Greenville Chautauqua Society Appoints Executive Director

The Greenville Chautauqua Society, who for 24 years has been bringing history to life through nationally recognized historical interpreters at FREE performing arts events, has appointed Lara Kaufmann as Executive Director.

"In 2016, Lara was the Public Relations Director of the Greenville Downtown Airport. We asked her to give a pre-festival presentation on Amelia Earhart, who was to be featured during that year's History Comes Alive festival", stated Caroline McIntyre, Greenville Chautauqua's Administrator. "In preparation, Lara discovered Greenville News articles from 1931 that reported 'Miss Amelia Earhart set the first autogyro ever to stop in Greenville down at the local flying field.'

"Since Greenville Chautauqua strives to bring history to life, we had Amelia arrive in an open cockpit Stearman Biplane that year and ride in a vintage car to the Poinsett Hotel, which recreated, as best we could, her initial visit to Greenville. In the years to follow, we continued to work with Lara on events at the Runway Cafe Hangar that featured "Winston Churchill", "Jackie Kennedy", and "Walter Cronkite", added McIntyre.

"Greenville Chautauqua produces quality, historically accurate, FREE live shows and is a professionally run nonprofit", stated Lara Kaufmann. "I have always admired how the performers take the audience on an amazing journey into the past, and I'm looking forward to being a part of the team at this year's June Festival", explained Kaufmann.

"To help ensure a bright future for the Greenville Chautauqua Society, we needed to bring on board an individual who has creative vision that will help carry on our mission into the future," commented Sally Potosky, Greenville Chautauqua Board Member and a founder of the organization. "Lara fits the bill!" stated Potosky.

Kaufmann's vision and dogged determination were instrumental in creating Runway Park, Runway Cafe, Military History Center of the Carolinas' Museum, Take Flight 5K and the Southeast Aviation Expo. Kaufmann has a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Louisiana State University.

"It is an honor to join Greenville Chautauqua whose mission is helping create a brighter future through an enlightened understanding of the past", commented Kaufmann.

Mark Twain has been attributed as saying, "Chautauqua is the only institution where you can be educated and entertained at the same time and not know the difference." Come see for yourself!

Join us June 9th - 19th during Greenville Chautauqua's History Comes Alive Festival to step back in time and interact with Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Houdini, Robert Kennedy, Georgia O'Keeffe and Pauli Murray. Show schedule can be found at http://historycomesalive.org/performances/festival/.

More than history. More than a performance. More than a story. We are Chautauqua, a nonprofit, experiential oral tradition that brings history to life through interactive theater and compelling discussion that stimulates critical thinking. We believe stories should be told and histories deserve to be heard. We're committed to bringing great communities together to celebrate culture, conversation, and critical thought. We celebrate the diversity of our culture through a variety of voices from the past since history belongs to all of us. As a non-profit dedicated to bringing history to life, our events are and always will be free, fun, and family-friendly.