2021 Character Portrayals
Nikola Tesla (1856 – 1943)
By Doug Mishler
Sponsored by High Plains Library District
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist who is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. Yet what is unknown about him is even more remarkable.
Tesla received an advanced education in engineering and physics in the 1870s and he immigrated to the United States in 1884, where he would become a naturalized citizen. He worked for a short time at the Edison Works in New York before he struck out on his own. With the help of partners to finance and market his ideas, Tesla set up laboratories and companies to develop a range of electrical and mechanical devices. His AC induction motor and related polyphase AC patents, licensed by Westinghouse Electric in 1888, earned him a considerable amount of money.
Not just a man of science for Science’s sake, Tesla wanted inventions he could patent and market, such as mechanical oscillators/generators, electrical discharge tubes, and early X-ray imaging. He also built a wireless-controlled boat, one of the first ever exhibited. He would constantly demonstrate his achievements to the populace and wealthy patrons and was renowned for his showmanship. Tesla was really the P.T. Barnum of science, far more a popularizer and showman than his consistent critic Thomas Edison.
Throughout the 1890s, Tesla pursued his ideas for wireless lighting and worldwide wireless electric power distribution while also envisioning GPS. In 1893, Tesla pronounced he was working on a wireless communication device (such as our cell phones). Tesla tried to put these ideas to practical use from his intercontinental wireless communication and power transmitter Wardenclyffe Tower project on Long Island.
Tesla shamelessly promoted himself and investments poured in for a variety of ideas he created relating to such things as X rays, a type of early radar, and even secret death rays. Yet while there were great achievements, there was also a bunch of humbug. Ultimately Tesla ran through everyone’s money and received his last patent for a vertical take-off bi-plane in 1928. He closed his business in 1930. He kept up his shameless self-promotion, but really did nothing more and by 1940 was broke and he and his horde of pigeons collected on midnight walks in New York was left moving from hotel to hotel when his bills came due. He left behind copious amounts of unpaid bills when he died in January 1943.
Tesla's work fell into relative obscurity following his death, yet with the birth of cell phones and other scientific breakthroughs that echoed his original ideas, there has come a renaissance in his reputation. Most now remember him as a remarkably prescient scientist whose ideas presaged our 21st century world. They have forgotten that he was also a remarkably flawed human being. He is thus a great Chautauqua character!
By Doug Mishler
Sponsored by High Plains Library District
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist who is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. Yet what is unknown about him is even more remarkable.
Tesla received an advanced education in engineering and physics in the 1870s and he immigrated to the United States in 1884, where he would become a naturalized citizen. He worked for a short time at the Edison Works in New York before he struck out on his own. With the help of partners to finance and market his ideas, Tesla set up laboratories and companies to develop a range of electrical and mechanical devices. His AC induction motor and related polyphase AC patents, licensed by Westinghouse Electric in 1888, earned him a considerable amount of money.
Not just a man of science for Science’s sake, Tesla wanted inventions he could patent and market, such as mechanical oscillators/generators, electrical discharge tubes, and early X-ray imaging. He also built a wireless-controlled boat, one of the first ever exhibited. He would constantly demonstrate his achievements to the populace and wealthy patrons and was renowned for his showmanship. Tesla was really the P.T. Barnum of science, far more a popularizer and showman than his consistent critic Thomas Edison.
Throughout the 1890s, Tesla pursued his ideas for wireless lighting and worldwide wireless electric power distribution while also envisioning GPS. In 1893, Tesla pronounced he was working on a wireless communication device (such as our cell phones). Tesla tried to put these ideas to practical use from his intercontinental wireless communication and power transmitter Wardenclyffe Tower project on Long Island.
Tesla shamelessly promoted himself and investments poured in for a variety of ideas he created relating to such things as X rays, a type of early radar, and even secret death rays. Yet while there were great achievements, there was also a bunch of humbug. Ultimately Tesla ran through everyone’s money and received his last patent for a vertical take-off bi-plane in 1928. He closed his business in 1930. He kept up his shameless self-promotion, but really did nothing more and by 1940 was broke and he and his horde of pigeons collected on midnight walks in New York was left moving from hotel to hotel when his bills came due. He left behind copious amounts of unpaid bills when he died in January 1943.
Tesla's work fell into relative obscurity following his death, yet with the birth of cell phones and other scientific breakthroughs that echoed his original ideas, there has come a renaissance in his reputation. Most now remember him as a remarkably prescient scientist whose ideas presaged our 21st century world. They have forgotten that he was also a remarkably flawed human being. He is thus a great Chautauqua character!
John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874 – 1960), by Hayden Hein
Born the only son of the richest American alive, John D. Rockefeller Jr. followed his father’s lead into the world of business, taking positions such as director and largest shareholder in numerous corporations, including Standard Oil, Chase Bank, and Colorado Fuel & Iron (CF&I), throughout his life. His father handed him a corporate empire, a life of privilege and comfort, and a position in the running for “Most Hated American of the 1910s.”
As the face of America’s largest business family and the man who commanded the company responsible for the Ludlow Massacre (1914), few people drew an equal amount of vilification and vitriol from labor circles, drawing aspersions from such figures as Margaret Sanger and Upton Sinclair. Politician Gifford Pinchot even called for Rockefeller Jr.’s arrest in the aftermath of Ludlow, declaring “If Lawson [a strike leader] is guilty, not of actual murder, but for leading the striking miners, then Mr. Rockefeller, as the leader and employer of the murderous gunmen should be in the same cell as Lawson. If it is right for Lawson to go to jail for life, then I want to see John D. Rockefeller, Jr. go to jail for life.” These calls were echoed by many, including the Union of Mine Workers of America (UMWA). A wealthy and powerful man, he was easy to hate, and his own lack of skill with public relations made it all the easier.
However, neither agitation, character assassination, nor attack pieces reflect the true nature of “Junior.” In response to the Massacre, Rockefeller bridged the antagonistic dichotomy between business and labor, and traveled to Colorado to meet personally with the strikers and miners of CF&I, unheard of for a businessman of his position and for a man of his temperament. He, along with his mentor, Mackenzie King, developed a representation plan which he believed would solve the conflict between workers and their management, and he propelled the Rockefeller family onto an entirely different path compared to other such families, one of liberal progressivism committed to service and bettering the condition of those less fortunate.
