Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2015
Contact: Ryan Downey, 757/728-5328
[email protected]
Seamus McGrann, 757/727-6841
[email protected]
‘Revolutionaries Forever: Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry’
Performance Presented at Hampton History Museum December 7
Hampton, Virginia- Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, who is most famously known
as the writer of the Declaration of Independence, and Patrick Henry, the first governor of
Virginia, are brought to life by Colonial Williamsburg actors Bill Barker and Richard
Schumann for an evening of enlightening entertainment with “Revolutionaries Forever:
Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry” at the Hampton History Museum on Monday,
December 7 at 7:00 p.m.
Patrick Henry, with the power of his fiery rhetoric, and Thomas Jefferson, with the
eloquence of his penned Declaration of Independence, became two of the most influential
champions of the American Revolution, stirring the colonists’ patriotic sentiments as they
mobilized for a war of independence from Great Britain.
Jefferson admired Henry’s “bold and splendid eloquence” but the two men’s visions for
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Presented at Hampton History Museum December 7- Page 2
an independent nation, liberated from the tyrannies of the British Empire, differed. Even
before the Revolution ended, Henry, who served as Virginia’s first governor during the
Revolution, criticized his successor Thomas Jefferson’s handling of Virginia’s role in the
Revolution.
After the Revolution, the two men differed on the role of religion in government, with
Jefferson advancing the complete separation of state and church in his Statute of
Religious Freedom. Although both men agreed that “that government governs best that
governs least,” Patrick Henry was a staunch anti-federalist who refused to endorse the
new Constitution drafted at the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia in 1787.
Jefferson did endorse the Constitution, that is, its establishment of a limited federal
government conducting it’s affairs for the “common good and defense.”
Although the two Virginia statesmen had begun their careers as friends and later became
bitter rivals, both remained staunch patriots and defenders of individual liberties
throughout their lives.
Bill Barker’s portrayal of Thomas Jefferson for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
enjoys a national reputation. Over the years, Mr. Barker has also assisted the Foundation
in the development of Jefferson programs for a variety of audiences. His repertoire of
Jefferson presentations is tailored to corporate and government audiences, as well as
schools, societies and festivals. He has also performed as Jefferson at the White House,
the Palace of Versailles and throughout the United States, Great Britain, and France.
Richard Schumann has portrayed Patrick Henry for the Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation for almost two decades. Mr. Schumann studied theater in New York City
with Uda Hagen at the Herbert Bergoff Studio as well as with several other renowned
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Presented at Hampton History Museum December 7- Page 3
theater people. His first venture into living history programming was at Yorktown. He
then joined the theatrical interpretation staff at Colonial Williamsburg. He has many fans
among visitors to Colonial Williamsburg who enjoy encountering “the firebrand of the
Revolution” in the historic district.
The program is free for Hampton History Museum Members and $5.00 for non-members.
The Hampton History Museum is located at 120 Old Hampton Lane. There is plenty of
free parking in the garage across from the museum. For more information, dial 757/7271610, visit www.hamptonhistorymuseum.org, or like the Hampton History Museum on
Facebook.
Partially bordered by the Hampton Roads harbor and Chesapeake Bay, Hampton, with
the 344,000 sq. ft. Hampton Roads Convention Center, is located in the center of the
Hampton Roads metropolitan area. Hampton is the site of America's first continuous
English-speaking settlement and is home to such visitor attractions as the Virginia Air &
Space Center and Riverside IMAX ® Theater, Hampton History Museum, harbor tours
and cruises, Hampton University Museum, Fort Monroe, award-winning Hampton
Coliseum, The American Theatre, among others.
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