied Latin, based on his
extensive knowledge of the language.
Also judging by family connections,
Catesby was more than likely associated
with John Ray, the noted naturalist.
Catesby became interested in flora and
fauna and soon set his sights on North
America. Catesby traveled to
Williamsburg to utilize his sister
Elizabeth’s home there. She was married
to Dr. William Cocke, a doctor in the
colonial capital. That means that Mark
Catesby studied the same plants and
animals that you do here in Virginia!
Catesby conducted his expedition to
Virginia from 1712 to 1719. He traveled
across the Virginia Tidewater, up the
James River, and collected specimens
along the way. He also drew as he went.
He was prompted by Sir Hans Sloane’s
(1660-1753) work to go to Jamaica to look
into the West Indies. He would travel
again to the New World where he would
begin his famous Natural History. He was
able to use his drawings and work from
his first expedition to impress well-known
naturalists who helped him find a way to
go on his next expedition. Several
naturalists who sponsored his travels
supported Catesby and encouraged him
to return to the Americas. He briefly
considered traveling to Africa but instead
headed for the Carolinas in 1722.
Catesby associated himself with the most
affluent families of the Carolinas and
utilized these connections to be able to
study on these families’ lands. He spent
two years visiting the same locations in all
four seasons in order to learn as much as
he could about the region.
After he created his watercolors and
wrote down his in-depth descriptions of
the flora and fauna he observed, Catesby
returned to London to work on his
publication. He utilized the Royal Society
of London and subscribers for support.
He lacked the funds, however, to send his
drawings to Amsterdam or Paris to be
copied by professionals. He then had
Joseph Goupy (1698-1782) teach him how
to etch his own plates.
Catesby lived and worked before famous
naturalist Carolus Linneaus’s binomial
nomenclature (his brief biography is
below). But Catesby’s work stayed
relevant over the intervening years and
has been reproduced in many volumes
since his death. Catesby took a unique
approach to his etchings. He showed his
subjects interacting with their
surroundings. They are not separated as a
specimen would be, but placed in an
element of their habitat. Examples of this
can be seen in the works on this page.
Catesby also used other naturalist’s work
and adapted them to his own needs. He
used works by John White (1545-1606)
and others to show his own observations
of how plants and animals interacted with
one another. Catesby believed his work
to be “reliable disseminators of
information about the natural world”
taken directly from his observations. He
wanted to contribute significantly to his
field and he believed his volumes would
do so. Catesby wrote, “however
accurately human art may be exercised in
the representation of Animals, it falls far
more short of that inimitable perfection
so visible in nature itself” (Meyers, Mark
Catesby’s Natural History, 25).
The Crested Jay, Mark Catesby, ca. 1731.
Courtesy, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Catesby believed that birds were the
“most numerous and beautiful of living
creatures” (Meyers, Mark Catesby’s
Natural History, 37). Birds remain popular
motifs and decoration today. What kind
of objects in your house look like birds
or are decorated with birds?
Creeping and
Crawling
Watercolor of Spiders, (page 49), Eleazar
Albin, 1710-1720. Courtesy, The Colonial
Some naturalists found their greatest
interest in things we tend to avoid today.
The Fly Catching Macaroni on page 2
reveals how fascinated naturalists were
with insects. They might look creepy to
us, but the naturalists loved studying

