Emerging Scholars at ASWAD 2023

The OI is pleased to support the attendance of these emerging scholars at the Biennial Conference of the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora (ASWAD) & the Convening of the International Congress of African and African Diaspora Studies (ICAADS), August 2-5, 2023, at the University of Ghana–Legon, Accra, Ghana. The OI is supporting scholars on the… Read More

11th Annual Rio de la Plata Workshop Schedule (Revised)

Download the Schedule PDF NOTE: Due to inclement weather, please refer to the revised schedule below. Opening Lecture – Friday, February 21st, Tucker Hall, 127A – 10am 12:15pm Zacarias Moutoukias, Université Paris Diderot“Global as Micro: Social Networks, Interactions and Transactions in Colonial Spaces” Friday, February 21st… Read More

Williamsburg partners to host "For 2026" conference, October 28-29, 2022

Williamsburg partners to host “For 2026” conference series in recognition of the 250th anniversary of American independence   WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (Sept. 15, 2022) – The Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture, in partnership with William & Mary and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, will host a series of five annual conferences marking the 250th anniversary of American independence. The… Read More

BFW: Experiences of Revolution, Part 2: Disruptions in Yorktown

Each year, the Ben Franklin’s World team produces a special episode for the Fourth of July holiday. This year, we’re going even further, sharing two themed episodes that explore how ordinary Americans experienced the Revolutionary War. On Tuesday, July 5, the second of those episodes—“Experiences of Revolution, Part 2: Disruptions in Yorktown,” episode 333—debuts wherever… Read More

Can historians make archival discoveries?

By Robert Lee Robert Lee is an Assistant Professor of American History and Fellow of Selwyn College at the University of Cambridge and the author of “‘A Better View of the Country’: A Missouri Settlement Map” in Sources and Interpretations published in the January 2022 issue of the William and Mary Quarterly. A decade… Read More

Updates from the WMQ

By Joshua Piker, Editor It will likely come as no surprise to learn that I spend way too much time worrying about authorial voice.  For an editor, that’s very on-brand.  I only raise the issue because I’ve been worrying, in particular, about my authorial voice on this blog.  I’ve got two go-to voices for blog posts, neither of which… Read More

A changing portrait: seeing the "Mad King" thru decades of newspapers

by Charlie Kreh Charlie Kreh (W&M Class of 2021) is a History major. He plans to pursue a degree in law after he completes his BA. When I first learned of the Omohundro Institute (OI) and the accomplished scholars who work there, I knew I wanted to participate in any capacity I could. With the help of my advisor,… Read More

Jack Custis, Race, and the Unseen in Colonial Virginia Portraits

by Janine Yorimoto Boldt One painfully obvious fact as one scrolls through Colonial Virginia Portraits is that the faces are overwhelmingly white. Colonial Virginia Portraits includes more than 500 recorded portraits of which approximately 95 are documented but no longer extant. Only four of the total represent a non-white person. Three of these feature unnamed individuals who are… Read More

Global Knowledge, Eighteenth-Century Style

In this post, WMQ author Tamara Plakins Thornton recounts how she came to understand eighteenth-century globes and how that changed the way she needed them illustrated for her article in the April 2020 issue.  Through September 30, you can read this article for free on the OI Reader. We will close the beta period of the OI Reader… Read More

We remain committed to our central mission of supporting scholars and scholarship of early America. During the pandemic, we are pivoting to focus on and increase our digital offerings. Please stay in touch and let us know how we might serve you during this difficult time. —The Omohundro Institute… Read More

When the Past Still Hangs in the Parlor

by Janine Yorimoto Boldt “My Will is that none of the Pictures of what Sort Soever be Removed out of my Dwelling Hall.” With those words, Henry Custis (ca. 1677-1733) of Northampton County, Virginia clearly stated his intention that the family portraits (and any other pictures) should remain with his house in perpetuity. Custis would be disappointed that neither… Read More

“By the Meanes of Women”: Jamestown on the Vanguard of English Women’s Settlement

by Emily Sackett Emily Sackett was awarded an OI–Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation fellowship in spring 2019. She spent the month of September 2019 in residence at the Omohundro Institute and conducted extensive research in the collections at Jamestown Island. The OI offers numerous short-term… Read More