BLACKS' VIEWS OF COLONIAL VA. ADDED TO DISPLAY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 13, 1993                   TAG: 9303130240
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE: JAMESTOWN                                LENGTH: Medium
BLACKS' VIEWS OF COLONIAL VA. ADDED TO DISPLAY
The first black member of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation's trustee board says she isn't dropping her idea for special recognition of blacks in Colonial Virginia even with the opening of two new displays on Africa.
A 16th-century book written by an African and a 1570 hand-colored map of Africa were put on permanent display last month at the Jamestown Settlement museum. The works will "flesh out the picture of what Africa was like before the forced emigration to America," said senior curator Tom Davidson.
Joyce Hobson, the foundation's first black trustee and an advocate for more Africa-related material, commended the additions. Still, she said, "Here at the end of the 20th century, I don't think we can afford to have progress at this snail's pace."
Hobson wants the foundation to host a celebration of the 375th anniversary of blacks in Virginia to raise money to expand African exhibits at Jamestown.
The book put on display is an English edition of a work originally written in Arabic by an African diplomat, John Leo.
"A Geographical Historie of Africa" describes the history, politics and economy of West Africa, the home of most Africans who were forcibly brought to North America between the 16th and 18th centuries.
Davidson said the foundation searched for the translation of Leo's book because it presents Africa from an African's perspective.
The map shows what Europeans knew of Africa and its kingdoms before the slave trade began. The map was made by Abraham Ortelius, creator of the most influential world map at the time.
Colonists landed at Jamestown in 1607, founding the first permanent English settlement in North America. A Dutch ship brought the first Africans to Virginia in 1619, and the number of Africans remained small for most of the century - probably fewer than 400 by 1650.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB