Remembering Jay Howlett

We join with so many in the history community in mourning the loss of Jay Howlett, an eminent craftsman and living history interpreter who was most recently the Master Leather Breeches Maker at Colonial Williamsburg.

More than a decade ago, Jay played a key role on the team that developed the groundbreaking interdisciplinary undertaking to recreate and interpret George Washington’s headquarters tent, the First Oval Office Project. Jay's lifelong study of the material culture of the 18th century allowed him to make some of the finest reproduction leather objects ever created, including replicas of the valises, portfolio, and leather canteens that George Washington used during the Revolutionary War. You can watch Jay discuss this work in 2013 here:

These objects continue to travel around the country as part of this project and are in regular use here at the Museum, including as part the acclaimed special exhibitions, Among His Troops: Washington's War Tent in a Newly Discovered Watercolor (2018) and Witness to Revolution: The Unlikely Travels of Washington's Tent (2024-2025). Together, these programs have reached tens of thousands of young people and families, inspiring rising generations to reflect on their nation’s revolutionary origins and the lives of its Founding Generation. Jay’s legacy continues.

Jay was also an inspiration and mentor for numerous people in the reenacting and professional living history communities over several decades. His leadership and intellectual generosity influenced a generation of public history professionals, and our hearts are with Jay's many friends and family at this difficult time.