First Person, Historical Performances
All performances are in authentic first person, in costume.- Performances generally are 45 to an hour long
- Time is given for Q&A both in character and out of character
- We provide and construct performances for corporate office programs, organizational meetings with discussions, public and private venues, educational facilities to experience and learn authentic historical persons
Contact us for information, bookings, fees and details.
Tickets and Gift Certificates for performances at the historic McPherson Opera House can be ordered online by clicking here.
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Wife of John Adams and voice of women's rights through him at the organizing congress of the United States. Remember her admonition to her husband, John, during the Continental Congress... "Remember the Ladies." Abigail and John's son, John Quincy, traveled to Russia at age 14 and acted as a French interpreter with Catherine the Great of Russia in efforts to secure the Act of Neutrality to secure the Atlantic seas for shipping to the American warring colonies. Seating is limited. Reserve you spot, bring a friend and consider a holiday gift certificate to round out a special afternoon experience for friendship and hospitality. |
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Louisa wrote from what she knew of a woman's life in mid- 1880's. Early on, she worked as a domestic servant and wrote under a pseudonym to escape judgment. When the Civil War fractured the United States, she worked as a nurse (no training required) at Union Hospital in Washington, D. C. She then returned home to Boston and began a serious writing career. Little Women was based on her family members and provided an independent mind about women's rights and suffrage. The relatable story is a sacred trust passed down generations since the mid-1880's. Louisa died in 1888 of mercury poisoning, the treatment she was given during the Civil War for Typhoid fever. A Tea with Personality Presentation. |
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Louisa wrote from what she knew of a woman's life in mid- 1880's. Early on, she worked as a domestic servant and wrote under a pseudonym to escape judgment. When the Civil War fractured the United States, she worked as a nurse (no training required) at Union Hospital in Washington, D. C. She then returned home to Boston and began a serious writing career. Little Women was based on her family members and provided an independent mind about women's rights and suffrage. The relatable story is a sacred trust passed down generations since the mid-1880's. Louisa died in 1888 of mercury poisoning, the treatment she was given during the Civil War for Typhoid fever. A Tea with Personality Presentation. |
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There is a health aspect in her story of ageism, a prejudice that plagues our culture. Her humanitarian work in Europe during the Franco Prussian war and the Ottoman massacre was foundational in bring the U.S. Government into the Geneva Convention Treaty. Barton for the first time promoted US military plans for wounded and dead soldiers.
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Organized a Woman's Clinic to meet un-acknowledged health needs for women. Contributed to understanding of women's gynecology and health and became a professor of gynecology in England |
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She is credited with bringing tea to England. Catherine, as a Portuguese Princess, was kept cloistered in a Convent until her Mother's wishes came true for her to marry the restored, King Charles II, of England. At the advanced age of 24, after 10 years of Charles wanderings in exile, the long desired, arranged marriage took place. Catherine was a devout Catholic, slated to marry a Protestant King in a country that was hostile towards Catholicism. Charles II was known across Europe as the Merry Monarch and happily kept mistresses and supported his bastard children. Catherine, Charles, and England were eager for an heir to the throne. Her struggles for bearing a child and remaining in the graces of her husband in a foreign land are heart rendering. To Charles' credit - he defended and protected his wife when the country wanted a divorce or for her to be confined to the tower or executed. After she became a widow, she returned to Portugal and was instrumental in strengthening the Portuguese monarchy against Spanish invasions. A Creme Tea, Cookies, and Characters Presentation. |
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Mrs. Breckenridge (as she was always called) was born into southern traditions and a politically active family. When her little brother was born in Russia while her father was Ambassador, she became aware of professional Midwives. MBs children both died young. After a husbands death and next marriage ended in divorce she dedicated her life to Nursing and bringing Professional Nurse Midwifery to America from England and Scotland. Her Frontier Nursing Service of the Appalachian remote mountains of SE Kentucky provided District Nurse Midwives and Public Health services that improved health outcomes to rival those of NYC within 5-years. In 1928, Breckenridge founded the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS) resulting in modern University and healthcare services that continue to be a beacon for Maternal-Child and Family Nurse Practitioner excellence. PLEASE NOTE: This September performance is a special performance only at Dyck Aboretum in Harvey County. Please CLICK HERE for more information about this special performance location.