This is the other John D. Rockefeller Jr., one who, unlike his father and many of his contemporaries, was a, reserved man, a devout Baptist, lover of his wife, philanthropist, teetotaler, medieval art enthusiast, and conservationist. Far removed from the Rockefeller of strikebreakers and workplace negligence is the Rockefeller who supported the National Park Service, including monuments such as Acadia, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone, the Rockefeller who funded programs investigating prostitution and helping to provide access to healthcare and birth control for poor women, and the Rockefeller who jumpstarted Alcoholics Anonymous. The real John D. Rockefeller Jr. sits somewhere between the cold-hearted financier and the idealistic philanthropist, demonstrating that there is more nuance in any dispute than simple “us against them.”
Born the only son of the richest American alive, John D. Rockefeller Jr. followed his father’s lead into the world of business, taking positions such as director and largest shareholder in numerous corporations, including Standard Oil, Chase Bank, and Colorado Fuel & Iron (CF&I), throughout his life. His father handed him a corporate empire, a life of privilege and comfort, and a position in the running for “Most Hated American of the 1910s.”
As the face of America’s largest business family and the man who commanded the company responsible for the Ludlow Massacre (1914), few people drew an equal amount of vilification and vitriol from labor circles, drawing aspersions from such figures as Margaret Sanger and Upton Sinclair. Politician Gifford Pinchot even called for Rockefeller Jr.’s arrest in the aftermath of Ludlow, declaring “If Lawson [a strike leader] is guilty, not of actual murder, but for leading the striking miners, then Mr. Rockefeller, as the leader and employer of the murderous gunmen should be in the same cell as Lawson. If it is right for Lawson to go to jail for life, then I want to see John D. Rockefeller, Jr. go to jail for life.” These calls were echoed by many, including the Union of Mine Workers of America (UMWA). A wealthy and powerful man, he was easy to hate, and his own lack of skill with public relations made it all the easier.
However, neither agitation, character assassination, nor attack pieces reflect the true nature of “Junior.” In response to the Massacre, Rockefeller bridged the antagonistic dichotomy between business and labor, and traveled to Colorado to meet personally with the strikers and miners of CF&I, unheard of for a businessman of his position and for a man of his temperament. He, along with his mentor, Mackenzie King, developed a representation plan which he believed would solve the conflict between workers and their management, and he propelled the Rockefeller family onto an entirely different path compared to other such families, one of liberal progressivism committed to service and bettering the condition of those less fortunate.
This is the other John D. Rockefeller Jr., one who, unlike his father and many of his contemporaries, was a, reserved man, a devout Baptist, lover of his wife, philanthropist, teetotaler, medieval art enthusiast, and conservationist. Far removed from the Rockefeller of strikebreakers and workplace negligence is the Rockefeller who supported the National Park Service, including monuments such as Acadia, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone, the Rockefeller who funded programs investigating prostitution and helping to provide access to healthcare and birth control for poor women, and the Rockefeller who jumpstarted Alcoholics Anonymous. The real John D. Rockefeller Jr. sits somewhere between the cold-hearted financier and the idealistic philanthropist, demonstrating that there is more nuance in any dispute than simple “us against them.”
Alice Paul (1885 – 1977)
By Leslie Goddard
Ask an average American who Alice Paul is and you will probably get a blank look. They probably know Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Luther King Jr. But Alice Paul? No idea.
This isn’t perhaps too surprising. Women’s suffrage has not in general fared well in American history. History textbooks for years routinely ignored or downplayed the fight to win votes for women.
That’s unfortunate. If the women’s suffrage movement were better known, most Americans would know that the fight was both achingly long and bitterly contested. It took 72 years and required thousands of ordinary citizens fighting against overwhelming odds and social prejudices.
Our collective ignorance of the story of Alice Paul’s activism is unfortunate because she, more than just about any other suffragist, displayed remarkable courage and innovation in her actions to win support for the cause.
She organized the first national women’s suffrage parade, a procession of perhaps 8,000 women on the day before Woodrow Wilson’s 1913 inauguration. The parade turned chaotic when spectators began harassing and then assaulting marchers.
Undeterred, Paul kept working. She oversaw congressional hearings, petition campaigns, and speaking tours. When twelve women appeared outside the White House in January 1917 with protest banners, the idea of picketing the White House was so unheard-of that no one knew how to react. Wilson first tipped his hat. Later he resolutely ignored them. But the pickets returned almost daily for the rest of the year.
The picketers endured bad weather, harassment from passers-by, and eventually even arrest. When imprisoned herself, Paul launched a hunger strike that lasted 22 days. Government officials sent a psychiatrist to the prison workhouse to examine her, hoping she would be found insane. He reported back that she wasn’t insane, only really, really determined.
Raised in a New Jersey Quaker community, Paul resisted violence, preferring strategies that were visually powerful, attention grabbing, and often provocative. On Lincoln’s birthday, picketers carried banners with quotations from Abraham Lincoln. On Bastille Day, the banners called for “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.”
Whenever public interest waned, she upped the stakes. Russian envoys visiting Washington during World War I saw banners calling the President “Kaiser Wilson.” When interest faded in the suffragists’ burning of Wilson’s speeches about democracy, she had them burn a cartoon “effigy” of Wilson instead.
Historians have longed debated the impact of Paul’s campaigns. Maybe publicity increased public pressure to solve the suffrage issue. Maybe Paul’s radical suffragists helped make moderate suffragists seem downright conservative --'which made legislators more willing to work with them. Maybe public opinion shifted because of the war and because other countries were giving women the vote. Probably, it was a mix of all these things.
What is inarguable is that women achieved the vote due to the persistence and courage of those who fought for it. Women were not given the vote. They were not granted it. They won it. And no one fought harder for it than Alice Paul.
By Leslie Goddard
Ask an average American who Alice Paul is and you will probably get a blank look. They probably know Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Luther King Jr. But Alice Paul? No idea.
This isn’t perhaps too surprising. Women’s suffrage has not in general fared well in American history. History textbooks for years routinely ignored or downplayed the fight to win votes for women.
That’s unfortunate. If the women’s suffrage movement were better known, most Americans would know that the fight was both achingly long and bitterly contested. It took 72 years and required thousands of ordinary citizens fighting against overwhelming odds and social prejudices.
Our collective ignorance of the story of Alice Paul’s activism is unfortunate because she, more than just about any other suffragist, displayed remarkable courage and innovation in her actions to win support for the cause.
