The first full-length documentary film ever made about legendary conservation thinker Aldo Leopold, Green Fire explores Leopold’s extraordinary career and his enduring influence – tracing how he shaped the modern conservation movement and continues to inspire projects all over the country that connect people and the land HERE.

Please join in the discussion about education with panelists Nicole Brown, a character interpreter portraying Bray School teacher Ann Wager for Colonial Williamsburg, and MA student in American Studies at William & Mary, Deborah Canty-Downs, a teacher at Katherine Johnson Elementary School, and educator with The Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute of Colonial Williamsburg, and Dr. Julie Richter, Director of the National Institute of American History & Democracy and Lecturer at William and Mary’s Harrison Ruffin Tyler Department of History. Please RSVP here to watch live: https://fb.me/e/HdgOnmUy

Please join this week’s Online Reading of Greek Tragedy with Aeschylus’ drama, Seven Against Thebes. When Oedipus, King of Thebes, realizes he has married his own mother, he blinds himself and curses his sons to divide their kingdom inheritance by the sword. The two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, in order to avoid bloodshed, agree to rule Thebes in alternate years. After the first year, Eteocles refuses to step down, leading Polynices to raise an army to take Thebes by force. Thus the tragedy begins. Hosted by Joel Christensen, with special guest Naomi Weiss. Presented by the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, the Kosmos Society, and the Out of Chaos Theatre. Stream this live and archived video HERE.

Roses. The ancient Romans propagated them, Shakespeare wrote about them, and Thomas Jefferson had numerous varieties planted at Monticello. Please join us for our premiere livestream featuring Monticello’s Curator of Plants, Peggy Cornett. Ms. Cornett will discuss Thomas Jefferson’s love of roses, Monticello’s mountaintop gardens, and the beautiful rose garden flourishing today at the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants HERE.

The Dig is a poetic dramatization of the 1939 archeological excavations in Suffolk that would yield the greatest treasure ever discovered in Great Britain, and "one of the most important archaeological discoveries of all time.” It tells the story of Mrs. Edith Pretty, who purchased land at Sutton Hoo ("Southern Farmstead") with her husband a decade earlier in order to excavate a series of curious mounds in the low-lying landscape. After her husband's death, Mrs. Pretty engages a self-taught, local amateur excavator, Mr. Basil Brown, to explore the mounds. At the threshold of the Second World War, Pretty's vision and Brown's experience open to them a glimpse of eternity. Watch it HERE on Netflix.

Please join this week’s Online Reading of Greek Tragedy with Sophocles’ psychological drama, “Electra.” Electra is one of the most important mythological figures in drama, appearing as a chief protagonist in tragedies from Aeschylus to Eugene O'Neill. Set in the city of Argos a few years after the Trojan War, Sophocles’ play tells the story of a bitter familial struggle for revenge and justice. Hosted by Joel Christensen, with special guest Robert Groves. Presented by the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, the Kosmos Society, and the Out of Chaos Theatre. Stream this live and archived video HERE.

Yorktown, Virginia was the location for the American and French army's most significant victory of the Revolution on October 19th, 1781. This victory, led by General George Washington, would set the United States on the path to independence. Join General Washington and General Lafayette as they discuss the campaign of 1781 and the siege of Yorktown HERE.

Please join the Colonial Williamsburg gunsmiths for a look at the rifle gun in colonial Virginia as they sort through the myths and realities surrounding its design and use HERE.

Please join for an encore presentation of our popular virtual tour through Monticello's second and third floors. From the iconic Dome Room to the unexpected cat doors, we'll share a glimpse into the upstairs world at Monticello. Staff will discuss the lives of the enslaved and free people who lived and labored in the bedrooms, hallways, and out-of-the-way corners most visitors never get to see HERE.

