Colonial Williamsburg®

History.org: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's Official History and Citizenship Website

CW Foundation navigation

Looking to Buy Tickets & Gifts or Book a Vacation? Click Here

Page content
Reset text sizeResize text larger

    Featured Video

  • Story of a Patriot DVD

    Story of a Patriot DVD

    Colonial Williamsburg

    Follow the story of Virginia Assembly member John Frye (played by the young Jack Lord) during the crucial period when the colonists resisted British taxation without representation, met force with force and chose revolution. Includes a short documentary on the restoration of the original film.

    Story of a Patriot DVD (Color, 38 min.)
    No. 1147693

    $24.95

    Buy now



  • The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Archive Series

    The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Archive Series

    Through the voices of the restoration, colonial life, and historic trades, the ARCHIVE SERIES speaks from our past, reflecting the intellectual thought, art, and daily life of a vibrant colonial period.

    Buy now

    Learn more

    In 1928, a vision shared by philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and rector of Bruton Parish Church, Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin, led to the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg's Historic Area, turning the sleepy southern town into a national icon.

    Through the voices of the restoration, colonial life, and historic trades, the ARCHIVE SERIES speaks from our past, reflecting the intellectual thought, art, and daily life of a vibrant colonial period.

    Pick your favorites or buy the whole series:
    Williamsburg Restored
    Music of Williamsburg
    The Colonial Naturalist Mark Catesby
    Gunsmith
    Hammerman
    Search for a Century
    Silversmith
    A Glorious System of Things
    Forged in Wood
    The Rockefeller Family
    Cabinetmaker

    View video clips of each program on the Williamsburg Marketplace site.


  • Spring Entertaining Style with Cindy Cragg

    Spring Entertaining Style with Cindy Cragg

    From basic place settings to tea at the beach, this exciting DVD is your resource for hosting a spring soiree.

    Buy now

    Learn more

    Cindy Cragg

    From basic place settings to tea at the beach, this exciting DVD is your resource for hosting a spring soiree. Cindy Cragg, home stylist and a Williamsburg native, shares easy ideas for making your occasion unforgettable. Cindy has charmed home enthusiasts nationwide with her formula for decorating success–keep it simple, keep it fresh, keep it fun. Find out how her twists on 18th-century style make a sensation for today's springtime entertaining.

    Spring Entertaining Style DVD,
    Run time 55 minutes.
    No. 140186

    $14.95


  • Jefferson & Adams:  A Stage Play

    Jefferson & Adams: A Stage Play

    Jefferson & Adams: A Stage Play, written by Howard Ginsberg and based on his original play, is the moving and powerful dramatization of the remarkable friendship between two Presidents of the United States--with the forthright Mrs. Adams always playing a major role.

    Buy now

    Learn more

    Produced by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, in association with the Jefferson Legacy Foundation

    Screenplay by Howard Ginsberg, based on his award-winning original stage play.
    Thomas Jefferson: Bill Barker, Colonial Williamsburg's interpreter
    John Adams: Sam Goodyear
    Abigail Adams: Abigail Schumann, Colonial Williamsburg's interpreter

    DVD includes 95-minute version of the play, plus a 15-minute documentary on the "Making of Jefferson & Adams" with behind-the-scenes footage and interview with the playwright, director, and cast.

    Jefferson & Adams: A Stage Play, written by Howard Ginsberg and based on his original play, is the moving and powerful dramatization of the remarkable friendship between two Presidents of the United States--with the forthright Mrs. Adams always playing a major role.

    In a fast-paced series of encounters, we see the turbulent relationship between Thomas Jefferson (portrayed by Colonial Williamsburg's interpreter Bill Barker) and John Adams (by veteran interpreter Sam Goodyear) as their friendship ignites, flourishes, ruptures, and resolves itself. The ever-perceptive Abigail Adams (Colonial Williamsburg's interpreter Abigail Schumann) acts as catalyst and motivator while steadfastly maintaining her own beliefs.

    The lives of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were so intertwined with the fate of America that by extraordinary coincidence--or was it an act of will?--both men died on the same day, on July 4th, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

    The play spans 50 years of their friendship starting in the early days of the Republic, extending through two wars with England, and on through their vigorous retirement. They continually clash over foreign entanglements, domestic politics, and the proper role of federal government--debates which continue to this day.

    Preview a clip from the DVD
    Large(3.1 Mb)
    Small(2.1 Mb)
    Previews require Quicktime.


  • The Rockefeller Family and Colonial Williamsburg

    The Rockefeller Family and Colonial Williamsburg

    Story of how one of America's great industrial families came to sponsor the reconstruction of Virginia's colonial capital.

    Buy now

    Learn more

    Without the Rockefeller family there would be no Colonial Williamsburg. This video is the story of how one of America's great industrial families came to sponsor the reconstruction of Virginia's colonial capital, so that in John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s words "The future may learn from the past". Told with the warmth and humor of the first person recollections of David Rockefeller, and illustrated by rarely seen photographs and film footage this video chronicles the Rockefeller family's dedication to creating the national treasure, Colonial Williamsburg.


  • Christmas Decorations from Colonial Williamsburg

    Christmas Decorations from Colonial Williamsburg

    Step-by-step demonstrations on how to shape flowers, fresh fruits, greens, berries, dried pods, and cones into traditional and contemporary holiday pieces.

    Buy now

    Learn more

    Step-by-step demonstrations on how to shape flowers, fresh fruits, greens, berries, dried pods, and cones into traditional and contemporary holiday pieces. This 70 minute video is a wonderful companion to our Christmas Decorations from Williamsburg book.