She organized the first national women’s suffrage parade, a procession of perhaps 8,000 women on the day before Woodrow Wilson’s 1913 inauguration. The parade turned chaotic when spectators began harassing and then assaulting marchers.
Undeterred, Paul kept working. She oversaw congressional hearings, petition campaigns, and speaking tours. When twelve women appeared outside the White House in January 1917 with protest banners, the idea of picketing the White House was so unheard-of that no one knew how to react. Wilson first tipped his hat. Later he resolutely ignored them. But the pickets returned almost daily for the rest of the year.
The picketers endured bad weather, harassment from passers-by, and eventually even arrest. When imprisoned herself, Paul launched a hunger strike that lasted 22 days. Government officials sent a psychiatrist to the prison workhouse to examine her, hoping she would be found insane. He reported back that she wasn’t insane, only really, really determined.
Raised in a New Jersey Quaker community, Paul resisted violence, preferring strategies that were visually powerful, attention grabbing, and often provocative. On Lincoln’s birthday, picketers carried banners with quotations from Abraham Lincoln. On Bastille Day, the banners called for “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.”
Whenever public interest waned, she upped the stakes. Russian envoys visiting Washington during World War I saw banners calling the President “Kaiser Wilson.” When interest faded in the suffragists’ burning of Wilson’s speeches about democracy, she had them burn a cartoon “effigy” of Wilson instead.
Historians have longed debated the impact of Paul’s campaigns. Maybe publicity increased public pressure to solve the suffrage issue. Maybe Paul’s radical suffragists helped make moderate suffragists seem downright conservative --'which made legislators more willing to work with them. Maybe public opinion shifted because of the war and because other countries were giving women the vote. Probably, it was a mix of all these things.
What is inarguable is that women achieved the vote due to the persistence and courage of those who fought for it. Women were not given the vote. They were not granted it. They won it. And no one fought harder for it than Alice Paul.
Legendary Ladies
Dr. Florence Sabin (1871 – 1953)
By Kathy Swafford
Sponsored by Roche Constructors
Born in Central City, Colorado in 1871, Florence Rena Sabin and her sister, Mary, were shuttled to various boarding schools and relatives after her mother died in childbirth on Florence’s 7th birthday.
In 1893, Florence graduated from Smith College with a focus on science. She began breaking barriers by being among the first 15 women admitted to the new Johns Hopkins Medical School. She expanded boundaries when she made startling discoveries about the lymphatic system and published An Atlas of the Medulla and Midbrain, a definitive work medical schools used for 30 years. She received awards to study in Naples, Italy, learned new research techniques in Germany, and published over 50 research articles during her 24 years working at Johns Hopkins Medical School.
Despite strong prejudice against women at Johns Hopkins Medical School, Dr. Sabin continued breaking barriers by being the first woman on the faculty and later the first female full professor and department head. When Hopkins Hospital barred women as interns, her anatomy professor, Dr. Mall, hired her as his lab assistant. She worked under Dr. Mall for 20 years, yet when he died, she was passed over for his position as head of the anatomy department.
In 1938, Dr. Sabin was the first woman invited to join the preeminent New York Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research. For 13 years, she focused on how cells defend against disease, especially tuberculosis, again expanding boundaries as she coordinated 11 research projects throughout the country.
Since 1959, the statue of Dr. Florence Rena Sabin has represented Colorado, her native state, in the US Capitol in Washington DC. Her investigation of Colorado’s extremely high death rate led to the Sabin Health Bills, passed in 1947, which overhauled the state’s antiquated public health standards and saved many lives.
By the 1940s, Dr. Florence Sabin was considered the nation’s foremost woman scientist. She received 15 honorary doctoral degrees, many awards, and has buildings and fellowships named after her.
Kathy Swafford
Kathy Swafford is passionate about women’s history and loves portraying women to provide ‘edutainment’ in Legendary Ladies shows. Sharing Dr. Florence Sabin’s amazing story is especially important, since she is one of two statues who represent Colorado in the US Capitol. Kathy’s other character, Colorado suffragist Ellis Meredith, was much in demand to celebrate the Women’s Suffrage Centennial. Retired from being a Speech/Language Pathologist, Kathy is active in Zonta to empower women and girls, sings with Greeley Harmonix chorus, and writes articles, often about women in history, for the Beyond 60 Active Living page in the Greeley Tribune.
Dr. Florence Sabin (1871 – 1953)
By Kathy Swafford
Sponsored by Roche Constructors
Born in Central City, Colorado in 1871, Florence Rena Sabin and her sister, Mary, were shuttled to various boarding schools and relatives after her mother died in childbirth on Florence’s 7th birthday.
In 1893, Florence graduated from Smith College with a focus on science. She began breaking barriers by being among the first 15 women admitted to the new Johns Hopkins Medical School. She expanded boundaries when she made startling discoveries about the lymphatic system and published An Atlas of the Medulla and Midbrain, a definitive work medical schools used for 30 years. She received awards to study in Naples, Italy, learned new research techniques in Germany, and published over 50 research articles during her 24 years working at Johns Hopkins Medical School.
Despite strong prejudice against women at Johns Hopkins Medical School, Dr. Sabin continued breaking barriers by being the first woman on the faculty and later the first female full professor and department head. When Hopkins Hospital barred women as interns, her anatomy professor, Dr. Mall, hired her as his lab assistant. She worked under Dr. Mall for 20 years, yet when he died, she was passed over for his position as head of the anatomy department.
In 1938, Dr. Sabin was the first woman invited to join the preeminent New York Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research. For 13 years, she focused on how cells defend against disease, especially tuberculosis, again expanding boundaries as she coordinated 11 research projects throughout the country.
Since 1959, the statue of Dr. Florence Rena Sabin has represented Colorado, her native state, in the US Capitol in Washington DC. Her investigation of Colorado’s extremely high death rate led to the Sabin Health Bills, passed in 1947, which overhauled the state’s antiquated public health standards and saved many lives.
By the 1940s, Dr. Florence Sabin was considered the nation’s foremost woman scientist. She received 15 honorary doctoral degrees, many awards, and has buildings and fellowships named after her.
