BERKELEY1619 Back to the story

About this project

A story worth
keeping alive.

Virginia's place in Thanksgiving history deserves to be remembered, shared, and understood.

Our purpose

Preserve the story.
Keep the record close.

Berkeley 1619 is an independent history project about the first traditional Thanksgiving in Virginia: the English religious observance at Berkeley Hundred, formally ordered in 1619 to be kept every year.

We lead with Virginia's distinction and make the evidence easy to explore. We honor the Massachusetts tradition Americans carry forward, and we respect the Indigenous peoples whose history is inseparable from this story.

A dedication

In gratitude
and remembrance.

For people of every walk of life whose stories are woven into Virginia’s history. We honor the different lives they led, the hardships they faced, the sacrifices they made, and the achievements they earned.

We remember those whose names endure and those whose stories went unrecorded.

To remember the Commonwealth fully is to make room for them all.

Our approach

Pride, with care.

Historical documents, museums, archives, and public history institutions support the account. Where sources differ or the surviving record leaves questions open, the story explains those limits.

This project is not affiliated with Berkeley Plantation or any museum, government agency, or tribal nation cited here. References and images are credited to their original sources.

Explore the sources
A footnote for the Commonwealth

Keeping Virginia’s place in the story, one footnote at a time.

With a nod to the 1962 exchange between John J. Wicker Jr. and Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Read about the 1962–1963 exchange.

BR: Defender of the Commonwealth. Keeper of the footnote.

Images & credits

The three images on this site are public domain or openly licensed. Their creators, sources, licenses, and adaptations are recorded with the story. Please retain the applicable attribution when reusing an image.

View image credits