By Kyla Hurt
It’s the return of Prairieland Chautauqua on September 6 and 7. The event, presented by the Morgan County Historical Society, returns to the Nichols Park Pavilion in South Jacksonville with the theme, “Community … A look at Ourselves.” The 2024 lineup includes a focus on the African Americans, Portuguese, Germans and Irish of Central Illinois.
Merriam-Webster defines a Chautauqua as, “any of various traveling shows and local assemblies that flourished in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, that provided popular education combined with entertainment in the form of lectures, concerts, and plays, and that were modeled after activities at the Chautauqua Institution of western New York.”
Although the Prairieland Chautauqua features some 21st century niceties such as restrooms with modern day plumbing, food trucks/sellers abiding by current health department regulations and even a bit of air conditioning inside the pavilion, the event’s lineup lays out a series of educational performances, presentations and activities modeled after the past.
The free two-day event is open to the public, allowing those who attended to have a peek at the history of the Jacksonville Chautauqua.
This year’s lineup includes:
Friday, September 6
6 p.m. – Wild Columbine
7 p.m. – Dr. Britney Yancy
Saturday, September 7
Children’s Show
10 a.m. – Tater Tots (kids’ music)
11 a.m. – Joe Nitro (kids’ science)
1 p.m. – It’s Polka Time: Heidelberg German Band
2 p.m. – Mike Anderson
3 p.m. – David J. Langum, Sr. presents “The Protestant Portuguese Community in Antebellum, Illinois”
4 p.m. – Broken Brogue (a four-piece Irish band)
6 p.m. – Connie Martin presents “Hidden Messages in Negro Spirituals on the Underground Railroad”
7 p.m. – Chadwick Boehlke presents ‘The Grand “Colored” Army of the Republic: Jacksonville’s Black Solders of the Civil War’
Join the “Prairieland Chautauqua” group on Facebook for more information and future dates.
