Colonial williamsburg Archives

Keepers Of History

In 1749, when most Colonists were scrabbling for the most basic food and shelter, two of Yorktown’s finest sat with elegance and understatement to have their portraits made. William Nelson was a wealthy merchant; his wife, Elizabeth, a woman of prestigious heritage. Their son Thomas would go on to sign the Declaration of Independence. The…

Making It Real

The man who dismounts with a flourish wears a red wool coat and white linen breeches. His shoes hand-made by the shoemaker on site. He strides to his counterpart and bows. She stands stiffly straight in a starched white cap and fetching hat trimmed with blue ribbon, and layer upon layer of clothing — shift…

If the Shoe Fits

In its halcyon days, the Craddock-Terry Shoe Company’s Southland Factory Annex in downtown Lynchburg roared and rattled with enormous leather belts that turned axles that turned smaller leather belts that turned the spinning wheels of sewing machines. There were days those belts snapped loose and whipped like lashes around the heads of the workers, days of…