  • Christmas In Colonial Williamsburg

    Christmas In Colonial Williamsburg

    Captures the extensive preparations, elaborate decorations, holiday music, fanciful and festive foods of the 18th century, and a sampling of the varied experiences enjoyed by visitors.

    Buy now

    Learn more

    "Christmas in Colonial Williamsburg" captures the extensive preparations, elaborate decorations, holiday music (both sacred and secular), the fanciful and festive foods of the 18th century, and a sampling of the varied experiences enjoyed by visitors. The video concludes where the celebration begins -- with the spectacular fireworks and festive revelry of Williamsburg's Grand Illumination. 29 minutes.


  • Silversmith of Williamsburg

    Silversmith of Williamsburg

    A silversmith takes a battered old bowl and a few scraps of silver and fashions a magnificent new coffeepot.

    Buy now

    Learn more

    The "Silversmith of Williamsburg" is one of an esteemed series of videos that look at the trades programs of Colonial Williamsburg. Modern day craftspersons are trained under a master-apprentice system to use the tools and techniques of the eighteenth century to create 21st century replicas of colonial objects. In this video the silversmith takes a battered old bowl, and a few scraps of silver and fashions a magnificent new coffeepot.


  • The Art and Mystery of the Cabinetmaker Crafting a Card Table

    The Art and Mystery of the Cabinetmaker Crafting a Card Table

    Colonial Williamsburg Master cabinetmaker Mack Headley shares some of the arts and mysteries of his trade as he creates a reproduction of an eighteenth-century card table.

    Buy now

    Learn more

    In the eighteenth century, master tradesmen and women passed along their skills and techniques "the art and mystery" of their trades to apprentices. With the coming of industrialization many of those skills were lost, but through research, experimentation and practice the tradesmen and women of Colonial Williamsburg have relearned the arts and mysteries of their trades. In this video Colonial Williamsburg Master cabinetmaker Mack Headley shares some of the arts and mysteries of his trade as he creates a reproduction of an eighteenth-century card table.


  • Forged in Wood Building Anderson's Blacksmith Shop

    Forged in Wood Building Anderson's Blacksmith Shop

    Colonial Williamsburg's housewrights built a new eighteenth-century building using the same tools, materials, and skills as their colonial counterparts, and transformed the construction into a hands-on adventure in history for visitors.

    Buy now

    Learn more

    James Anderson was a blacksmith and entrepreneur whose shop grew into a small industrial complex just off of the Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg. For Colonial Williamsburg the problem in interpreting this important business was that nothing remained of the shop but some traces of a foundation. Detective work by historians, archaeologists, and architectural historians provided the plans, and Colonial Williamsburg's housewrights did the rest. They built a new eighteenth-century building using the same tools, materials, and skills as their colonial counterparts, and transformed the construction into a hands-on adventure in history for visitors.


  • A Day in the Life

    A Day in the Life

    The "A Day in the Life" series, now on DVD, gives a glimpse of daily life in the 18th century through stories of people from the past: working-class young men, women, gentlemen, merchants, enslaved and free African Americans, and more. Learn about how their lives intersected and how society functioned in early America.

    Learn more

    The "A Day in the Life" series, now on DVD, gives a glimpse of daily life in the 18th century through stories of people from the past: working-class young men, women, gentlemen, merchants, enslaved and free African Americans, and more. Learn about how their lives intersected and how society functioned in early America.

    This $99.00 3-disc boxed set includes two DVDs with eight 18-minute video episodes, and one CD-ROM with teacher materials, including background information, a timeline and glossary, and lesson plans with primary sources (in PDF format). The 3-D immersive role playing game Betwixt Folly and Fate and a link to the Dress the Part interactive Web activity are also included.
    Learn More


  • Our Common Passage

    Our Common Passage

    Four women in 18th century America reflect on their lives and hardships in this stunning one-woman drama, written and performed by Abigail Schumann.

    Buy now

    Learn more

    Four women in 18th century America reflect on their lives and hardships in this stunning one-woman drama, written and performed by Abigail Schumann.

    Available in VHS and DVD through www.williamsburgmarketplace.com.
    Preview clips from "Our Common Passage"
    Clip One
    Large(1.5 Mb)
    Small(1.0 Mb)

    Clip Two
    Large(2.0 Mb)
    Small(1.0 Mb)
    Previews require Quicktime.


  • A Glorious System of Things

    A Glorious System of Things

    A traveling lecturer, arrives in Williamsburg for a series of lectures on the solar system and the working of electricity.

    Buy now

    Learn more

    The eighteenth century was an age marked by scientific curiosity. In the video Peter Littlefield, a traveling lecturer, arrives in Williamsburg for a series of lectures on the solar system and the working of electricity. Littlefield demonstrates a telescope, a barometer, an air pump, and a model of the solar system and shows how scientific knowledge was shared and disseminated in eighteenth-century America.


  • The Colonial Naturalist

    The Colonial Naturalist

    The story of Mark Catesby, America's first natural scientist.

    Buy now

    Learn more

    Mark Catesby came to Williamsburg in the early 1700s when Virginia was no more than a few clearings carved out of dense forests. Catesby became fascinated with the plants and animals he found in the New World and began collecting specimens and making drawings. Catseby's two visits to the colonies resulted in a magnificent set of 220 color plates that remains a valuable resource for naturalists and impressive works of art. The Colonial Naturalist is the story of Mark Catesby, America's first natural scientist.


  • Music of Williamsburg

    Music of Williamsburg

    This video recreates the sights, and especially the sounds, that permeated colonial America.

    Buy now

    Learn more

    Music in eighteenth-century Williamsburg was a staple of everyday life. Music formed the accompaniment for everything from children's games to slave labors to the marching militia. This video recreates the sights and especially the sounds that permeated colonial America.





Footer