Commemoration to Honor the Legacy of First Africans Brought to Virginia in 1619

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., August 13, 2025 – Jamestown Settlement is proud to honor the legacy of the first recorded Africans brought to Virginia in 1619 with reflections of history and modern perspectives through an African American lens during the First Africans Commemoration on August 16.

Event programs will explore the history of the Africans who brought their culture, knowledge and traditions to create a new African American culture and how that legacy, after more than 400 years, is expressed today. Commemorative programming and special guests include:

Finding and Keeping Family Stories • 10 & 11:30 a.m.

This interactive workshop will assist all ages in finding and sharing family stories. Using illustrations, evocative questions and shared stories, participants can walk away with a family story to keep. There also will be strategies about how to keep those stories, share them with other family members and collect the stories of your family's elders. This program is presented in partnership with “Everybody's Got a Story: Hampton Storytelling.”

Wanda Tucker • 2 p.m.

Wanda Tucker's family are descendants of the first Africans to arrive at Old Point Com-fort in 1619 and of William Tucker, the first recorded African child born and baptized in Virginia. She will tell the story of discovering their ancestry, visiting their country of origin, Angola, and her reflections on that visit. The Tucker family's story of discovery, outreach, connecting and building community is unique, painful and inspiring.

Antonio Charity • 3 p.m.

Antonio Charity is an actor, writer, director and producer, originally from Surry County, Va. His current project is a feature-length historical documentary, “Where Charity Began,” about the history of the Charity family, which is descended from some of the first Africans to arrive in Virginia in August 1619. He sits down with Harvey Bakari, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation's curator of Black History and Culture, to discuss his work documenting his remarkable family history.

Museum Gallery Exhibits & Films

Learn about African and African American experiences in 17th-century Virginia through Jamestown Settlement’s expansive gallery exhibits, dramatic films and engaging inter-actives that share the story of Virginia Indian, English and West Central African cultures.

Using period artifacts and innovative technology, Jamestown Settlement exhibits share historical accounts of the first documented Africans taken from their homeland in Ndongo (Angola) in 1619 to life in the Virginia colony and the evolution of a new African American culture. The “From Africa to Virginia” multimedia presentation chronicles African encounters with Europeans, impacts on African culture and the development of the transatlantic slave trade.

The documentary film, “1607: A Nation Takes Root,” is shown every 30 minutes. The film traces the evolution of the Virginia Company that sponsored the Jamestown colony, examines the relationship between the English colonists and Powhatan Indians, and chronicles the arrival of the first recorded Africans in 1619 – including the story of Ange-lo, one of the first African women named in Jamestown’s historical record.

Attend the First Africans Commemoration Event

The First Africans Commemoration special event is included with museum admission: $20.00 for adults, $10.00 for youth, and children 5 and under are free. Residents of James City County, York County and the City of Williamsburg, including William & Mary students, receive free admission with proof of residency. To learn more, visit jyfmuseums.org/events/programs-activities/first-africans-commemoration.

About Jamestown Settlement

Jamestown Settlement, a museum of 17th-century Virginia history and culture, is ad-ministered by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, an educational agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and a commemorative partner of the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission.

The museum features expansive exhibition galleries and films that connect visitors with the lives of the Powhatan, English and West Central African cultures that converged at 17th-century Jamestown. Outdoor living-history areas feature historical interpretation in re-creations of Paspahegh Town, 1607 English ships and a colonial fort.

Jamestown Settlement, open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., is located at 2110 Jamestown Road near the Colonial Parkway. For more information, call (757) 253-4838 or visit jyfmuseums.org. Follow our museums on social media @jyfmuseums.

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Media Contacts

Meghan van Joosten, meghan.vanjoosten@jyf.virginia.gov or (757) 253-4175
Tracy Perkins, tracy.perkins@jyf.virginia.gov or (757) 253-4114