insects and bugs. When they drew them
in their books and painted them on their
prints, they had to make sure they were
symmetrical. Our friend Mark Catesby
did a lot of these drawings; Eleazar Albin
or a man named Urtipre did the rest.
Many of these drawings were used to
make books later on by Eleazar Albin.
Buggy Bowls?
Artists also used bugs to decorate their
vases, plates, bowls, and cups. We have a
few here in the galleries!
Bowls, Chelsea Porcelain Factory, ca. 1755. Courtesy,
These are called “high jarrs.” Do you see
the butterflies decorating the surface?
Butterflies are some of the prettier bugs.
They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
Can you make a list of the different
shapes and colors you see decorating
the butterflies wings?
Embroidered Whitework Counterpane,
Sarah Wisdom Fulcher, 1812-1818. Courtesy,
This scene above was stitched from a
painting, but the creator added
something. Do you see the bees and
bugs flying around the heads of the two
figures? Why do you think these were
added? Write a story about these two
people. What would they say to one
another?
Learning from
Carolus Linneaus
Linneaus in his Lapland Dress, engraved by Robert
Dunkarton after Martin Hoffman, 1805. Courtesy,
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. He is holding
a flower in his right hand, showing that he valued
his work with natural subjects.
Carolus Linneaus is best known for
devising a system of binomial
nomenclature. That means that he
devised a system of naming plants and
animals using a classifications system. He
put animals and plants into a system of
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Genus, and
Species. This allowed for names of
animals to be standardized to keep them
separate from each other and to keep the
same plant from having many different
names.
Carolus Linneaus was born in a modest
village in Sweden. His father loved
flowers and would frequently decorate his
crib with flowers. Linneaus’s father
taught him the names of plants when he
was a child and he became fascinated
with learning their titles. Naming plants
soon became his lifelong passion.
Linneaus did not take well to study. His
mother wanted him to be a pastor like his
father and grandfather. But he did not
enjoy it and struggled being far away
from his family while in school. He would
sneak away to look at plants and received
the nickname “the little botanist”
(Anderson, Carl Linneaus: Father of
Classification, 18). Linneaus then learned
botany from a local teacher after it
became clear that traditional schooling
was not benefitting him.
Linneaus then went on to Lund
University. He rented a room from the
town’s leading doctor who was interested
in botany as well and had his own
museum of birds, plants, rocks, and shells.
The doctor supported Linneaus in his
work and gave him free reign of his library
and free room and board. Linneaus then
transferred to Uppsala University, the
oldest school in Sweden. He made friends
and attempted to classify the entire
animal and plant kingdoms. Linneaus
then received a teaching position from
one of the professors who was impressed
with his work in classification.
He came up with names for plants and
animals using a logical and common
system. For instance, there are many
different kinds of books, including
textbooks, fiction and nonfiction books,
and picture books. Linneaus utilized a
similar system. For example, there are
many different types of trees and each
have different names. The Linden Tree is
known in England as the Lime Tree even
though they are the same. However, the
Latin genus name Tilia is the same
everywhere for the tree (Wilifrid Blunt,
Linneaus the Compleat Naturalist, 12). This
is Linneaus’s greatest contribution to the
Vase, Chelsea Porcelain Factory, ca. 1755.
Courtesy, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

natural world. If a plant did not have a
Latin name, he would add a Latin ending
to keep consistency.
Englishman John Ray and Joseph
Tournefort, a French Botanist, founded
the field of taxonomy. Taxonomy is the
naming and classifying of plants.
Linneaus built upon this foundation. He
worked to create a universal classification.
He was not immediately accepted
however, as some naturalists resisted
using his system of classification. In 1735,
Linneaus invented the system now used
worldwide in his Systema Naturae. He
was an essential part of the
Enlightenment focus on the Natural
World. He also developed the Species
Plantarum that he named and described
all known plants.
Linneaus worked extremely hard. He had
to take a year off in 1748 because he was
making himself ill. At this point he had
still not developed a method of binomial
nomenclature.
In 1753, he published Species Plantarum,
which outlined 5,900 different plant
species. He divided animals into different
classes and developed the Latin name for
humans. He developed the subdivisions
of the mammals including primates, seals,
dogs, wolves, horses, donkeys, zebras, as
well as birds, amphibians, insects, and
many others. This work was an amazing
and impressive feat that fully established
him as a national hero and a leader of
modern science.
Blooming Near You!
There are hundreds of flowers in this
exhibit! Flowers are certainly beautiful
and have been popular decoration for
objects for centuries. Do you have any
flowers growing in your backyard? If so,
you would be considered an elite person
prior to the Enlightenment and the
growth of gardening as a pastime. Before
this, flowers and gardens were considered
a luxury.
Naturalists documented many different
types of flowers. They did their best to
depict them accurately in shape, color,
and form. This shows how important it
was to be skilled as an artist as well as a
scientist. Naturalists were truly
interdisciplinary.
Dr. Robert John Thornton published large
prints of The Temple of Flora (1799) as a
tribute to Carolus Linneaus, the botanist
discussed earlier. He placed life-sized
flowers in front of dramatic and
sometimes startling landscapes. They
were decidedly unusual. Naturalists had
never before included so much of the
landscape in their creations.
The Superb Lily, engraved by Richard Earlom after
Philip Reinagle, 1799. Courtesy, The Colonial
The dogwood tree is both the Virginia
State flower and tree. It seems natural
that it would be a popular subject to paint
for those studying Virginia. This
Dogwood was painted by English
horticulturalist, Georg Dionysius Ehret. A
notation on the back states: “This plant is
found in all the Northern parts of
America, being a Native of the Woods in
Virginia, New England, Maryland, and
Carolina. It is a very hardy plant and
endures our [English] Climate very
well…painted on the 18
th
of that month
[May] in the year of 1761 by G.D. Ehret
from the plant in my Gardens at South
Lodge. F.W.S.” Ehret was well known,
and his work is a beautiful representation
of the dogwood branch.
CORNUS arborea involucro maximo, Georg
Dionysius Ehret, 1761. Courtesy, The Colonial
The natural sciences became important in
the arts. Parents began to hire naturalists
to teach their daughters to draw and paint
flowers and natural subjects.
The Duchess of Beaufort is credited with
hiring Ehret to teach her daughter, Lady
Henrietta Somerset. She would have
enjoyed painting the botanical specimens
in her home gardens as Ehret instructed
her in watercolor painting at her home.
Pick a flower in the collection and do
your own sketch of it!
Painting and watercolors were not the
only methods of documenting plants and
flowers. In 1729, Johann Hieronymus
Kniphof, a doctor and professor,
Carl von Linné, Alexander Roslin, 1775

