FREE History Comes Alive Festival: Rebecca Motte/Edgar Allan Poe/Paul Robeson/Captain Henry Felder/Mother Jones at Various locations

FREE shows! Get ready to travel in time and interact with five historical characters. Daytime indoor and evening outdoor events at various locations: Greenville Tech Barton Campus, Centre Stage, Hartness Performing Arts Center at CCES...

For the 250th anniversary of America’s Revolutionary War – Chautauqua explores “Revolutionary Americans.” We celebrate those in the Carolinas who fought for freedom and those who continued to fight to make America a more perfect union.

Captain Henry Felder – Brought from Switzerland as a boy, Felder settled in the South Carolina backcountry. To fight British tyranny in 1776, Felder wrote a Declaration of Separation from the English King and, along with his sons, led a militia company to fight “all for liberty.”

Rebecca Brewton Motte was a resilient supporter during the American Revolutionary War. Growing up in South Carolina, she married into the well-known Motte family. At the outbreak of the war, Rebecca and her family provided crucial supplies to the Patriots. After she lost her husband, Jacob, in 1780, the British turned her home into a post. After this, she bravely gave Lt. Col. Henry Lee a quiver of arrows to set her house on fire. Once the arrow hit the house, British Lt. Donald McPherson surrendered, and the Patriots were able to stop the flame. This selfless act helped the Patriots reclaim Fort Motte during the siege in 1781. Rebecca’s courage and dedication to the Patriot cause left a mark on American history.

Edgar Allan Poe – Orphaned as a child, Poe became one of America’s great literary innovators. As an unsurpassed teller of tales he created the detective genre as well as dark romantic poetry and short stories that set new literary standards.

Mother Jones – Following the deaths of her family from yellow fever and the destruction of her business in the Great Chicago Fire, Jones became a labor leader, organizer and activist. She helped secure bans on child labor and co-founded the Industrial Workers of the World. She was called “the most dangerous woman in America.”

Paul Robeson – A two-time All-American college footballer who played on two NFL teams, Robeson completed a law degree and became a star on stage as well as a famed concert singer and an A-list movie star. He was one of the greatest inspirational figures of the Harlem Renaissance and an outspoken crusader for social justice.