Bright Dreams, Hard Times:
America in the Thirties Chautauqua

Dust Storm by Herschel Logan,
courtesy of the Kansas Historical Society

The Bright Dreams, Hard Times: America in the Thirties Chautauqua is a revival of the traveling tent programs that entertained and educated Kansans during the first decades of the 20th century.

Today people gather each evening on the plains of Kansas under the Chautauqua tent to visit with scholars portraying famous figures from the 1930s.

Bright Dreams, Hard Times: America in the Thirties includes first-person portrayals of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Senator Huey Long of Louisiana, Pentecostal leader Aimee Semple McPherson, Harlem Renaissance writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, and humorist Will Rogers.

Daily workshops for adults and children, a Youth Chautauqua day camp, and special history events are offered throughout the community during the five-day Chautauqua event.

2009 Schedule

Ottawa • June 3-7
City Park, 5th and Main Streets, Downtown Ottawa
Click here for a full schedule of Chautauqua events in Ottawa (pdf).

All evening tent programs moderated by Will Rogers.

Hesston • June 10-14
Hesston High School Grounds, 600 E Randall
Click here for a full schedule of Chautauqua events in Hesston (pdf).

All evening tent programs moderated by Will Rogers.

For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit the Kansas-Nebraska Chautauqua website, www.knchautauqua.org, or contact the Kansas Humanities Council at 785/357-0359.

Listen here to learn more about Chautauqua.

2010 Kansas Schedule
Colby • June 2-6
Belleville • June 9-13

The Bright Dreams, Hard Times: America in the Thirties Chautauqua is supported by We The People, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.