“If it is love that binds people to places in this nation of rivers, and in this river of nations, then one enduring expression of that simple truth is surely the canoe.” This beautiful short film by Canadian filmmaker Goh Iromoto captures the powerful human bond created by North America’s well-known watercraft and symbol, the canoe. Through the stories of five paddlers across the province of Ontario, Canada - a majestic background both in its landscape and its history - the film underscores the strength of the human spirit and how the canoe can be a vessel for creating deep and meaningful connections. Watch this beautiful, evocative film HERE.

The three most important Supreme Court Justices before the Civil War—Chief Justices John Marshall and Roger B. Taney and Associate Justice Joseph Story—upheld the institution of slavery in ruling after ruling. These opinions cast a shadow over the Court and the legacies of these men, but historians have rarely delved deeply into the personal and political ideas and motivations they held. Join us for our livestream of Professor Paul Finkelman's book talk at Monticello HERE.

Please join our founders and engravers for a “timely” exploration of sundials - how they were cast and engraved, and how they were used HERE.

Strong in the American identity is the ability to change and improve. How did businesspeople in Williamsburg adapt to find resources, labor, and a market? How did they respond to political action that threatened their way of life? Join in this timely conversation HERE.

Please join this week’s Online Reading of Greek Tragedy with Euripides’ drama, “Iphigenia in Tauris.” Years before the time period covered by the play, the young princess Iphigeneia escapes death by sacrifice at the hands of her father, Agamemnon. At the last moment, the girl is swept off by a goddess to the land of the Taurians. Now Iphigeneia longs to return to her family and tell them she survived. Hosted by Joel Christensen, with special guest Niall Slater. Presented by the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, the Kosmos Society, and the Out of Chaos Theatre. Stream this video HERE.

Sir David Attenborough has probably seen more of wild nature across the planet Earth than anyone living. In the course of his 94 years, he has visited every continent on the globe many times, documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Now, for the first time in public, he reflects upon the defining moments of his life as a naturalist and on the devastating changes he has seen. “A Life On Our Planet” is a much beloved naturalist’s statement of witness. It has been called the most important documentary of the year. Watch it HERE on Netflix.

Join the Historic Trade bookbinders of Colonial Williamsburg as they demonstrate the 18th-century art of making paste paper, an essential aspect of the art of fine books. At the same time, learn steps in the process and try it at home HERE.

Enslaved men, women, and children not only built Monticello; they and their descendants also helped build the city of Charlottesville. Join us for an encore digital presentation of our popular tour, Monticello to Main Street. Based largely on the research of Monticello historian Cinder Stanton, this tour shares the stories of free and enslaved African Americans with ties to Monticello who left a lasting impact on Charlottesville history. With courage and perseverance, these individuals navigated the color line and triumphed in creating community despite the harsh realities of racism all around them HERE.

This is the story of Ed Dwight Jr., who was invited by his country to train to be the first African-American astronaut. Back in 1963, it was hot news. But the United States never sent Dwight to space. He was discriminated against during his time at the Aerospace Research Pilot School, a prerequisite to NASA run by the legendary pilot Chuck Yeager. Dwight is now a prolific artist, building memorials and creating public art honoring African-American history. His footprints cannot be found on the moon. But his fingerprints can be found on sculptures across the country. See this beautiful short film by Ben Proudfoot HERE.

Join historian Annette Gordon-Reed (author of On Juneteenth and the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Hemingses of Monticello) as she leads a panel discussion about the importance of oral histories in understanding how individuals and communities experienced the forces of history. Andrew Davenport, Public Historian & Manager of the Getting Word African American Oral History Project, will discuss Getting Word's near 28-year history and how descendants are “getting word” to us today about their lives, their families, and their dreams HERE.

Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) was the most photographed American of the 19th century. Born into slavery, Douglass escaped to become a leading abolitionist, writer, and orator whose fiery speeches transformed him into one of the most renowned and admired figures of his age. Here on the 175th anniversary of Douglass’s debut as an anti-slavery orator at the Nantucket Atheneum, Harvard professor and Innermost House Advisor John Stauffer presents his brilliant book, Picturing Frederick Douglass HERE.

