Williamsburg Restored 1951

Directed by Francis Thompson

This documentary which opens with a ten-minute period drama about the importance of Williamsburg in 1774, explains the mission of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin in the 1920s to restore Williamsburg to a colonial American icon. Through the painstaking research of curator, historians, and architects, the town's restoration plan is mapped out. Construction tradesmen from the twentieth century transform rundown exteriors into period edifices. Interiors are modified and restored to livable, sometimes elegant, period condition. This vast undertaking leads to mid-century historical interpretation about the importance of the people and ideas of Williamsburg that forged a new nation.