August 26, 2011
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Frederick Douglass’ speech “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” came back to life at Chautauqua on Thursday as actor Roger Guenveur Smith recited the abolitionist’s words for the Interfaith Lecture Series.
“What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim,” Smith said, reciting the speech.
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August 25, 2011
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To close this week’s Interfaith Lecture Series, the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell and Rex Ellis are going to compile the week’s ideas and information to encourage the audience to do one thing: take action.
“It’ll be a wind-up, really, of the whole week, and we’ll bring it into the present. If we hold these truths to be self-evident, well, what are these truths, and do we follow them?” Campbell said, adding that today’s lecture will bring the theme full circle.
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August 25, 2011
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A common misconception is that after former President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, everything became suddenly easier for slaves. But 10 actor-interpreters from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation disproved that theory in the performance “Promises of Freedom” at the Interfaith lecture at 2 p.m. in the Hall of Philosophy Wednesday.
Many slaves were skeptical of the legitimacy of Lincoln’s offer. They had been promised freedom before and had it taken away. Other slaves were left without families because their children and spouses had been sold. For some slaves, the Emancipation Proclamation did not even apply to them.
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August 24, 2011
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From research to papers, videos to music, Roger Guenveur Smith has been reenacting Frederick Douglass’ life since he was an undergraduate in college.
At 2 p.m. today in the Hall of Philosophy, Smith will choose recitation as his method of interpretation for the Chautauqua audience. He will recite Douglass’ speech from 1815 about what the Fourth of July means to African-Americans.
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August 24, 2011
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The first Chautauquans arrived for Tuesday’s 2 p.m. Interfaith Lecture almost two hours early, said Maureen Rovegno. By 1:30 p.m., the seats were packed for “Storm on the Horizon,” a character-interpretation by members of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Rovegno, the assistant director of the Department of Religion, did not seem surprised by the large turnout, though. When other members of the Foundation performed at Chautauqua in 2009, the event was just as popular.
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August 23, 2011
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When Richard Josey was 10 years old, Rex Ellis, a deacon at Josey’s church, encouraged him to get involved with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation as a child actor-interpreter.
Fifteen years later, Josey and Ellis both are actor-interpreters and will perform together at Chautauqua. At 2 p.m. today in the Hall of Philosophy, Josey will take the form of Peter, an enslaved man during the Civil War. In this performance, “Promises of Freedom,” Josey has the star role. But 10 other members of Colonial Williamsburg also will give their reflections of slavery as interpreters of other enslaved people.
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August 23, 2011
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To prepare the audience for this week’s Interfaith Lecture Series on the Civil War and human rights, Michael Klarman cleared some misconceptions, laid the groundwork for the week and rooted people’s minds in constitutional history.
During Monday’s lecture, the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, director of the Department of Religion, introduced the multi-degree-holding Harvard law professor to an audience that had just been warned against saving seats in the packed Hall of Philosophy.
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August 22, 2011
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More than 20 members of Colonial Williamsburg will visit Chautauqua this week as character-interpreters of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay and other influential people from the Civil War era.
At 2 p.m. today and Wednesday in the Hall of Philosophy, actor-interpreters from Colonial Williamsburg will perform interpretations of speeches and moments in history that reflect America’s struggle through slavery and the Civil War, and how these events still influence the present.
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August 21, 2011
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Near the beginning of the Declaration of Independence, there are seven words that all Americans probably know by heart — “We hold these truths to be self-evident.”
The theme for this week’s Interfaith Lecture Series, which takes a modern-day look at civil rights, is exactly these seven words. But the week opens with a discussion of Constitutional history and how this document, like the Declaration of Independence, provides historical context for present-day problems.
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August 21, 2011
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Unions, fair trade, corporate charities and the welfare state might not sound like typical biblical parable fare. But Amy-Jill Levine insisted in her lecture at 2 p.m. Friday in the Hall of Philosophy that the afternoon’s parable examined these relevant modern economic aspects.
In “Management and Non-Union Workers,” Levine’s last lecture of Week Eight, she examined the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, found in Matthew 20:1-16. Levine is a professor of New Testament and Jewish studies at Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School.
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Greenhouse to take audience on her journey out of Christian Science
Gergen: Millennials should learn from the World War II generation
Hoffman fights for women’s rights inside secular Judaism, at Western Wall
President Roosevelt: ‘I Have Seen War. I Hate War.’
Dybul: Eliminate preventable diseases for ‘a more perfect world’
Fish: Value of arts, humanities found in pleasure we take in them
No power? No problem.
Through his photography, Reza ‘shakes the hearts of people’
Writers’ Center workshops help Chautauquan get published
BTG seeks historical input for 100th anniversary in 2013
138th assembly draws to close with Becker’s Sunday address
Hillcrest Concert Band brings worldly program to Amp
Holbert to preach on season’s final Sunday
Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. Over the course of nine weeks, more than 170,000 visitors will participate in programs, classes and community events for all ages—all within the beautiful setting of a historic lakeside village. Learn more →
