Leading Archaeologist Speaks on Campus to Commemorate Jamestown’s 400th Anniversary

Oct 14, 2019

FREDERICK, Maryland—Courtesy of Heritage Frederick, one of the nation’s leading archaeologists will speak at the Whitaker Campus Center at Hood College on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.

William Kelso will be the featured speaker at Heritage Frederick’s 2019 Parsons Newman Lecture. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Kelso (Hon.), Ph.D., CBE, FSA is the emeritus director of archaeology and research at the Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation. In 1607, lured by the promise of gold in Virginia and a western trade route to China, a band of adventurers formed the first enduring English settlement in the New World at Jamestown, Virginia. Civil unrest, power struggles, Indian wars, drought, starvation and cannibalism plagued the early years. The site of that first settlement, James Fort, was long thought to have been lost to river erosion. Kelso thought otherwise. Twenty-five years of ongoing discoveries by Kelso and his team of archaeologists proved that the lost site survived on dry land.

In 2019, the 400th anniversary of two seminal Jamestown events, the meeting of America’s first Democratic Assembly and the first arrival of Africans, are being commemorated. The site of the Assembly and where one of the first Africans lived and worked will be unveiled in a multimedia presentation of a rewritten Jamestown story based on the discovery of the original lost town plan, written messages left in the ground, shocking mysteries from the grave and Jamestown legacies in contemporary American society.

Kelso holds a master’s degree in early American history from the College of William and Mary, a Ph.D. from Emory University and honorary doctorates in archaeology, science and philosophy. In 2012, Queen Elizabeth II named him “Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE),” one of the highest orders of chivalry. For more than 50 years, Kelso has pursued early American archaeology, serving as director of archaeology at Carter’s Grove, Kingsmill and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and Poplar Forest.

Kelso is the author of numerous books on historical archaeology including the award-winning “Jamestown, The Buried Truth” (2006) and “Jamestown, The Truth Revealed” (2017). Books will be available for purchase and signing after the lecture.

Heritage Frederick is a cultural and educational nonprofit organization that preserves and shares Frederick County history through exhibits, research services and programs for all ages. Heritage Frederick’s annual P. Newman Lecture Series honors the civic leadership of Parsons Newman, a former president of Heritage Frederick. The series was made possible through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Hendrickson II, who created the Parsons Newman Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation of Frederick County.

For details, visit frederickhistory.org or call 301-663-1188 ext. 107.

Hood College is an independent, liberal arts college, offering 28 bachelor’s degrees, four pre-professional programs, 19 master’s degrees programs, two doctorates and 10 post-baccalaureate certificates. Located in historic Frederick, near Washington, D.C., Baltimore and the I-270 technology corridor, Hood gives students access to countless internships and research opportunities.