News and Events
Great Hopes Plantation
September 18, 2009
On their third day in Williamsburg, Chesapeake Semester students were given assignments to explore. What messages about history are portrayed here? How did the life of the free and the enslaved affect each other? In what ways did the foodways of the colonial culture reflect the environment in which they live? To address these questions and others, students visited the Great Hopes Plantation, a recreated 18th-century Virginia farm and strolled down Duke of Gloucester St., striking up conversations with reenactors to inform them of the past.
Click to enlarge photos by Mike Hardesty '05.
At Great Hopes Plantation students spoke with reenactors to capture some of the details of everyday life in 18th-century Virginia.
Brittany Hulbert '11 and Danielle Bellezza '11 give it their best at sawing firewood.
Laura Lazenby '11, Laura Carman, '12 and Kelsey Hallowell '12 dip string in a vat of hot wax to make candles.
Nearly 100 dips later the girls relish in their remarkable candles.
Kelsey Hallowell '12 and Dan Danko '12.
Students assemble on the green lawn in front of the Governor's Palace to present what they learned as they explored, observed, and interviewed people of colonial Williamsburg.
Liz Shandor '11 shares her observations and thoughts about slavery and freedom.
Laura Lazenby '11 takes notes as fellow student Laura Carman '12 discusses the role of fences and how they interact with people and landscapes in Colonial Williamsburg.
Dr. Seidel takes a moment to elaborate on student findings, integrating each of their views and facilitating a broader conceptualization.
After the presentations, students opt for a competitive race of the traditional "hoop and stick." Stakes were high with the winner being paid $5.00 by each loser.
Off to a difficult start, Mike Hardesty '05 finds himself the victim of the oldest trick in the book: an egg shaped hoop.
No problem for the Chesapeake Semester Program Manager as he bursts ahead with no one in sight.
Competitors Kelsey Hallowell '12 and Laura Carman '12 flounder hopelessly and without direction.
A modest win for Hardesty '05 as he sympathetically looks back on his lost companions.
