Black History Month

Pay a visit to Colonial Williamsburg this February for Black History Month as an even brighter light shines on its year-round African American programming.

Below are just a handful of the incredible American stories of resilience that you can explore on your visit to Colonial Williamsburg. We are so grateful that our guests have this opportunity to discover the lives of those that lived, loved, and strove to create a better future.

A Quilter’s Story

Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.
Join us at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg and learn about the quilt and the maker, then enjoy a mini quilting project.

“I Made This” Exhibition

Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg
Tour the museum galleries, including the “I Made This” exhibition, to explore decorative arts and folk art made by Black American artists and artisans. (A free reservation is required for this exhibition. To book your reservation, please visit a ticket office or call our Guest Services at (888) 965-7254.)

God is My Rock

Hennage Auditorium
Gowan Pamphlet, an enslaved man and popular local preacher, offers his perspective on slavery, religion, and freedom. With the context of the Great Awakening, this story tells the life of Pastor Gowan Pamphlet and Old Paris, a first-generation Ibo African.

How Did They Survive?

Hennage Auditorium
Join Ayinde Martin, Journeyman Carpenter and a real figure of the time period, to discuss enslaved people in colonial Virginia and their survival techniques and skills.

Pictures of West Africa

Hennage Auditorium
Join Harold Caldwell, apprentice carpenter and real figure of the time period, as he shares the connection between 18th-century African and Virginian history while tying it to a modern understanding.

Phyllis Wheatley and the Music of Freedom

Hennage Auditorium
Phillis Wheatley was brought to America as an enslaved child. She received advanced schooling and was soon reading the hardest passages in the Bible. She also wrote poetry that garnered the attention of George Washington, who became a strong proponent of her poetry. Phillis was eventually freed. Join the Governor’s Musick in a musical exploration of the paradox of freedom as seen through the poetry of Phillis Wheatley.

See a list of options for tickets and passes to Colonial Williamsburg and the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg here.