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"When I visited Colonial Williamsburg I saw a sprawling, town-sized living-history museum where hundreds of costumed interpreters recreate 18th-century life — researching trades, wearing period-appropriate clothing, telling first-person stories of historical figures, and animating debates about race and memory — all while the nonprofit side pursues deep historical interpretation and the for-profit side runs hotels, shops, and restaurants to fund the operation; the museum leans on nostalgia and is gearing up for the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026 even as it wrestles with financial pressures and public backlash over how it presents Black and Indigenous histories." - Nick Mancall-Bitel
Living history museum with costumed interpreters, trades, and historic buildings.