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With a non-aggression treaty facilitated the colonists in the American Revolution. Ruled for 34 years as Russia's Golden Age. She brought Russia into modernity of the 18th century. |
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King Gustaf had left guardianship and care to Axel Oxenstierna. Christina received a Princely education in military and political arts as well as in the classics. Christina demanded an end to the 30-years war and negotiated the Westphalia treaty to bring peace between the Protestants and Catholics of Northern Europe. She longed for Sweden to become the Athens of the North and brought classical learning, music, and arts to the region before Swedens citizen understood her efforts. Her subjects and the ruling elite could not understand or value a woman for her mind. They only wanted the Queen to marry and produce an heir. Her struggle for personal freedom, the passion for arts, her abdication from the throne and as head of the State Lutheran Church, a Catholic conversion from Lutheranism and flight to Rome under Pope Alexander VII, are part of her story. |
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Mamie was born in Iowa into entrepreneurial wealth. Her Father retired at age 35 to San Antonio, Texas, where she met a lowly 2nd Lieutenant Army Officer. Mamie chose love over her debutant status. She trekked across the world with her husband and worked alongside of him as a rising, officer's wife. As First Lady, she entertained a wide range of foreign dignitaries with a confident style and dedication to charitable needs. |
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Anna brought her compassion as a teacher and as a psychoanalyst to original research for understanding children's trauma in the bombing blitz experiences in London. Children separated more easily than adults from their homes and possessions, but were severely traumatized by the loss of attachment and relationships. Anna provided understanding, discipline, refuge, and hope for the children. Se was one of the first who brought attention to mental health studies of children as different than studying adults. |
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As an undercover news reporter, she assisted information flow out of France around the Nazi soldiers. After America entered the war she became a deep cover, organizing resistance groups, operating and training radio operators. She was most wanted by Hitler as the limping woman spy. Virginia had suffered a hunting accident and had a wooden leg she called Cuthbert. Her escape in winter across the Pyrenees mountains is a harrowing part of her story. NOTE: This performance canceled due to weather. Please see the Feb. 17 performance below scheduled for Dyck Arboretum. Guests who have bought tickets for this Saturday will be given choices:
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As an undercover news reporter, she assisted information flow out of France around the Nazi soldiers. After America entered the war she became a deep cover, organizing resistance groups, operating and training radio operators. She was most wanted by Hitler as the limping woman spy. Virginia had suffered a hunting accident and had a wooden leg she called Cuthbert. Her escape in winter across the Pyrenees mountains is a harrowing part of her story. |
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Dr. Horney was in the second medical school class graduating (1911) in Germany that admitted women. She studied with Sigmund Freud and took issue with his male- centrist view of mental health and human development. Dr Horney escaped Germany just before the Nazis tried to destroy psychology as a profession and linked it with Jewish professionals such as Freud. Dr Horney was the original leader of feminism as gender equality that took over in the 1960s in American change. The Hornein school of psychoanalysis continues today. |
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Mary's personality was emotive, but after a carriage accident, intended as an assassination attempt on Abraham's life, she was thrown from a runaway carriage and sustained internal brain damage with life-long "necrotizing" headaches that contributed to her distress. Abe's law partner, Herndon, was named executor of the President's estate. Herndon was particularly threatened by Mary and he withheld the estate settlement and allowance money for Mary's living needs until she was forced to sell her home in Springfield, IL. She lived in boarding houses for the rest of her life. Robert, her only remaining son was manipulated by Herndon and associates to act as the Victorian protectorate of his Mother. He proceeded with a Kangaroo Court to commit Mary to a mental institution for life-time care. Her escape and restitution is part of her daring story. |
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A Full Special Afternoon Holiday Full Queen's Tea. Plan now for your tickets to the December 2, 2018 Holiday Royale Tea with Personality. Renaissance woman, wife of Martin Luther, hospitality and business manager for Luther's reformation work. Katerina was born into nobility, but without wealth. She was designated to live life in a convent since she had no dowry. Her story is one of risk-taking and independence at a time woman's place was as a housekeeper and for childbearing. They survived the plague, the wars of the Holy Roman Empire and sought to reform - not destroy the Roman Catholic church of the 16th century. Luther valued her thinking and input around the table, known as Table Talks. We will celebrate Katie's story with a Renaissance flair. |
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A Full Special Afternoon Holiday Full Queen's Tea. Plan now for your tickets to the December 2, 2018 Holiday Royale Tea with Personality. Renaissance woman, wife of Martin Luther, hospitality and business manager for Luther's reformation work. Katerina was born into nobility, but without wealth. She was designated to live life in a convent since she had no dowry. Her story is one of risk-taking and independence at a time woman's place was as a housekeeper and for childbearing. They survived the plague, the wars of the Holy Roman Empire and sought to reform - not destroy the Roman Catholic church of the 16th century. Luther valued her thinking and input around the table, known as Table Talks. We will celebrate Katie's story with a Renaissance flair. |
