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 Kansans from history.

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 camp, and special history events are offered throughout the community during the five-day Chautauqua event.

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.

2009 Kansas Schedule
Ottawa • June 3-7
Hesston • June 10-14

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

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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.