Kathy Swafford
Kathy Swafford is passionate about women’s history and loves portraying women to provide ‘edutainment’ in Legendary Ladies shows. Sharing Dr. Florence Sabin’s amazing story is especially important, since she is one of two statues who represent Colorado in the US Capitol. Kathy’s other character, Colorado suffragist Ellis Meredith, was much in demand to celebrate the Women’s Suffrage Centennial. Retired from being a Speech/Language Pathologist, Kathy is active in Zonta to empower women and girls, sings with Greeley Harmonix chorus, and writes articles, often about women in history, for the Beyond 60 Active Living page in the Greeley Tribune.
Frances Wisebart Jacobs (1843 – 1892)
By Susan Malmstadt
Sponsored by Roche Constructors
Known as “Denver’s Mother of Charities,” Frances Jacobs arrived in Central City with her husband in 1863. When she moved to Denver, she walked the streets helping anyone in need, using her own money to supply food and medicine. Forever preaching cleanliness, she distributed bars of tar soap wherever she went.
Few could resist her pleas for charitable donations, and she represented Denver at national charity conferences.
In 1887, Frances joined with three clergymen to create the Charity Organization Society, a federation of 23 charities sharing fundraising efforts and donations that eventually became the United Way.
In the 1880s, she worked tirelessly to raise funds to build a free hospital for consumptives (tuberculosis victims). A bronze statue of her stands in the lobby of National Jewish Hospital. When she died, thousands of mourners of all faiths attended her funeral.
She is the only woman honored with a stained-glass window in the gold dome at the Colorado State Capitol.
Susan Malmstadt
Susan Malmstadt joined The Legendary Ladies in 2012 after her retirement from the field of aging and senior programming. She teaches exercise classes and volunteers with the Young Chautauqua program in the Greeley Schools and enjoys Road Scholar trips, her friends and family, reading, and researching. Her other portrayals include Rosamond Underwood, presented at HPC in 2015, and early motorist Alice Ramsey. She hopes to bring Isabella Bird to the stage shortly.
By Susan Malmstadt
Sponsored by Roche Constructors
Known as “Denver’s Mother of Charities,” Frances Jacobs arrived in Central City with her husband in 1863. When she moved to Denver, she walked the streets helping anyone in need, using her own money to supply food and medicine. Forever preaching cleanliness, she distributed bars of tar soap wherever she went.
Few could resist her pleas for charitable donations, and she represented Denver at national charity conferences.
In 1887, Frances joined with three clergymen to create the Charity Organization Society, a federation of 23 charities sharing fundraising efforts and donations that eventually became the United Way.
In the 1880s, she worked tirelessly to raise funds to build a free hospital for consumptives (tuberculosis victims). A bronze statue of her stands in the lobby of National Jewish Hospital. When she died, thousands of mourners of all faiths attended her funeral.
She is the only woman honored with a stained-glass window in the gold dome at the Colorado State Capitol.
Susan Malmstadt
Susan Malmstadt joined The Legendary Ladies in 2012 after her retirement from the field of aging and senior programming. She teaches exercise classes and volunteers with the Young Chautauqua program in the Greeley Schools and enjoys Road Scholar trips, her friends and family, reading, and researching. Her other portrayals include Rosamond Underwood, presented at HPC in 2015, and early motorist Alice Ramsey. She hopes to bring Isabella Bird to the stage shortly.
Legendary Ladies
Ellen E. Jack, aka Captain Jack (1842 – 1921)
By Sue Shenk
Sponsored by Roche Constructors
An emigrant to Colorado during the mining years, Ellen E. Jack, known as Captain Jack, was one of the toughest, strongest-minded, and unconventional women to traipse through the Rocky Mountains. Originally from Nottingham England, Ellen came west after her husband and three of her children died. Armed with a Smith & Wesson, her money and jewels hidden in the bustle of her frock from potential stagecoach robbers, she arrived in Gunnison, CO and established the community of Jacks Cabin south of Aspen.
At a time when women weren't allowed in the mines because they were considered bad luck, Ellen busted through that barrier by buying a controlling interest in the Black Queen Silver Mine, located between Crested Butte and Aspen, and had men working alongside her. After 27 years of mining, Ellen settled in Colorado Springs where she gave tours, burro rides, and educated tourists about mining. Ellen died in 1921 at the age of 78. She is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs.
Sue Shenk
Sue Ann Shenk has always been passionate about storytelling. Her experience in Toastmasters earned her Competent Communicator, Competent Leader and Advanced Bronze speaker awards. Being with The Legendary Ladies, a historical performance organization, has allowed her to portray women in history and bring their stories to life. Her characters include: Captain Jack, Lady Miner; Julia Holmes, first known woman to climb Pikes Peak; Calamity Jane, Frontierswoman; and Baby Doe Tabor, Silver Queen. Sue has been performing with The Legendary Ladies for seven years at museums, libraries, schools, historical societies and conventions throughout Colorado. Never considering herself retired, she runs her own business as an artist.
Ellen E. Jack, aka Captain Jack (1842 – 1921)
By Sue Shenk
Sponsored by Roche Constructors
An emigrant to Colorado during the mining years, Ellen E. Jack, known as Captain Jack, was one of the toughest, strongest-minded, and unconventional women to traipse through the Rocky Mountains. Originally from Nottingham England, Ellen came west after her husband and three of her children died. Armed with a Smith & Wesson, her money and jewels hidden in the bustle of her frock from potential stagecoach robbers, she arrived in Gunnison, CO and established the community of Jacks Cabin south of Aspen.
At a time when women weren't allowed in the mines because they were considered bad luck, Ellen busted through that barrier by buying a controlling interest in the Black Queen Silver Mine, located between Crested Butte and Aspen, and had men working alongside her. After 27 years of mining, Ellen settled in Colorado Springs where she gave tours, burro rides, and educated tourists about mining. Ellen died in 1921 at the age of 78. She is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs.
Sue Shenk
Sue Ann Shenk has always been passionate about storytelling. Her experience in Toastmasters earned her Competent Communicator, Competent Leader and Advanced Bronze speaker awards. Being with The Legendary Ladies, a historical performance organization, has allowed her to portray women in history and bring their stories to life. Her characters include: Captain Jack, Lady Miner; Julia Holmes, first known woman to climb Pikes Peak; Calamity Jane, Frontierswoman; and Baby Doe Tabor, Silver Queen. Sue has been performing with The Legendary Ladies for seven years at museums, libraries, schools, historical societies and conventions throughout Colorado. Never considering herself retired, she runs her own business as an artist.
