Currently Available:

Harriet Tubman (1820-1913)

Frederick Douglass

W.E.B. DuBoise

Martin Delaney

Coralie Franklin Cook

Bessie Coleman

Pearl Buck

Edith Wharton

Memphis Tennessee Garrison

Eslanda Robeson

Ethel Waters

Rose Cousins

Elizabeth Catlett

Live Programs available: 

Online Live Programs and Online Recorded Programs

Recorded VFTE Chautauqua performances are available, including question and answer sessions after the performance. Contact us for this exciting remote learning opportunity about black history.

Series 1

The American Civil War

2011-2015: VFTE Chautauqua commemorates the Journey of Freedom in America – Rebuilding a Nation: Fulfilling the Promise of Freedom is in memory of the historic Freedman’s community at Mitchellville, SC, the first self-governing Freedman’s Town in America. Beginning in November of 1862, before the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, Mitchelville was built on the former Drayton Plantation on Hilton Head Island. It became known as “The Port Royal Experiment.” Union General Ormsby Mitchel proclaimed to the newly freed men and women, “You are in a position of responsibility. This experiment is to give you freedom, position, homes, your families, property, your own soil. It seems to me a better time is coming … a better day is dawning.”

Series 2

Trailblazers and Torchbearers Series

Click Characters below to view The Black History Chautauqua Portrayals of Ilene Evans

Ethel Waters: Taking a Chance on Love

Elizabeth Catlett: My Art Speaks for Both My Peoples

Rose Agnes Rolls Cousins: Black Dreams in Blue Skies

Coralie Franklin- Cook: LIfting As We Climb

Memphis Tennessee Garrison:They Call Me Ms. Memphis

Harriet Tubman: Behind Enemy Lines

Harriet Tubman: General Moses

Eslanda Robeson: I Will Not Sit Still

Bessie Coleman: Bronze Aviatrix

Series 3

At the Elders Feet: Conversations Across the Generations