developed a new way to create botanical
images. He would press and dry the
plant. He would then apply ink directly on
it and run it through the printing press.
This solved the problems associated with
the cost of copper plate prints.
Shipping plants and animals across the
ocean in ships presented quite a few
challenges. In a letter dated April 1, 1768,
the antiquarian John Frere describes to
John Norton, a resident of Yorktown,
Virginia, the best method to stuff small
birds. Suggestions for shipping seeds and
plants were equally as important. These
methods of preservation were important
to those studying the plants and animals
to know what they looked like.
Botanical Gardens
Gardening quickly became a popular
pastime amongst affluent men and
women, but it was more than just a fad for
the rich. Previously only monarchs and
religious orders were able to have gardens
to awe and amaze their guests, but this
changed quickly throughout the 18
th
and
19
th
centuries. Broader interest in plants
and animals soon became focused on
their importation and care.
Royal Hospital at Chelsea, Thomas Bowles and
Robert Sayer, ca. 1760. Courtesy, The Colonial
Botanical Gardens were developed in
England. Examples include the Botanic
Gardens at Chelsea and the Ranelagh
Gardens, which were open to the public.
These gardens were used for medicinal as
well as for personal enjoyment. This
trend continues today! Gardens, parks,
and arboretums are popular places for
scientists, naturalists, and the public to
enjoy.
Johann Kniphof was the keeper of the
botanic gardens in Erfurt, Germany.
Botanical gardens were essential to
Europeans’ understanding and learning
about plants from America. European
gardeners did have one problem however.
They would often experience confusion
over ordering plants from a nursery and
not getting what they expected. Another
item in the collection is A Catalogue of
Trees, Shrubs, Plants, and Flowers done by
the Society of Gardeners from 1730. This
is similar to catalogues you might get in
the mail today so you know what to buy.
There were also many tools associated
with gardening, some that you may have
never seen before. The image below
shows a personification of the month of
June, printed in 1780 by Robert Dighton.
Do you see the tool by the woman’s
feet? This was used to roll the grass to
make it flat. That is very different from
lawn-keeping today!
June, Carington Bowles after Robert Dighton, ca.
1780. Courtesy, The Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation
This print also shows several features of
gardens and a relatively wealthy woman
enjoying the early summer. Draw
yourself in a scene like this one
participating in your favorite summer
activity!
The Historia Plantarum Rariorum, or
History of Rare Plants, was published in
1728 to document and illustrate the plants
grown in the Chelsea Gardens. The
printer, John Martyn, engraved the plates
using mezzotint to give the prints
dimension. They are particularly
important because it represents the first
book to be printed in color, rather than
being printed in black and white and then
painted by hand.
Images of these gardens were printed
many different times and were used to
design other gardens. They were
considered to be very impressive feats of
human creativity. Look at the image of
the Chelsea Gardens. This survey was
done in 1751 by John Haynes. It is on
display in the gallery. He has put in
pathways, a maze, terraces, and even a
pond. It is even beautifully decorated
with a floral border that discusses the
different plants that grow there.
An Accurate Survey of the Botanic Gardens at
Chelsea, John Haynes, 1751. Courtesy, The Colonial
Did you know?
American Indians would not sleep
under a magnolia tree when in
bloom. They believed that the
strong scent caused death.
The Southern magnolia was growing
when the dinosaurs roamed the
earth.