The social, cultural, and spiritual movement we remember as New England Transcendentalism was a complex phenomenon. Commonly associated with the individualism of Walden, it had also a powerful social and political aspect exemplified by Thoreau himself and by the too-little-known crusading daughters of Concord and Boston. Please join Distinguished Professor Sandra Petrulionis, author of To Set This World Right: The Antislavery Movement in Thoreau’s Concord, in this timely discussion of the New England activists who fought for women’s rights and the abolition of slavery HERE.

There were 27 enslaved people listed in Peyton Randolph's inventory when he died in 1775. One of the names was Eve's. Learn about Eve's story on a recent podcast episode of What'sHerName here: whatshernamepodcast.com/eve/

Then be sure to take our virtual tour "Our Lives, Our Stories: Legacy of the Randolph Site," where you can meet Eve, interpreted by Hope Wright in the covered walk, all in 360 degrees: https://virtualtours.colonialwilliamsburg.org/randolph/...

Shoes last longer when the wearer takes care of them. Maintenance for leather shoes included the use of Black Ball, which acted as a two-in-one polish and conditioner. The shoemakers will demonstrate the production and application of Black Ball HERE.

In 1931, Major Frederick Russell Burnham commissioned a survey near Bull Flat Creek in Humboldt County, a spot where Save the Redwoods League founder Madison Grant believed the world's tallest tree might be found. When the tree, a 364-foot redwood, was indeed found, the California State Park Commission dedicated the tree to the founders of the Save the Redwoods League on September 13, 1931: "As a living monument symbolizing eternal life and duration of our gratitude." Please view this short, silent video of archival footing, memorializing the struggle to save the redwoods HERE.

The Raleigh Tavern is an analogy for the story of Colonial Williamsburg: the politics, the passion, and the people. In this livestream, we'll discuss how the Historic Trades, the curators, and our millwork shop came together to reinterpret the Raleigh Tavern's Public Dining Room HERE.

Please join this week’s Online Reading of Greek Tragedy with Sophocles’ classic and timely drama, “Antigone.” To the philosopher Hegel, the tragedy of Antigone exposed the tragic chasm between the "Divine Law," personified by Antigone, and the "Human Law," represented by Creon. In like manner, philosopher Jacques Maritain considered Antigone as the very "heroine of the natural law:" Hosted by Joel Christensen, with special guest James Collins. Presented by the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, the Kosmos Society, and the Out of Chaos Theatre. Stream this live and archived video HERE.

This evocative collection by internationally acclaimed photographer Sally Mann is a masterful reinvention of the art of landscape photography. Sally Mann is among the most innovative and daring artists working with a camera today. DEEP SOUTH is a collection of her exquisite, ethereal landscape photographs, taken in the years since she rose to international fame with her groundbreaking book Immediate Family. Masterfully adapting technical methods employed by early masters of landscape photography, the photographs in DEEP SOUTH capture what Mann calls the radical light of the American South. Watch this short film of her startlingly powerful images here.

Join us for a look inside the newly opened Engraver's Shop as they illustrate the steps in creating a monogram. Explore how colonial Virginians chose to mark their valuable items and why HERE.

While Thomas Jefferson spent the majority of his life in Virginia, he traveled far more—both domestically and internationally—than the average person in early America. And he believed that travel could bring wisdom and understanding. “When men of sober age travel,” he wrote in 1787, “they gather knowlege (sic) which they may apply usefully for their country.” Join us for a live Q&A with Thomas Jefferson, interpreted by Bill Barker. We’ll discuss Jefferson’s various trips, his fastidious record-keeping during travel, and what he learned from those experiences HERE.

Historian Christine DeLucia offers a major reconsideration of the violent seventeenth-century conflict in northeastern America known as King Philip’s War, providing an alternative to conventional narratives that have dominated the histories of colonial New England. Join Professor DeLucia as she discusses her work, Memory Lands, drawing from oral traditions, archival traces, material and visual culture, archaeology, literature, and environmental studies to reassess the nature and enduring legacies of a watershed historical event HERE.