The holiday season is a time for people to ponder the bounty in their lives, and in Jamestown’s past, all wealth flowed from the land.

Manuel Furtado Dutra arrived barefoot and alone in Jamestown in 1917 when he was 13 years old. He had never worn shoes in his life, could not read or write, and had never been to school.

Many Jamestown residents have given the ultimate sacrifice to their nation during wartime. While honoring the local men and women who have died, the community also is compelled to take stock of the causes for which they fought, as these causes still have echoes in the world today.

In August 1890, the magazine Scientific American announced a new “device for operating and fastening blind slats which is the invention of Mr. Abraham Pugsley of Jamestown, Rhode Island.”

Jamestown’s first European Thanksgiving was in 1687, imposed by royal fiat. Religious separatists and Quakers eschewed all “pagan” holidays.

In an era when cities and towns across the nation are reexamining the heritage of their black citizens, it is fitting for Jamestown to do the same.

The African-American and Native American community in Jamestown burgeoned during slavery, but it declined precipitously after the Revolution. Nine tenths left in only 50 years.