History

“Becoming Americans” is a three-century story best told in three chapters, at three of Virginia’s finest outdoor history museums. Chapter One: Jamestown, where a stunning combination of new museums and recently unearthed archaeology testify to the clash of cultures that occurred here 400 years ago. For Chapter Two, drive 100 years down the road and let Colonial Williamsburg bring the 18th century and the Revolutionary War back to life. Chapter Three requires another short drive, less than three hours from Williamsburg along I-64 to the edge of the original Wild West, the Shenandoah Valley.

At the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, see what happens when German and Scotch-Irish immigrants are added to the existing mixture of English, Indians and Africans. The concept is simple. Typical Old World farms of the 18th century illustrate the customs and culture of the various groups who came to America. Typical American farms of the 19th century show the lifestyle that ultimately evolved.

In the 1980s, the Frontier Culture Museum dismantled old farm buildings in Europe and rebuilt them in the Valley of Virginia, a process roundly criticized by some preservationists because it takes the structure out of its original context. True enough, but it also preserves old buildings slated for destruction and allows them to serve as educational tools.

A few years ago, says Director John Avoli, “We realized we were not adequately portraying all the people who came into the Shenandoah Valley and made contributions to the development of a culture that was distinctly American.” Having a Scotch-Irish farm from the 1730s, a German farm from 1710, an English farm from the 1690s, and an American farm from the 1850s was not enough. The museum began making plans for adding examples of West African and Native American farms.

“We went to southern Nigeria last year,” says Eric Bryan, the museum’s assistant director, “to study the farms of the Igbo people.” Why the Igbo and not other Africans? “During the first half of the 18th century,” Bryan explains, “slave shipping records show that this was where most of Virginia’s Africans came from.” Virginia Indian dwellings and farming practices are being studied as well, and the two “new” old farms will be complete by next summer. This summer, the American farmhouse will be moved to a separate area in order to make way for them.