John Deere (1804 – 1886)
By Brian “Fox” Ellis
John Deere broke new ground and pushed beyond barriers in many aspects of his life. Abandoned by his father when he was just four, John quit school at the age of 10 to work full time to help support his family. A blacksmith as a teenager, he eventually started his own blacksmith shop that burned down twice, so he left his debts, his pregnant wife, and his first born child with her parents, for a job offer in what was then the wilderness of Illinois. He did not invent the stainless steel self-scouring plow as many believe, a blacksmith from Lockport, Illinois owns the first patent, but he developed his plow, independent of the Illinois innovation, and won several patents for his improvements. As his business grew he sent for his family, including the now two-year-old Charles whom he had not yet met. He moved his manufacturing from Grand Detour to Moline, Illinois, and as one of the earliest settlers, became Mayor of Moline. He helped to create the fire department for the town, and both he and his son Charles served as volunteer firemen. He helped to create one of the first and largest corporations in the Midwest, and today it is the world’s largest manufacturer of farm implements. He helped to build a hospital and churches for the various faiths of his employees. He helped to found the Republican Party in Illinois and was not only friends with Lincoln, Lincoln hired him for expert testimony in a case that set legal precedent for all railroads and bridges, The Effie Afton v. Rock Island Railroad Bridge.
Deere was a blacksmith by trade, poorly educated, and though not illiterate, he left virtually no written record, no diaries or letters.
His son Charles built the empire, taking over management of the company when he was 21, after a national financial panic nearly toppled the growing business. Charles coined the phrase, “Nothing Runs like a Deere.” Charles developed the green and gold brand colors and, , after losing a patent infringement case, was an innovator in the art of branding a product. Charles who served on the state labor board, so he knew what other factories paid and made sure Deere and Co. had the best wages and benefits, and therefore rarely any strikes. Charles Deere was the first manufacturer to both control the supply chain and manage sales through a partnership with dealers, a practice now universal among car dealerships. The word “tractor” did not even exist until after John was dead. Charles bought Waterloo Boy Tractors and changed the world, not only laying down the foundational stone for the empire that is John Deere Tractors, but he was also a pioneer in corporate acquisitions, simply buying your competition and their patents so he could stay on top.
John Deere was more than an eye-witness, he was a major player in the transformation and industrialization of farming. He saw the country move from planting sticks and horse drawn plows to steam power and mechanization. He built the machines. He is perfectly positioned to speak to these big changes and then lead the conversation about where this road might lead us.
Brian "Fox" Ellis
Brian "Fox" Ellis is an internationally renowned storyteller, author and naturalist. As John Deere he has performed at the Deere family home and led tours of the Deere facilities in Moline.. Ellis has a minor in Agricultural History and Ag Policy, and regularly speaks for Soil and Water Conservation banquets and farm shows. Fox is also a museum consultant who has worked with The Field Museum, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. He is the Artistic Director for Prairie Folklore Theatre, a theatre company that celebrates ecology and history through original musical theatre. Fox is the author of more than twenty books including the series History in Person, a dozen Chautauqua-style multimedia books with audio and video components, the critically acclaimed Learning From the Land: Teaching Ecology Through Stories and Activities, (Libraries Unlimited, 1997/2011), and The Web at Dragonfly Pond, (Dawn Publications, 2006).
By Brian “Fox” Ellis
John Deere broke new ground and pushed beyond barriers in many aspects of his life. Abandoned by his father when he was just four, John quit school at the age of 10 to work full time to help support his family. A blacksmith as a teenager, he eventually started his own blacksmith shop that burned down twice, so he left his debts, his pregnant wife, and his first born child with her parents, for a job offer in what was then the wilderness of Illinois. He did not invent the stainless steel self-scouring plow as many believe, a blacksmith from Lockport, Illinois owns the first patent, but he developed his plow, independent of the Illinois innovation, and won several patents for his improvements. As his business grew he sent for his family, including the now two-year-old Charles whom he had not yet met. He moved his manufacturing from Grand Detour to Moline, Illinois, and as one of the earliest settlers, became Mayor of Moline. He helped to create the fire department for the town, and both he and his son Charles served as volunteer firemen. He helped to create one of the first and largest corporations in the Midwest, and today it is the world’s largest manufacturer of farm implements. He helped to build a hospital and churches for the various faiths of his employees. He helped to found the Republican Party in Illinois and was not only friends with Lincoln, Lincoln hired him for expert testimony in a case that set legal precedent for all railroads and bridges, The Effie Afton v. Rock Island Railroad Bridge.
Deere was a blacksmith by trade, poorly educated, and though not illiterate, he left virtually no written record, no diaries or letters.
His son Charles built the empire, taking over management of the company when he was 21, after a national financial panic nearly toppled the growing business. Charles coined the phrase, “Nothing Runs like a Deere.” Charles developed the green and gold brand colors and, , after losing a patent infringement case, was an innovator in the art of branding a product. Charles who served on the state labor board, so he knew what other factories paid and made sure Deere and Co. had the best wages and benefits, and therefore rarely any strikes. Charles Deere was the first manufacturer to both control the supply chain and manage sales through a partnership with dealers, a practice now universal among car dealerships. The word “tractor” did not even exist until after John was dead. Charles bought Waterloo Boy Tractors and changed the world, not only laying down the foundational stone for the empire that is John Deere Tractors, but he was also a pioneer in corporate acquisitions, simply buying your competition and their patents so he could stay on top.
John Deere was more than an eye-witness, he was a major player in the transformation and industrialization of farming. He saw the country move from planting sticks and horse drawn plows to steam power and mechanization. He built the machines. He is perfectly positioned to speak to these big changes and then lead the conversation about where this road might lead us.
Brian "Fox" Ellis
Brian "Fox" Ellis is an internationally renowned storyteller, author and naturalist. As John Deere he has performed at the Deere family home and led tours of the Deere facilities in Moline.. Ellis has a minor in Agricultural History and Ag Policy, and regularly speaks for Soil and Water Conservation banquets and farm shows. Fox is also a museum consultant who has worked with The Field Museum, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. He is the Artistic Director for Prairie Folklore Theatre, a theatre company that celebrates ecology and history through original musical theatre. Fox is the author of more than twenty books including the series History in Person, a dozen Chautauqua-style multimedia books with audio and video components, the critically acclaimed Learning From the Land: Teaching Ecology Through Stories and Activities, (Libraries Unlimited, 1997/2011), and The Web at Dragonfly Pond, (Dawn Publications, 2006).
