Jamestown

What people wore 300-plus years ago in Virginia tells us a lot about how they lived. But historic sites in the state face a challenging task in accurately depicting the clothing that was used in colonial times.

Virginia’s Jamestown Settlement was established in 1607 by an initial group of 104 English men and boys. It is often believed that the first group of women arrived at the colony in 1619, but, as participants learned in a recent presentation, this isn’t exactly true. Mark Summers, public historian for the Jamestown Rediscovery Archaeology Project, shared the fascinating history of women in early Jamestown in an edition of AARP Virginia’s Virginia Treasures Series.