SMITHSONIAN CHANNEL MARKS 400TH ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC ASSEMBLY IN AMERICA'S HIDDEN STORIES: MYSTERY AT JAMESTOWN

SMITHSONIAN CHANNEL^TM MARKS 400^TH ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC ASSEMBLY

WITH SEARCH FOR LOST FOUNDING FATHER IN

AMERICA’S HIDDEN STORIES:

MYSTERY AT JAMESTOWN

SPECIAL INSTALLMENT OF GROUNDBREAKING SERIES
WHICH PREVIOUSLY REVEALED THAT RENOWNED GENERAL CASIMIR PULASKI WAS INTERSEX
PREMIERES MONDAY, JULY 29 AT 8 PM ET/PT

NEW YORK – June 20, 2019 – Jamestown, the first successful English settlement in the Americas, is best known for the legend of John Smith and Pocahontas, but now archaeologists are on the hunt for a pioneering and controversial forgotten founding father. On July 30, 1619, Sir George Yeardley presided over the first democratic assembly in English-speaking America. Just a few weeks later, he purchased the first captive Africans for an English colony – opening America to the horrors of slavery. Smithsonian Channel’s probing series AMERICA’S HIDDEN STORIES has pulled back the curtain on history we thought we knew, such as the groundbreaking revelation that Revolutionary War hero General Casimir Pulaski was intersex. Now, a special episode of the series reveals how Sir George Yeardley and a single year, 1619, set the course for the nation’s future. AMERICA’S HIDDEN STORIES: MYSTERY AT JAMESTOWN premieres 400 years after the assembly’s anniversary on Monday, July 29 at 8 PM ET/PT.

Since the remains of John Smith’s original triangular fort were discovered by archeologist Bill Kelso in 1994, a team from Jamestown Rediscovery and Smithsonian forensic anthropologist Doug Owsley have steadily uncovered details of the colony’s history. Now, new excavations have revealed several burials within the remains of Jamestown’s original 1617 church – one of which could be Yeardley, a self-made son of a tailor who rose to be knighted and named the second governor of the colony in 1618. AMERICA’S HIDDEN STORIES: MYSTERY AT JAMESTOWN follows the forensic detective work as scientists excavate and analyze the burials, hoping to match clues from the grave with historical records of Yeardley’s life. Dramatic reconstructions transport viewers back to the precarious first years of the colony, when rivalries between leaders, disease and starvation, and conflict with the Powhatan confederation – a powerful group of Native Americans who inhabited the Chesapeake area – threatened Jamestown’s survival.

AMERICA’S HIDDEN STORIES: MYSTERY AT JAMESTOWN is produced by Lisa Quijano Wolfinger, Kirk Wolfinger and Chris Bryson of Lone Wolf Media for Smithsonian Networks. Charles Poe and David Royle serve as executive producers for Smithsonian Channel.  

Smithsonian Channel™, owned by Smithsonian Networks™, a joint venture between Showtime Networks Inc. and the Smithsonian Institution, is where curiosity lives, inspiration strikes and wonders never cease. This is the place for awe-inspiring stories, powerful documentaries and amazing factual entertainment, available in HD and 4K Ultra HD across multiple platforms. Smithsonian Channel, winner of Emmy® and Peabody awards for its programming, combines the storytelling prowess of SHOWTIME® with the unmatched resources and rich traditions of the Smithsonian, to create programming that shines new light on popular genres such as air and space, travel, history, science, nature and pop culture. Among the network’s offerings are series including Aerial America, America in Color, The Lost Tapes, Mighty Ships, Million Dollar American Princesses, The Pacific War in Color and Air Disasters, as well as critically-acclaimed specials that include The Coronation, The Mountain Lion and Me, Earth from Outer Space and Titanoboa: Monster Snake. Smithsonian Networks also operates Smithsonian Channel Plus™, a subscription video streaming service delivering over a thousand hours of the Channel’s stunning and diverse library of documentaries and series in HD and 4K Ultra HD. Smithsonian Channel is also available internationally in Canada, Singapore, Latin America and the UK. To learn more, go to www.smithsonianchannel.com, or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.