Monday, Oct. 30, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation announced the launch of the centennial campaign for Colonial Williamsburg, “The Power of Place.” The campaign’s design prioritizes fundraising and increasing awareness for the work and priorities of the Foundation.
“The campaign is designed to support numerous projects that inform and inspire people across the country and around the globe in the lead-up to 2026, the year of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the Foundation’s own 100th anniversary,” the Foundation said in a press-release.
Development of the campaign began in January 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foundation has a $600 million goal in place for the campaign and has already raised over $325 million, with four gifts of $10 million each given by individual donors. Through monetary donations and grants, the campaign prioritizes the fields of preservation, education and civic engagement through restoration and modernization.
The foundation aims to raise $150 million in restoration and preservation initiatives that will restore historic sites such as the Colin G. and Nancy N. Campbell Archaeology Center, CW Archaeology, the Williamsburg Bray School and the Historic First Baptist Church.
An additional $250 million is allocated for educational purposes through historical theater programming, onsite programs and partnership with independent research organization Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture.
“Our goal is to expand the power of historic interpretation through existing sites and new locations including the American Indian Encampment, the reconstructed Historic First Baptist Church, the Williamsburg Bray School and through our increasingly popular virtual programming,” the Foundation wrote in its campaign case statement.
As a component of its allocated $80 million investment in civic engagement, Colonial Williamsburg Innovation Studios aims to equip the Foundation with digital technology and programming to build an interactive virtual museum by 2026. The initiative involves collaboration with history podcast “Ben Franklin’s World,” and the updated relaunching of the Foundation’s site’s history subsection with information for social studies curriculum.
The Foundation also aims to raise $120 million for the Colonial Williamsburg Fund to support future planning, existing programs, budgeting and acquisition of employees.
“We know our nation has not yet achieved our highest ideals and there is much work left to be done,” Chair of the Colonial Williamsburg Board of Trustees Carly Fiorina said in the Foundation’s case statement. “Colonial Williamsburg’s mission is to allow every American to see themselves through the mirror of our shared history.”