Explore Colonial
Williamsburg’s
Gardens
Williamsburg has a reputation for its
gardens. The landmark Governor’s Palace
and the College of William and Mary
employed professional gardeners, shops
sold seeds and gardening books, and
gardening and botany were an essential
part of a gentlemen’s education in the
colonial capital. John Custis IV in Colonial
Williamsburg was known for his
magnificent garden. He was one of
Williamsburg’s most affluent residents.
Now that you have learned so much about
naturalists, gardens, birds, bugs, and
blooms you can take this knowledge out
into the historic area of Colonial
Williamsburg! There are several gardens
in Colonial Williamsburg. They have a few
different purposes, but they are all great
places to enjoy and learn about how
gardens were kept in colonial America.
The Benjamin Powell House has a variety
of fruits, vegetables, and herbs that are
accurate to the colonial period. Other
gardens contain orchards, heirloom
flowers, evergreen trees, wells as a focal
point, and original brickbat paths. They
are an enjoyable place for anyone to visit.
The Bodleian Plate, discussed earlier,
helped gardeners to reconstruct the
gardens of the Governor’s Palace. The
Governor’s Palace had the most famous
gardens in Colonial Williamsburg. Look
at the images to better understand the
complexities of the gardens, then travel
there yourself (The Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation, Colonial Williamsburg: The
Official Guide)!
The Colonial world utilized
Enlightenment concepts to begin
explaining the world around them
with science. They studied plants
and animals in order to better
understand what kinds of living
things populated their world and
how best to care for them. Colonial
America provided a unique insight
into previously unexplored areas.
Come explore Colonial Williamsburg
and use your naturalist knowledge to
learn more!
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Margaret Jean Anderson, Carl Linneaus:
Father of Classification (Enslow Publishers,
2009).
Wilfrid Blunt, Linneaus The Compleat
Naturalist (Princeton: Princeton University
Press,2001).
Lee Alan Dugatkin, Jefferson and the Giant
Moose (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
2009).
Allen Fedducia (ed.), Catesby’s Birds of
Colonial America (Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press, 1985).
Amy Meyers, Mark Catesby’s Natural History
of America (Houston: Musuem of Fine Arts,
1997).
Sue Ann Prince (ed.), Stuffing Birds, Pressing
Plants, Shaping Knowledge (Philadelphia: The
American Philosophical Society, 2003).
"Birds, Bugs and Blooms: Observing the
Natural World in the 18th Century." The Art
Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation,
Colonial Williamsburg: The Official Guide (The
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2014).
This photograph is of the back exit of
the Governor’s Palace. You can see
the coat of arms over top of the door.
The pathways and boxwoods crisscross
the first layer of the terraced gardens.
This archway stretches alongside the
gardens. It is an excellent example of the
garden’s creativity and ingenuity. The
gardens also contain a maze and decorative
sculptures amongst other features. They are
an excellent place to explore on a visit to
Colonial Williamsburg!

About the Public History Center
The Public History Center (PHC) at CNU promotes innovative approaches to communicating history to
the public. Its mission is not only to foster a broader understanding of the importance of history, but
also to forge closer relationships between CNU and world-class museums, archives, and public history
agencies located throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. The PHC also matches CNU students with
internships in which they obtain real-world professional training and develop outside-the-classroom skills
while serving the community—a true service-learning experience.
In August 2014 we launched CNU’s Public History Center with Dr. Sheri Shuck-Hall, Associate Professor
of History, serving as Director. In our first months, the PHC helped design programs associated with the
arrival of the French ship L’Hermione to Hampton Roads, including organizing a team of history student
volunteers that ushered over 8,000 members of the public onboard that spectacular frigate. The PHC’s
Associate Director, Dr. Thomas Hall (Associate Professor of Economics and Finance) designed and
managed the implementation of a survey to over 1,650 members of the public during the ship’s visit to
Yorktown. Soon we will announce the release of an economic impact report based on the survey data
that we collected at that once-in-a-lifetime event.
In our first year we developed a career workshop series, Piece of Public History, which introduces CNU
students to professionals working at first-rate public history agencies, including the Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation, the Mariners’ Museum, Fort Eustis Cultural Resources Management, Fort Monroe, the
National Park Service, and more to come. The PHC also organizes public forums under our series,
Why History Matters, covering such topics as the history of Scotland’s recent independence referendum,
the 800th
anniversary of the Magna Carta, and the Yorktown victory of Franco-American forces in 1781.
We are excited about our event coming up on April 13 that will re-examine Nat Turner’s 1831 rebellion.
Given the buzz surrounding Hampton Roads’ native Nate Parker and his new film treatment of the same
subject, The Birth of a Nation (2016), we expect a very thought-provoking evening. If you would like more
information, or would be willing to support student internships, History in Action, and PHC public events
and programs, please visit our website, http://cnu.edu/publichistorycenter/support/ and follow us on
Facebook (www.facebook.com/CNUPublicHistoryCenter/)!
The PHC would like to thank: Patricia Balderson, Manager of Museum Education at the Art Museums of
Colonial Williamsburg, for providing outstanding opportunities to our student interns; Shannon Combs,
whose extraordinary efforts helped launch this maiden issue; Nancy Wilson for her expert ability on
all fronts; Dyllan Cecil (PHC Fellow, Class of 2017) for her constant dedication and service to the PHC;
Courtney Michel for her amazing designs; Bruce Bronstein and his exceptional PR team; and CNU’s
Department of History, the College of Arts and Humanities Dean’s Office, and the Office of the Provost
for their continued support.
CNUPublicHistoryCenter @CNUPublHistCntr CNUPublicHist

History in Action Volume I-Issue I

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