Summer Chautauqua is a historical tourism event by the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center that sets the time dials back as historical reenactments and monologue stories are told “in character” for a historic venture.
Daytime workshops and lectures give further glimpses of the social, cultural and political nuances of the time while the evening provides an opportunity to ask questions for a special guest.
The event will span from Tuesday, June 11 to Saturday, June 15.
The theme for Summer Chautauqua 2024 is “Lift Every Voice: 60 Years Since the Civil Rights Act” which explores the significance of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Each day will have a designated character portrayed:
- Tuesday, June 11: Earl Warren: He led the court to strike down school segregation in Brown vs. School Board, open voting rights in Baker vs. Carr & Reynolds vs. Sims and uphold criminal rights to counsel and protections in Miranda and Gideon vs. Wainwright. Warren will be played by Doug Mishler.
- Wednesday, June 12: Rosa Parks: Often called the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement,” an ordinary person who did extraordinary things. Parks will be portrayed by Vanessa Adams-Harris.
- Thursday, June 13: Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson: An unlikely but surprisingly influential civil rights activist showed the South that the end of segregation and Jim Crow laws would improve their region economically and ease it into the modern world. Johnson will be played by Leslie Goddard.
- Friday, June 14: Thurgood Marshall: A civil rights lawyer who defined the achievements of an era. Marshall will be portrayed by Jim Armstead
- Saturday, June 15: Coretta Scott King: Her activism started before her marriage, then it complimented and influenced her husband’s political work, continuing long after his assassination. King will be played by Rebecca Jimerson
There will also be a workshop each day with pieces of history to show what it was like back then:
- Tuesday
- 10:30 a.m.: The Oklahoma Brown Case with Vanessa Adams-Harris
- Noon: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement with Rebecca Jimerson
- Wednesday
- 10:30 a.m.: Rating the First Ladies with Leslie Goddard
- Noon: War and a Question of Rights with Doug Mishler
- Thursday
- 10:30 a.m.: The Civil War Amendments by Jim Armstead
- Noon: Unsung Heros of the Civil Rights Movement with Vanessa Adams-Harris
- Friday
- 10:30 a.m.: Coretta Scott King and the “Freedom Concerts” by Rebecca Jimerson
- Noon: The Lady Bird Special with Leslie Goddard
- Saturday
- 10:30 a.m.: The Supreme Court’s Role in American Life with Doug Mishler
- Noon: Plessy vis a vis Brown by Jim Armstead
