Program Outline

Segment One

Knowing about the buildings in which people lived and worked helps historians understand the lives of people from the past. In the carpenter's yard, meet one of the tradesmen who is reconstructing an outbuilding on the Peyton Randolph property in Colonial Williamsburg. Learn how the carpenters know what to build based on information learned through archaeology and architectural history.

Speak with a carpenter and 21st-century architectural historian.

Segment Two

Visit the carpenter's yard and watch the carpenters at work. Learn about the building process, carpentry work used to recreate the Peyton Randolph outbuildings, and how the process of reconstructing these buildings adds to the knowledge of eighteenth-century trades.

Speak with a carpenter and 21st-century architectural historian.

Segment Three

Return to the carpenter's yard and watch as one of the carpenters works with a product made by the blacksmith. Visit the blacksmith shop, view the making of bricks, and watch the construction of a vaulted ceiling to see how other trades work to make the reconstruction as authentic as possible.

Speak with a brickmaker, a blacksmith, and a 21st-century historian.

Don't Forget:

Historians and staff are available to answer questions from your students for one hour after each broadcast.

You may also contact our historians through the Discussion Forum on the Internet site for the rest of the school year.

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