Mother Jones (1837 – 1930)
By Judith Black
Sponsored by High Plains Library District
I doubt if Mary Harris Jones ever took the time to ruminate on her role in history. She was an activist. “Get it straight. I’m not a humanitarian. I‘m a hell raiser.” She broke barriers and extended. As a girl, she heard and saw the endless death carts rattling throughout Cork, Ireland, where she was born. Mary watched her people die of starvation while boat loads of food were sent to the English. The Irish potato famine was caused by a seven-year potato blight coupled with the brutal British rule that took most of the food grown by the Irish.. This systemic injustice was multiplied by the lack of choices that a bright, young, female immigrant faced during her adolescence and young adulthood in both Canada and the U.S. She practiced two of the three types of employment available to young women: dress making, teaching. The third was house cleaning. She said she was tired of beating the wee children, so she took up dress making.
Her life took a happy turn when she met and married George Jones, an iron moulder, active in his union. They had four healthy children and lived in Memphis, TN until the yellow fever epidemic ripped through the homes of the workers and the poor. She once again heard the death carts grating, but this time they came and took her family away. At a moment like this, many people would curl up and crawl away from this life. Mary Harris Jones came out fighting. To quote one of her biographers, Elliott Gorn, “Tragedy freed her for a life of commitment.” Determined that no one deserved to live in the conditions that caused her family’s demise, she dedicated the rest of her life to fighting for dignity and equality of the working class. Far from begging at the table of the wealthy or the politically well- placed, she put her strength of character and formidable energy into organizing working men to stand up and speak in clear, united voices to demand a life worth living rather than one that was a brief prelude to death. In an era where women had no property rights and certainly not the vote, she would preach “You don’t need the vote to raise hell.” And she did, organizing unions and strikes throughout the nation, and fearlessly standing before the guns and clubs of the ‘bosses.’ Deviating from any previous model, she traveled the country with nothing but one extra dress in a pack that she carried when flagging down trains, outside the station for a free ride. She traveled to the coal fields of Virginia and West Virginia, the mines of Colorado, and the mill towns of Lowell and Lawrence, MA. She worked sometimes in cooperation with the United Mine Workers and sometimes was their great antagonist. Always, she was on the side of the working and women of this country who called her “Mother.”
Judith Black
Featured on stages from the Montreal Comedy Festival to The Smithsonian Institution to the Art Museum of Cape Town, Judith Black has appeared 12 times at the National Storytelling Festival. She creates original stories to augment everything from museum’s missions to climate rallies. Locally she is a Rotarian, a founding member of Sustainable Marblehead, works with 350MASS, gardens fanatically, and teaches the art of storytelling.
By Judith Black
Sponsored by High Plains Library District
I doubt if Mary Harris Jones ever took the time to ruminate on her role in history. She was an activist. “Get it straight. I’m not a humanitarian. I‘m a hell raiser.” She broke barriers and extended. As a girl, she heard and saw the endless death carts rattling throughout Cork, Ireland, where she was born. Mary watched her people die of starvation while boat loads of food were sent to the English. The Irish potato famine was caused by a seven-year potato blight coupled with the brutal British rule that took most of the food grown by the Irish.. This systemic injustice was multiplied by the lack of choices that a bright, young, female immigrant faced during her adolescence and young adulthood in both Canada and the U.S. She practiced two of the three types of employment available to young women: dress making, teaching. The third was house cleaning. She said she was tired of beating the wee children, so she took up dress making.
Her life took a happy turn when she met and married George Jones, an iron moulder, active in his union. They had four healthy children and lived in Memphis, TN until the yellow fever epidemic ripped through the homes of the workers and the poor. She once again heard the death carts grating, but this time they came and took her family away. At a moment like this, many people would curl up and crawl away from this life. Mary Harris Jones came out fighting. To quote one of her biographers, Elliott Gorn, “Tragedy freed her for a life of commitment.” Determined that no one deserved to live in the conditions that caused her family’s demise, she dedicated the rest of her life to fighting for dignity and equality of the working class. Far from begging at the table of the wealthy or the politically well- placed, she put her strength of character and formidable energy into organizing working men to stand up and speak in clear, united voices to demand a life worth living rather than one that was a brief prelude to death. In an era where women had no property rights and certainly not the vote, she would preach “You don’t need the vote to raise hell.” And she did, organizing unions and strikes throughout the nation, and fearlessly standing before the guns and clubs of the ‘bosses.’ Deviating from any previous model, she traveled the country with nothing but one extra dress in a pack that she carried when flagging down trains, outside the station for a free ride. She traveled to the coal fields of Virginia and West Virginia, the mines of Colorado, and the mill towns of Lowell and Lawrence, MA. She worked sometimes in cooperation with the United Mine Workers and sometimes was their great antagonist. Always, she was on the side of the working and women of this country who called her “Mother.”
Judith Black
Featured on stages from the Montreal Comedy Festival to The Smithsonian Institution to the Art Museum of Cape Town, Judith Black has appeared 12 times at the National Storytelling Festival. She creates original stories to augment everything from museum’s missions to climate rallies. Locally she is a Rotarian, a founding member of Sustainable Marblehead, works with 350MASS, gardens fanatically, and teaches the art of storytelling.
Rosa Parks (1913 – 2005)
By Becky Stone
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks lived her entire life hemmed in and bound on all sides. By the time she was six years old she understood that she was not truly free. In 1919, the return of black soldiers from WWI led to the resurgence of the KKK. The Klan moved through the black neighborhoods of Pine Level, AL burning buildings, flogging, and killing. Rosa stayed by her shotgun-wielding grandfather as he stood guard against them. This set up a pattern she followed the rest of her life. She could not be passive when white children and their parents threatened her. Before Rosa was 10, she reported to her grandmother that a white boy named Franklin had threatened her with his fist. She picked up a brick and dared him to hit her. He thought better of it and went away. Upon hearing this, her grandmother responded “Gal, you had better learn that white folks is white folks and how to talk and not talk to them. You will be lynched before you get grown.” Rosa cried out bitterly, “I would be lynched rather than be run over by them.”
