VHS - New Exhibit - Pocahontas

Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend
February 10, 2007 – June 24, 2007

This exhibition examines the life and legend of one of the most beloved and famous of all Virginians—Pocahontas. Despite the familiarity of the Pocahontas story, many questions remain today about this eye-witness to the convergence of two disparate cultures. It must be remembered that what we know of her has been lifted from the narratives of English males, all of whom brought their particular fantasies and prejudices to bear on their representations of the New World and its people. Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend will evaluate both her life and the jarring interaction between cultures that gave it meaning. Presented during the anniversary year of the founding of Jamestown, the exhibition will feature more than 60 objects, including paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, sculpture, artifacts, books, manuscripts, broadsides, and sheet music.

Would the Real Pocahontas Please Stand Up?
Matoaka. Rebecka. Pocahontas. She was known by many names in her lifetime. More than 400 years later, she is still an enigma to most—a famous Native Virginian who forged an alliance with the English settlers despite her powerful father's objections. Popular culture has used her image and legacy to market everything from toys to cartoons. It has also left many Americans and Europeans confused as to the real story of Pocahontas.
"For centuries the Pocahontas story has appealed to Americans," says Dr. Robert S. Tilton, co-curator of the exhibition. "She was born into a culture that had some knowledge of Europeans, and after they settled on the outskirts of the territory controlled by her father, she was apparently drawn to the new strangers. A number of the chroniclers of the Jamestown founding mention Pocahontas by name and note her interactions with the English settlers."
A legend would be developed around this Powhatan girl, who perhaps saved John Smith from execution and who would as a young woman be kidnapped as a political pawn, converted to Christianity, married to a settler, and taken to England as an example of the potential of the New World for cultural indoctrination. It was among members of her adopted nation that she took sick and died, at age 22, as she attempted to return to her homeland.
Despite the familiarity of the Pocahontas story, many questions remain today about this eye-witness to the convergence of two disparate cultures. What we know of her has been lifted from the narratives of English males, all of whom brought their particular fantasies and prejudices to bear on their representations of the New World and its people. Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend will evaluate both her life and the jarring interaction between cultures that gave it meaning. The exhibit will attempt to lay to rest such issues as Pocahontas's relationship with John Smith, her effectiveness as a peacemaker (and whether that was her intention), and how she should be remembered.
"The show will also investigate her mythology," adds co-curator Dr. William M. S. Rasmussen. "Over the centuries the Pocahontas narrative has been retold, embellished, and so frequently adapted to contemporary issues that the actual, flesh-and-blood woman has been hidden behind it. The myths tell as much about their creators as about the figure whom they celebrate."
The exhibition will present more than 40 objects, including paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, books, and sheet music. A catalog will accompany the show. The exhibition will be on view at the VHS from February 10 through June 24, 2007. Educational programs include a Gallery Walk conducted by Dr. Rasmussen on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 (noon) and a Banner Lecture Thursday, June 14, 2007 (noon) by Helen Rountree. Visit www.vahistorical.org for more information.

This was the start of Miscegenation (Latin miscere “to mix” + genus “kind”) is the mixing of different ethnicities or races, especially in marriage, cohabitation, or sexual relations in America. Interracial marriage or interracial dating may be more common term in contemporary usage. But the English word useage has a clear history of ethnocentrism.

Frederick Douglass, second wife Helen Pitts, who was white, and whose daughter Eva, were a 19th century American example of miscegenation. Miscegenation was not un-common in early Dinwiddie County, several early examples can be found. A rather in-famous example would be Armistead Burwell fathering 'Lizzy' the daughter of Agnes, his slave, who gave birth to her daughter in Feb 1818. Later Lizzy was known as Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly or whose last name often mis-spelled Keckley, Lizzy spelled it Keckly. Even earlier examples are known.