High Plains Chautauqua celebrates 20 years of bringing history to life when eight memorable figures appear under the big tent on the Aims Community College campus August 5-8. Chautauqua offers a unique blend of theater, history, and the humanities where audiences meet and engage in conversation with personalities from the past. All events are free and open to the public.
Reflected in our theme “Encore! Celebrating 20 Years of Living History,” this year’s program brings back audience favorites who performed once or more in the past 20 years. Representing multiple time periods and disciplines, the contributions of these characters helped to shape the destiny of our nation.
In addition to sharing the scholarship of historical characters, Chautauqua adds a community conversation on Friday, August 9, offering the audience an opportunity to engage in a guided discussion of the economic and environmental issues that remain controversial today.
Featured Chautauqua character favorites:
A steamboat pilot prior to the Civil War, Mark Twain (1835- 1910) joined his brother in the Nevada Territory and spent the war years avoiding military service, prospecting for gold and silver, and discovering his true calling in life as a writer of humorous pieces. Following the war, Twain became one of our nation’s great literary icons, developing his reputation as a satirist who poked fun at American society, politics, racism and love of money.
Wife of one president and niece of another, Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) was a remarkable political figure, social activist and diplomat. Though widely respected in her later years, Roosevelt was a controversial First Lady from 1933-1945, known for her outspokenness, particularly her stance on racial issues. Later, she became the first U.S. Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. Throughout her life, Roosevelt embraced many human rights causes.
Thomas Jefferson (1742-1826) believed in the right of self-government leading to the establishment of meritocracy over aristocracy as a founding principle for the nation. President Jefferson radically expanded the boundaries of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase, and then sent Lewis and Clark out to explore the geography and the flora and fauna of this broad expanse. An American Renaissance man, Jefferson studied science, agriculture, and architecture as well.
The first woman to win the Nobel Prize, Marie Curie’s (1867- 1934) contributions to the fields of chemistry, physics, and even engineering, through her WWI work on radioactivity, helped open the doors to these fields. She chose the path of years-long perseverance in order to add to the knowledge of humankind, avoiding whenever possible the fame that came in its wake.
Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) was an American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. Faith in God and country led Tubman to become a spy and a nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War.
John James Audubon’s (1785-1851) research was groundbreaking in American natural history. He painted more than 485 species of birds in their natural habitats, elevating scientific illustrations from flat, lifeless sketches to dramatic, dynamic fine art, accompanied by each bird’s life story. His commentary on the demise of the ‘America he knew’ is still an inspiration for environmental activists, and his field notes provide data needed for major restoration efforts.
Henry David Thoreau (1817- 1862) was an American writer, naturalist, and political activist. A leading transcendentalist, Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay “Civil Disobedience” (originally published as “Resistance to Civil Government”), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.
Although a New Yorker through and through, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the nation’s first cowboy president with strong ties to the West. Roosevelt’s most enduring domestic legacy is the preservation of the nation’s wildlife and natural resources. He championed federal policies which saw their greatest impact in the western states.
Young Chautauqua scholars present their living history portrayals as a culmination of months of independent research. This year’s festival will run four nights, Monday – Thursday, with a special community conversation scheduled for Friday morning, August 9.
High Plains Chautauqua is made possible thanks to the generosity of sponsors; individual donors; and many, many dedicated volunteers. Learn more at highplainschautauqua.org or coloradohumanities.org