Last Sunday afternoon, Thomas Jefferson spoke to a crowd in front of the Raleigh Tavern.
On March 12, 1773, we have decided that no longer are we sitting desperate and disparate within our individual geographic boundaries, but rather we have found ourselves united amongst our common cause for all.”
The group of listeners, who included representatives from other states, cheered his remarks.
Just a normal day in Williamsburg, amirite?
This event was the culmination of “A Common Cause to All,” a weekend hosted by the VA250 Commission and Colonial Williamsburg to launch multistate planning efforts for commemorating America’s 250th anniversary in 2026. On this date – March 12, 1773 – Virginia passed a resolution establishing its Committee of Correspondence, which the article describes ad “a critical moment in the journey that led to the United States declaring independence in 1776.” This was the first time that the colonies were unified under a common cause.
And in an “oh by the way,” I vividly recall the Bicentennial Celebration in July of 1976. I’m sure many of you recall it as well.
And lest you think that Williamsburg was visited by the ghost of Jefferson on Sunday, you should know that the person channeling Jefferson was Kurt Smith, who has played the role of Thomas Jefferson for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation since 2016. He was mentored in this role by Bill Barker, who first portrayed Jefferson at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall in 1984. He became the Foundation’s first Thomas Jefferson in the early 1990s; when he retired, he took an active role in reviewing the interviewing his successor.
I first “met” the “young Jefferson” when he read the Declaration of Independence from the balcony at the Governor’s Palace early in his career with the Foundation. It was either in 2017 or 2018 – I don’t remember which year. But I do remember the somewhat sardonic inflection he gave to the familiar words, subtly reminding us all of the ways in which the administration of The Former Guy had twisted and mocked the sentiments expressed in one of America’s sacred texts.
In 2021, our son and his family visited us in Williamsburg, and we were in the crowd when “Jefferson” took the stage in an outdoor venue near the colonial capitol building. He spoke in character, engaging the audience with questions that both entertained and educated. Our grandchildren enjoyed this interaction along with the rest of the crowd – which was from all over the country, just like the crowd that heard “Jefferson” speak on Sunday.
It is appropriate that “Jefferson” spoke at the Raleigh Tavern on Duke of Gloucester Street. When Virginia’s colonial House of Burgesses was dissolved in 1774 by Lord Dunmore, the royal governor, for what he considered seditious talk, the burgesses reconvened at the nearby tavern to continue their discussion and debate about the colony’s future. It is from these discussions that a new Virginia constitution emerged in June of 1776 as part of the colony’s march toward independence from Great Britain.
Williamsburg is the embodiment of the Faulkner line (from his 1950 novel Requiem for a Nun:
"The past is never dead. It's not even past."
It’s interesting you would write about this today, Karen. Some of our Williamsburg friends called us today and told us about this event. A big weekend for Williamsburg. They were delighted when Mr. Jefferson told the gathering that conversation around his Thanksgiving table included any and all topics. No sacred cows! Imagine that in our world today!