Christy Coleman has been a pivotal figure in the field of history and education. As the Executive Director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, she leads two museums that explore the 17th-century confluence of American Indian, European, and African cultures and the American Revolution. Her talk will address little known facts about how the Battle at Yorktown was financed, who fought there, and how it inspired revolution in other European colonies.

Coleman's leadership has been instrumental in developing inclusive and complex interpretations of history, advocating for the power of museums and narrative correction. She has received numerous accolades, including three honorary doctorates, and has been recognized as one of the "31 People Changing the South" by Time magazine and one of "29 Women Changing the World" by Worth magazine. Coleman's work has been recognized with the 2023 David McCullough Prize for Excellence in American Public History.