Jamestown and Baltimore Expo

I went to Jamestown (yet again) last week.

This old medal from the 1607 tercentennial exposition
has corrosion and wear in all the right places.

I find it oddly relaxing -- walking around this hallowed ground. So much misery was felt in this place that I am not sure how to label the mix of emotions: the pit that gnaws at your stomach whenever you walk about the 33 graves along the southwest palisade wall (all from that first autumn of 1607), the whirling of colonial images in your brain (Captain John Smith shrewdly bargaining with Powhatan), and the salty morning breeze of the James that cools your cheeks.

I keep coming here. I have been here many times over the years (six visits in 2016 alone).

I keep reading about the place, and then waiting for the next book to come out.

I have been particularly engrossed in the colonists' interaction with the supernatural. Yes, that's right, the supernatural: religion, magic, divine provenance, devils, bewitching, and so on. And so, I decided to talk about it.

I am presenting a small program at the upcoming Baltimore Expo: Friday, November 4th, 11AM. It is called: Bent, Holed, and Folded: Coin Talismans at Jamestown. If you are going to the Expo, I invite you to check it out. It is part of the program for the Colonial Coin Collectors Club (or C4), but the talk is open for all comers.