About the Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center:
 Who We Are | Our History | Our Vision/The Exploratory Center
Our Vision/ The Exploratory Center
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The
Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center of Virginia celebrates and
explores the original ideas and historic roots of the Lewis and
Clark Expedition. Indeed, the expedition “started here”
with Thomas Jefferson and his childhood education and experiences;
Meriwether Lewis, who was an Albemarle County native, Jefferson
neighbor and Jefferson’s presidential secretary; William
Clark, a Virginia native who was the younger brother of Albemarle
native and Revolutionary War hero, George Rogers Clark; James
Monroe, who lived within sight of Jefferson’s Monticello
and helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase; James Madison, who
resided at Montpelier in nearby Orange County and was U.S. Secretary
of State during the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition; and
many Corps of Discovery members, including York, John Shields,
Reuben and John Field, with Virginia roots.
Today,
the Center has an historic and attractive site on the Rivanna
River, at Darden Towe Park, just northeast of the city. The
site is ideal for a building, a partially constructed keelboat
and a pirogue – similar to the boats used on the expedition
-- an annual festival and activities for children and adults.
The Center envisions a future that will engage minds and hands
in exploring the Lewis and Clark Expedition and its origins.
Watch this space for developments.
William
McDonough + Partners and Nelson Byrd Landscape Architects are
conducting site development. The site has a multitude of historic
and environmental elements, and numerous places in the existing
woods lend themselves to an exploration of “living off
the land” -- from both the voyager and native perspectives.
Development is in the discovery stage for the Center’s
board members, who agree with the architect that: “There
are possibilities of this Center telling fundamental stories
about not just peoples, plants and animals, but about geologies,
soils, water and climate. This is what makes this site so absolutely
terrific – it has so many of these elements in vivid form
and presence.”
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William McDonough + Partners and Nelson Byrd Landscape Architects
are working with the Board on site development. The project is in
an exciting stage of working with a site that has a multitude of historic
and environmental elements. For example, many places in the existing
woods may lend themselves to an exploration of "Living off the
Land" both from the voyager and native perspective. There are
also portions of the site that spring to mind as showing Lewis and
Clark as natural historians. All discussions are tentative and in
the discovery stage for the Board at this time, but all agree with
the architect who wrote, "There are possibilities of this Center
telling fundamental stories about not just peoples, plants and animals,
but about geologies, soils, water and climate. This is what makes
this site so absolutely terrific -- it has so many of these elements
in vivid form and presence."
Exploratory Center News:
Alexandria
Searls
is the LCEC Coordinator. Searls is a writer, media producer, and
teacher. Her previous experience includes founding the Vinegar Hill
Film Festival, which is held annually in Charlottesville.
Michael
P. Gleason is the LCEC Development Director and is devising
a fund-raising strategy for the Center. Gleason’s relevant
experience includes work with local, state and national celebrations
and commemorations, dating to Virginia’s American Bicentennial
celebration in the 1970s. He is the founder and chief executive
of Gleason Publishing Inc., which publishes VIRGINIA, a magazine
devoted to history and travel in the Commonwealth. He is considered
one of Virginia’s top Lewis and Clark historians. He is a member
of the federal Jamestown 400th Commemoration Commission.
The
Center will be designed to:
- Focus
on the Virginian experience with earlier expeditions to western Virginia
and the West and on Jefferson's vision in proposing the westward expansion.
- Explore
the education, training and preparation of Lewis and Clark as leaders,
and the character, personalities and contributions of members of the
Corps of Discovery, especially a slave named York and a Shoshone woman
named Sacagawea.
- Engage
visitors in touching, using and imagining the challenges posed by the
tools, keelboats, and other equipment used during the journey and explore
the plants, herbs and wildlife discovered, and research and methods
used.
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Illustrate the differences between the American East and West in terms
of topography, plants, wildlife, and the diversity of Native American
tribes.
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Orient visitors to the entire Lewis and Clark Expedition, including
important preparation at other sites in the East, such as Philadelphia,
Harper's Ferry and Pittsburgh, as well as the Trail in the West and
its many centers, museums and exhibits.
The
Visitor Experience
Through
an interactive environment, visitors of all ages will experience the excitement
and rediscovery of the expedition. The Center will feature focus areas,
such as:
- The
creation of the expedition with Jefferson, Monroe, Madison, Lewis and
Clark;
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Leadership, training and decision-making on the expedition: The beginnings
of American democracy;
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The character of the Corps itself, which included an African-American
slave, York, and an Native American, Sacagawea;
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The Native American role in the success of the expedition;
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Science and technology as part of the exploration, including medicinal
herbs, plants, wildlife, geography and cartography;
- Interactive displays showing Lewis' and Clark's navigation training in the Army, and Lewis' botanical and medical training in Philadelphia.
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Daily life on the expedition.
The
Center will tell these stories through the following means:
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electronic maps of geographical and historical highlights;
- hands-on
replicas of tepees, boats, huts;
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films and videotapes;
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real time videoconferencing and Internet communication with Lewis and
Clark centers across the West;
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opportunities to plan a trip West or to enjoy a virtual trip through
travel on the Internet.
The
Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center of Virginia will contain a central
exhibit area, educational/classroom space, a theater, and other visitor
amenities.
The
story of the Corps of Discovery presages the unfolding of the American
dream of democracy over the next 200 years - an ideal toward which
we are still working. Although blacks, women, and Indians were not
considered equals, a slave named York and a young Shoshone woman named
Sacagawea played significant roles and participated fully as members
of the Corps.
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