much more is still needed to fill the many gaps. Libraries have been
searched for pictures, documents, and plans. Land records have been
carefully scrutinized and old existing landmarks studied.
Seventeenth-century buildings and objects still surviving in England,
America, and elsewhere have been viewed as well as museum collections. A
key part of the search has been the systematic excavation of the
townsite itself, in order to bring to light the information and objects
long buried there. This is the aspect of the broad Jamestown study that
is told in this publication, particularly as its relates to the material
things, large and small, of daily life in Jamestown in the 17th century.

These valuable objects are a priceless part of the Jamestown that exists
today. Collectively they form one of the finest groups of such early
material that has been assembled anywhere. Although most are broken and
few are intact, they would not be traded for better preserved and more
perfect examples that do exist elsewhere. These things were the property
and the possessions of the men and women who lived, worked, and died at
Jamestown. It was because of these people, who handled and used them in
their daily living, and because of what they accomplished, that
Jamestown is one of our best remembered historic places.

April 6, 1956
CHARLES E. HATCH, JR.
Colonial National Historical Park




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