Remembering this incident later, Parks wrote, “They could get the rope ready for me any time they wanted to do their lynching. While my neck was spared of the lynch rope and my body was never riddled by bullets or dragged by an auto, I felt that I was lynched many times in mind and spirit.” At 18, she had had to stand her ground against a white man who tried to sexually assault her while she was working in his home. “If he wanted to kill me and rape a dead body, he was welcome, but he would have to kill me first.”
Throughout her life, Rosa Parks tried to burst through every barrier and boundary surrounding her, from the use of the public library to the right to vote, and she encouraged and trained others to do so. Her fierce determination and calm lack of fear can only be credited to her deeply held religious beliefs. Parks often lists Psalm 27 as one of her favorite Bible passages. It begins: “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.”
Many enemies did stumble and fall, but Parks died knowing that there were still treacherous mountains to climb. Until dementia put a stop to her striving, Parks continued to push beyond the boundaries placed upon people of color. So, when I read that she spontaneously kept her seat because she felt that if she had given up her seat on that bus one more time, she would have lost the last of her dignity - I believe her.
Becky Stone
Becky Stone was born and raised in Philadelphia. She earned her undergraduate degree at Vassar College in Drama with a minor in French. Her M.A. is in Elementary Educational Counseling from Villanova University. She worked for seven years for the Philadelphia School System and taught theater for 10 years at a classical Christian school in Fletcher, NC. Becky has been a Chautauqua scholar since 2003 when she first researched and presented Pauli Murray. Her other characters are Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Maya Angelou. Becky continues to act in theater. More often she is on stage as a storyteller at festivals, libraries, and schools.
By Becky Stone
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks lived her entire life hemmed in and bound on all sides. By the time she was six years old she understood that she was not truly free. In 1919, the return of black soldiers from WWI led to the resurgence of the KKK. The Klan moved through the black neighborhoods of Pine Level, AL burning buildings, flogging, and killing. Rosa stayed by her shotgun-wielding grandfather as he stood guard against them. This set up a pattern she followed the rest of her life. She could not be passive when white children and their parents threatened her. Before Rosa was 10, she reported to her grandmother that a white boy named Franklin had threatened her with his fist. She picked up a brick and dared him to hit her. He thought better of it and went away. Upon hearing this, her grandmother responded “Gal, you had better learn that white folks is white folks and how to talk and not talk to them. You will be lynched before you get grown.” Rosa cried out bitterly, “I would be lynched rather than be run over by them.”
Remembering this incident later, Parks wrote, “They could get the rope ready for me any time they wanted to do their lynching. While my neck was spared of the lynch rope and my body was never riddled by bullets or dragged by an auto, I felt that I was lynched many times in mind and spirit.” At 18, she had had to stand her ground against a white man who tried to sexually assault her while she was working in his home. “If he wanted to kill me and rape a dead body, he was welcome, but he would have to kill me first.”
Throughout her life, Rosa Parks tried to burst through every barrier and boundary surrounding her, from the use of the public library to the right to vote, and she encouraged and trained others to do so. Her fierce determination and calm lack of fear can only be credited to her deeply held religious beliefs. Parks often lists Psalm 27 as one of her favorite Bible passages. It begins: “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.”
Many enemies did stumble and fall, but Parks died knowing that there were still treacherous mountains to climb. Until dementia put a stop to her striving, Parks continued to push beyond the boundaries placed upon people of color. So, when I read that she spontaneously kept her seat because she felt that if she had given up her seat on that bus one more time, she would have lost the last of her dignity - I believe her.
Becky Stone
Becky Stone was born and raised in Philadelphia. She earned her undergraduate degree at Vassar College in Drama with a minor in French. Her M.A. is in Elementary Educational Counseling from Villanova University. She worked for seven years for the Philadelphia School System and taught theater for 10 years at a classical Christian school in Fletcher, NC. Becky has been a Chautauqua scholar since 2003 when she first researched and presented Pauli Murray. Her other characters are Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Maya Angelou. Becky continues to act in theater. More often she is on stage as a storyteller at festivals, libraries, and schools.
William Bent (1809 – 1969)
By Michael Hughes
William Bent briefly transcended every cultural, linguistic, and national barrier of his time, and did so in nine languages! He was born outside St. Louis, gateway to the West, in 1809. William would wind up Colorado’s first permanent non-Indian settler after following his brother Charles, a fur trapper, into the Rockies.
In 1830, Charles and William Bent and Ceran St. Vrain founded Bent, St. Vrain, and Company. The firm engaged in the Santa Fe trade between Missouri and Mexico and also traded for furs with Indian hunters and traders. It became the second most powerful and profitable business empire in the West, operating in an area that encompassed portions of nine future states.
In 1833, William opened the firm’s primary trading post, Bent’s Old Fort on the Arkansas River. This massive adobe structure (now reconstructed) was the northernmost contact point between American and Mexican citizens and a major meeting place between Euro-Americans and American Indians. William represented such interaction, marrying into the Cheyenne nation by wedding the influential Méstaa’e He’e (“Owl Woman”). A chief’s daughter, she often oversaw the arrival and departure of Santa Fe Trail caravans.
Bent’s familial and business lives came apart with the beginning of the Mexican War in 1846. The army’s unofficial seizure of his trading post impoverished Bent and drove away his Indian clients. William’s alternative ventures included the first cattle ranch and first documented non-Indian irrigation canal in present-day Colorado. These projects failed, as did his brother Charles’s 1847 appointment as governor of New Mexico. Charles’ alienation of Pueblo Indians and Hispanos resulted in a bloody revolt and his own death.
Charles’s demise finished off Bent, St. Vrain and Company. William struggled on alone with his stone masonry at Bent’s New Fort. Unfortunately his Indian clients were few due to a cholera epidemic and fear of soldiers in the region. Military affairs also affected Bent’s children. During the Civil War, son Robert assisted the Union while George and Charlie fought for the Confederacy.
By the last months of that war, Bent’s children were back in southeastern Colorado Territory near their father’s ranch and freight office. In November of 1864, his Cheyenne second wife and four of his five half-Cheyenne children were among the targets of an attack by territorial volunteers against a Cheyenne village at Sand Creek. The Bent family would provide testimony concerning the infamous massacre of Indians during the encounter.
Angry over Sand Creek, William’s sons George and Charlie participated in several Indian revenge raids along the major trails of the High Plains. Charlie remained disturbed to the point of reportedly participating in torture and other atrocities. Consequently, William and most of Charlie’s siblings cut off contact with him.
