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Clay began doing a first-person characterization
of Meriwether
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/i_r/lewis.htm
Lewis in the early 1980s as a Chautauquan for the North
Dakota Humanities Council
http://www.nd-humanities.org , the birthplace of the modern
Chautauqua
movement. Since then, Clay has continued to present historical
figures in a
format which has become among the most successful in the
nation. A teaching
format, that is bringing the humanities and history to citizens
of all ages.
In 1988, Clay was recognized for his groundbreaking work
in the format with
one of the first five National Endowment for the Humanities
awards for
excellence by President George H. W. Bush.
Jenkinson's presentations of Thomas Jefferson have become
the national
model for scholars interpreting historical figures in the
Chautauqua format.
Clay appeared as Thomas Jefferson in the White House for
President Clinton
and distinguished guests on the occasion of the 250th
anniversary of the
third president's birth in April 1994. This was the first public
program in
the humanities featured in a White House event. Clay has been
heard
throughout the nation as Jefferson on the weekly Thomas
Jefferson HourR.
Jenkinson has first presented Jefferson in character and
then visited with
audiences as a public scholar of Jefferson's ideas and views in
thousands of
programs throughout the United States. These programs have
included:
* Supreme Court justices
* State legislative
assemblies
* Gatherings of U.S.
Representatives and Senators
* Fourth-graders
* Maximum security prisoners
* University students
* Encampments of
survivalists
* Groups numbering several
thousand who came together in major cities
during a tour for the Library of Congress
Jenkinson's Chautauqua work over the last two decades has
included new
historical figures each year for the Great Basin Chautauqua,
including
Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis , Theodore Roosevelt, J. Robert Oppenheimer,
Jenkinson has presented both Thomas Jefferson
and Meriwether Lewis for the
North Dakota Humanities Council in a statewide tour and on
several other
occasions.
The late Everett C. Albers, past-executive director of the North
Dakota
Humanities Council,
http://www.nd-humanities.org where the modern
Chautauqua movement began, said of Clay, "The North Dakota
Humanities
Council had an idea. Jenkinson made it work."
_____
The Thomas Jefferson Hour
Clay Jenkinson began presenting Jefferson in character in 1984
for a
Regional Chautauqua Program. The Thomas Jefferson Hour is a
radio program
broadcast weekly on public radio stations across the country.
The Thomas
Jefferson HourR website grew out of the popularity of this radio
broadcast.
Please be sure to visit us at
http://www.jeffersonhour.org
Clay has dedicated the better part of his life to researching
the historical
characters that he portrays and to bringing back and defining
the "living
theatre" of Chautauqua, which also emphasizes education with
audience
participation to enhance the learning and entertainment
experience. While
Clay is currently traveling the country and bringing his unique
style of
living history to college campuses, and corporate venues across
the United
States , he has also mentored others in
the Chautauqua style of
performing through his past position as artistic director
of the Nevada
Humanities annual Great Basin Chautauqua Festival .
Clay Jenkinson portrays:
Thomas Jefferson
J. Robert Oppenheimer
John Wesley Powell
Meriwether Lewis
Theodore Roosevelt
John Steinbeck
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