Here is a list of five women whose lives touched the history of the Tidewater.
1. Clementina Rind: (Williamsburg) Following the death of her husband in 1773, Rind is considered the first female American newspaper printer and publisher.
Statue of Grace Sherwood, The Witch of Pungo (WYDaily/ Nancy Sheppard)
2. Grace Sherwood, The Witch of Pungo: (Virginia Beach) Famous for her 1706 witchcraft trial in Princess Anne County, subsequent witch ducking, and final trial in Williamsburg, Sherwood was a 46-year-old Princess Anne County native who made history as the last woman in Virginia to be convicted of witchcraft. She was eventually released and her good name cleared in 2006.
The new “Talking History” lecture series debuts on March 11 at Jamestown Settlement with a lecture related to the ongoing special exhibition, “FOCUSED: A Century of Virginia Indian Resilience.” (WYDaily/Courtesy of Jamestown Settlement)
JAMESTOWN The Jamestown Settlement and American Revolution Museum at Yorktown is offering a new series of free public lectures which present the theme of linking historical storylines presented at each museum with events in the present day.
The lecture series entitled, “Talking History,” begins Thursday, March 11 at 7 p.m. at the Robins Foundation Theater located at Jamestown Settlement. They will host Diana Gates of the Nottoway tribe, who serves as the managing senior tribal specialist for the National Center on Tribal Early Childhood Development.
One organization has a new senior director.
The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation (JYF) announced Tuesday Mariruth Leftwich would be the museum’s new senior director of museum operations and education.
The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation operates Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.
The new director starts in March.
“We’re thrilled Dr. Mariruth Leftwich will join the JYF leadership team as the new Senior Director of Museum Operations and Education,” said Christy S. Coleman, executive director at the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, in a news release. “She’s an innovator in museum education and brings a wealth of experience to her role.”
Leftwich has more than 20 years in the museum and education field and was most recently the director of learning at the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, according to the foundation’s news release on Feb. 23.