Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Announces Campaign for History and Citizenship

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has embarked on a $600-million campaign to both reinforce and reimagine its role in the 21st century as a leader in history education and historical preservation.

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Since its restoration began in 1926, Colonial Williamsburg has evolved as a source of learning and inspiration about America’s founding. Visitors to the colonial capital city still encounter the halls, homes and taverns where such visionaries as Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry debated the promise—and perils—of a revolution that would change the course of human history.

Preserving this essential part of America’s heritage—and finding new ways to deepen the public’s appreciation of its relevance today—is the focus of the Campaign for History and Citizenship that Colonial Williamsburg will announce on Saturday, Nov. 22.

Investments in the campaign will strengthen and expand the programs, staff, facilities and technological innovation necessary to advance Americans’ understanding of their nation’s history and the very principles on which their own citizenship is based.

“The American Revolution set in motion the world’s greatest experiment in representative government; it remains a touchstone that helps Americans understand who we are and how we have evolved as such a diverse and enterprising society,” said Foundation President and CEO Mitchell B. Reiss, who will formally launch the campaign’s public phase with other Foundation leaders in a ceremony Saturday at the Capitol.

“By preserving the artifacts, stories and very setting of the Revolution, Colonial Williamsburg offers modern Americans a direct link to the founding generation—whose extraordinary words and deeds challenge us to embrace our own roles in shaping our country’s future,” he said.

The Campaign for History and Citizenship has already raised more than $300 million in a quiet phase that began in 2009 under the leadership of Colin G. Campbell, chairman emeritus of the Foundation, who retired as president on Oct. 5.

Boosting the campaign is a new, $13 million commitment from senior trustees Abby M. and George D. O’Neill of Oyster Bay, N.Y. The gift, which their son Peter M. O’Neill will announce at Saturday’s campaign launch, will provide unrestricted funds to address both immediate and emerging needs throughout Colonial Williamsburg. Their previous campaign gifts total $1.1 million and include support for teacher development in New York State.

Mrs. O’Neill is the eldest grandchild of John D. Rockefeller Jr., whose vision and philanthropy drove Colonial Williamsburg’s founding nearly 90 years ago. Mr. George O’Neill is founder and chairman emeritus of Meriwether Capital Corp.; their son Peter is chairman of the Rockefeller Family Office in New York.

Restoration of Virginia’s colonial capital began with Rockefeller’s support of the vision of the Rev. W.A.R. Goodwin, rector of the Bruton Parish Church. Rockefeller saw Williamsburg’s restoration as an opportunity to rescue a beautiful and significant colonial city. As the work progressed, he said he came “to feel that perhaps an even greater value is the lesson that it teaches of the patriotism, high purpose, and unselfish devotion of our forefathers to the common good. If this proves to be true, any expenditure will be amply justified.”

Rockefeller’s support continued until his death in 1960. His bequests, combined with other gifts and operating revenue supported the Foundation’s mission for many years.

In 1976, the Foundation established its development program to help create a broad base of philanthropic support. Colonial Williamsburg’s first comprehensive campaign ran from 1995 to 2006, exceeding its $500 million goal.

Major areas of investment include:

Reimagining Historic Area Programming

• A proposed $163.5-million investment will introduce new voices and interpretive methods to Historic Area programming, from presentations of the lives of African-Americans and American Indians to the struggle for religious freedom and the critical role of the military. Colonial Williamsburg will immerse new, ever-more diverse audiences in the aspirations, struggles and everyday lives of 18th-century Americans as their nation took shape in the face of overwhelming odds.

Expanding and Upgrading Colonial Williamsburg’s Award-winning Museums

• The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum are part of a proposed $185 million investment.

The $40 million project will:

• Improve public access to the building
• Add 8,000 square feet of new gallery space, represents the first major expansion of the facility since it opened in 1985.
• Increase gallery space by 22 percent, enabling the Art Museums to showcase much more of their renowned collections of furniture, paintings, silver, numismatics, ceramics, tools, textiles, maps, weapons and a variety of other media.

Investment in Historical Construction and Preservation

• Other parts of the proposed $185 million investment include:
  • A new, state-of-the-art archeology lab.
  • The reconstructed Market House, a vital part of 18th-century Williamsburg’s commercial and community center. Trustee and major benefactor Forrest Mars Jr. of Wyoming has committed to funding the Market House’s reconstruction in its entirety.
  • Preservation of Colonial Williamsburg’s existing restored and rebuilt structures—nearly 600 across 301 acres, including 88 original buildings. The Foundation is seeking to raise $100 million to support an array of critical preservation efforts, from historically accurate painting and landscaping to repairing the very stones, bricks and mortar of irreplaceable 18th-century buildings.

Enhanced Educational Outreach

• A proposed $64.5 million investment will enable the Foundation to continue developing compelling outreach programs that reach national and even global audiences. Those include American history and civics initiatives in digital technology, teacher-training programs and the creation of new classroom materials that extend to home and school settings.

“At a time of such political, economic and cultural challenges—in the United States, and throughout the world—Colonial Williamsburg grounds us in the principles that have sustained us as a nation for more than 230 years,” said Steven L. Miller, Colonial Williamsburg trustee and chairman of the Campaign for History and Citizenship. “These investments by our supporters will ensure that this Revolutionary City will continue to inform and inspire many generations of Americans to come.”

More information about the campaign is available at http://history.org/campaign.