Bent died—broken and nearly impoverished—in 1869 at his daughter Mary’s ranch in present-day Bent County. Sadly, none of his Missouri French Creole, Mexican, or Indian friends and acquaintances could see him off as most had been swept aside by American newcomers to the Far West.
Michael Hughes
Michael Hughes is a retired professor and lecturer in art history, American and European history, and Native American studies in Arkansas and Oklahoma. His graduate work was done at Vanderbilt University and the University of Arkansas. He has authored over 45articles on American Indians, the Civil War, etc. He has performed in Chautauquas for 20 years and has represented fourteen different characters, including Chief John Ross and Michelangelo for High Plains. Michael has done monologues and workshops in 19states and provinces for humanities councils, state park departments, study groups, Indian nations, and the Library of Congress.
By Michael Hughes
William Bent briefly transcended every cultural, linguistic, and national barrier of his time, and did so in nine languages! He was born outside St. Louis, gateway to the West, in 1809. William would wind up Colorado’s first permanent non-Indian settler after following his brother Charles, a fur trapper, into the Rockies.
In 1830, Charles and William Bent and Ceran St. Vrain founded Bent, St. Vrain, and Company. The firm engaged in the Santa Fe trade between Missouri and Mexico and also traded for furs with Indian hunters and traders. It became the second most powerful and profitable business empire in the West, operating in an area that encompassed portions of nine future states.
In 1833, William opened the firm’s primary trading post, Bent’s Old Fort on the Arkansas River. This massive adobe structure (now reconstructed) was the northernmost contact point between American and Mexican citizens and a major meeting place between Euro-Americans and American Indians. William represented such interaction, marrying into the Cheyenne nation by wedding the influential Méstaa’e He’e (“Owl Woman”). A chief’s daughter, she often oversaw the arrival and departure of Santa Fe Trail caravans.
Bent’s familial and business lives came apart with the beginning of the Mexican War in 1846. The army’s unofficial seizure of his trading post impoverished Bent and drove away his Indian clients. William’s alternative ventures included the first cattle ranch and first documented non-Indian irrigation canal in present-day Colorado. These projects failed, as did his brother Charles’s 1847 appointment as governor of New Mexico. Charles’ alienation of Pueblo Indians and Hispanos resulted in a bloody revolt and his own death.
Charles’s demise finished off Bent, St. Vrain and Company. William struggled on alone with his stone masonry at Bent’s New Fort. Unfortunately his Indian clients were few due to a cholera epidemic and fear of soldiers in the region. Military affairs also affected Bent’s children. During the Civil War, son Robert assisted the Union while George and Charlie fought for the Confederacy.
By the last months of that war, Bent’s children were back in southeastern Colorado Territory near their father’s ranch and freight office. In November of 1864, his Cheyenne second wife and four of his five half-Cheyenne children were among the targets of an attack by territorial volunteers against a Cheyenne village at Sand Creek. The Bent family would provide testimony concerning the infamous massacre of Indians during the encounter.
Angry over Sand Creek, William’s sons George and Charlie participated in several Indian revenge raids along the major trails of the High Plains. Charlie remained disturbed to the point of reportedly participating in torture and other atrocities. Consequently, William and most of Charlie’s siblings cut off contact with him.
Bent died—broken and nearly impoverished—in 1869 at his daughter Mary’s ranch in present-day Bent County. Sadly, none of his Missouri French Creole, Mexican, or Indian friends and acquaintances could see him off as most had been swept aside by American newcomers to the Far West.
Michael Hughes
Michael Hughes is a retired professor and lecturer in art history, American and European history, and Native American studies in Arkansas and Oklahoma. His graduate work was done at Vanderbilt University and the University of Arkansas. He has authored over 45articles on American Indians, the Civil War, etc. He has performed in Chautauquas for 20 years and has represented fourteen different characters, including Chief John Ross and Michelangelo for High Plains. Michael has done monologues and workshops in 19states and provinces for humanities councils, state park departments, study groups, Indian nations, and the Library of Congress.
Emiley Massy (7th grade Franklin Middle School) as Oskar Schindler
I have done Chautauqua for the two past years and this year is my third time performing an historic figure in YC. I like to read WWII books in my free time and I have a very supportive family. Oskar Schindler is a man who didn't have the intent of saving over 1,000 Jews from the Holocaust, and yet he did! He did this by having Jewish people work in a factory making ammunition and war supplies. He broke a barrier in history by having the courage to not listen to other people's opinions about Jewish people and by doing that he stood up for the innocent. 
Scarlette Howell (6th grade University Middle School) as Marie Curie
This is my 3rd year doing Young Chautauqua. I have danced at the Conservatory Dance Studio in Greeley for seven years and I recently auditioned for the Colorado Ballet in Denver. I enjoy helping people and encouraging my peers to follow their dreams. Science is my favorite subject this year and I just joined the Brain Bowl at my school. I love to read anything I can get my hands on. Marie Curie is important to the science world for her work with radioactivity. She discovered two elements and was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize and the first and only woman to win it twice in two scientific fields. She is known for breaking the boundary for women in science. |
Giselle Larson-Reyes (4th grade Chappelow Elementary) as Selena Quintanilla
My name is Gisele and my passion is singing! Some of my hobbies are playing softball and piano that I have played for three years. I chose Selena because I also like singing and I connect with her culture and heritage. Selena Quintanilla Perez was a Mexican American singer who was popular in the 1980s and early 1990s. She and her group Selena y Los Dinos put a new spin on traditional Tejano music that was typically performed by older males. She broke barriers by gaining respect from both her fans in Mexico (not being a native Spanish speaker) as well as in the United States. She was one of the only female Tejano stars who succeeded at that time and won several awards, including a Grammy. 
Alex Larson-Reyes (6th grade Chappelow Middle School) as Edwin Hubble
Hi, my name is Alexandre. I really like to play piano, and read. I also like to draw and make new things out of cardboard, and play video games. I chose my character, Edwin Hubble because I really like science and astronomy. Edwin Hubble was an astronomer at the Yerkes observatory and at Mount Wilson California. He broke barriers by discovering that there were other galaxies outside the Milky Way for which he created a classification system. He also discovered that the universe was expanding and proved this from his theory called "Hubble's Law." |
Past High Plains Chautauquas
2018 Blowin' in the Wind
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2018
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2017 |
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2016
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