W&M campus featured on History Channel special
Location shot A History Channel crew came to campus during the spring of 2010 to film background footage for a documentary on Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson is one of three U.S. Presidents to have graduated from the College of William & Mary. James Monroe and John Tyler were also educated here. Photo by Suzanne Seurattan
The College of William & Mary was featured this week in a History Channel program about well-know College alumnus Thomas Jefferson. The program included scenic footage of the William & Mary campus, including various shots of the Sir Christopher Wren Building and the Brafferton. The History Channel crew and cast spent a half-day on campus last spring in the vicinity of the College Yard filming for the production.
Jefferson first came to Williamsburg to attend the College in March 1760. Until 1762, Jefferson lodged and boarded in the Wren Building. He remained in Williamsburg to read law for the next five years under George Wythe, who became the first professor of law at William & Mary in 1779.
A portion of the program may be viewed online. The documentary will be re-broadcast on the History Channel August 31 both at noon and 6 p.m.
For those familiar with Williamsburg, the documentary offered other familiar sites including the Governor’s Palace in Colonial Williamsburg.
The presentation also showcased commentary from several Jefferson scholars including Annette Gordon-Reed, one of the country’s leading presidential scholars and winner of a 2009 Pulitzer Prize. Reed, a professor at New York Law School, was honored this year by the College with a Honorary Doctorate Humane Letters at Commencement.
