Masters’ Back Porch Chautauqua June 2024

The ELM Back Porch Chautauqua Summer Series continues!

Dr. Michael Wiant presenting: 

This Land Was Our Land…“Thousands of years before Illinois … these Indians…hunted and fished the Illinois, the Sangamon, and the Spoon Rivers” (Edgar Lee Masters 1942:13).

 In a single two-page document, The Treaty with the Peoria, ETC. 1818, the land that would become Menard County and much of the central section of Illinois would become the property of the United States. The circumstances and terms of the treaty exploited people whose concepts of property were profoundly different from the European perspective and had already been maliciously pushed to the brink of extinction.

 Dr. Michael Wiant has studied Native American history for more than 50 years, primarily from an archaeological perspective. In 2012, he expanded his interest to include post-contact history and continues to do so after retiring from 35 years of service at the Illinois State Museum.

Bob Chamberlin is an accomplished clawhammer banjo player, whose repertoire includes traditional American music from the 19th century. For over a decade, Chamberlin played with the Rose of El-a-noy Minstrels, of which he was a founding member. The group traveled far and wide across the US performing old timey music for Civil War reenactments and music festivals. A teacher of history by trade, Chamberlin tells the story of early America, from Appalachia to the Mississippi and westward, through song.

Note: If you missed the May event, you can watch Dr. Ethan Stephenson’s talk here.

Please Note: all of the Masters on the Back Porch Chautauqua performances will take place on the 2nd floor of 1st & 3rd Boutique and Wine Bar, which does not have an elevator.