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James Madison married her when she was a young 25-year old widow with two children. Dolley defined the role of the President's spouse. She enjoyed the social spotlight when available and her popularity is credited to the re-election of her husband. Dolley helped to furnish the newly constructed White House. When the British set fire to it in 1814, she was credited with saving the classic portrait of George Washington Widowed again at age 68, she lived in poverty, only supported by the sales of James' Presidential papers. |
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Martha was a young widow with young children who managed to capture the heart of George and committed herself to loyalty, equality, and hospitality in the face of discord and lethal arguments of the Founding Fathers. The Washingtons were the only ones who could have held the country together against the infighting. A Tea With Personality presentation. |
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She was born in Florence, Italy of English aristocratic parents during their 2-year extended honeymoon. Florence resisted marriage and a comfortable life in favor of elevating nursing as a caring calling. Her historical notoriety came from her work in the Crimean War when she patrolled the hospital wards at night, seeking to bring comfort to the wounded soldiers. There is a surprise in a turn of her power, statistical measures, and public health practices. This is a snow date performance from 12/15/2019 Full Afternoon (High) Tea |
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She was born in Florence, Italy of English aristocratic parents during their 2-year extended honeymoon. Florence resisted marriage and a comfortable life in favor of elevating nursing as a caring calling. Her historical notoriety came from her work in the Crimean War when she patrolled the hospital wards at night, seeking to bring comfort to the wounded soldiers. There is a surprise in a turn of her power, statistical measures, and public health practices. HOLIDAY AFTERNOON QUEEN'S TEA w/Personality |
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Elizabeth Packard's story contains all the intrigue of a plotting and cruel husband and a wife who would not be silenced. Her experiences led her to challenge the law of coverture which in effect said that a wife's existence was subsumed into that of her husband. Elizabeth wrote, lectured and lobbied for the civil rights of wives and, later, for the mentally ill. In this cause she enlisted the support of First Lady Julia Grant and President Grant and spent 15 years influencing change in the laws regarding the incarceration of people locked in mental wards. A Creme Tea, Cookies and Characters presentation. |
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Born a progressive Quaker, she studied Social Work, Social Policies, and Economics in America and England. Alice joined the woman's movement of Susan B Anthony and Cady Stanton but was impatient waiting for each state to grant voting rights. Alice had worked with English militants, the Pankhursts, but disliked the violence she saw. Alice employed aggressive, non-violent strategies and used President Wilson's words of war against him during WW II. The Silent Sentinels held outside the White House for almost two years to shame the President by the use of his own words to the Kaiser against him for denying voice and vote for women in America. Alice was unrelenting in using the women's voices of new states in the west who had granted women the right to vote with statehood. She and her workers suffered prison terms and physical and mental torture to bring about the final Congressional victory with ratification of the 19th Constitutional Amendment in 1920 giving women the right to vote. Alice was the original author of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) that in addition to the right to vote, sought to bring women into Constitutional Equality with full citizenship. Alice dedicated her life to the struggle for gender equality. Note: Women in America still do not have Constitutional equality. The ERA needs one more state to ratify the ERA standing and secure full citizenship for women. Illinois most recently ratified the ERA in the spring of 2018. |
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Frances was the heart and brains for the New Deal. As the first woman Cabinet member, she tested the men on equal grounds with the backing of FDR for programs such as unemployment insurance, 40-hour work week, retirement social security, and the child labor law revision. She was unable to finish her agenda with universal health insurance. Frances served her country in the face of sexual harassment and private struggles with a spouse who was institutionalized with bi-polar disorder. A Tea With Personality presentation. |
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Orphaned at an early age, she was under the guardianship of her maternal-grandmother who adhered to strict protocol and limited displays of affection. At age 16, she was sent to a prestigious finishing school in the UK. Here she discovered a warm and encouraging mentor who saw feminism as the power of the future. Eleanor's life was lived, first in timidity and fear, then in obligation and duty, and finally in the discovery of herself, powers, interests, and influences through the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Eventually, she feared no one and no challenge that could make rights of self-determination and personal sanctity realizable. A Creme Tea, Cookies and Characters presentation. |
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During her political tenure in Argonia, she birthed and lost a child. She went on as a widow and successfully raised her children before old age. More will be said for this colorful, futuristic leader. |
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A Creme Tea, Cookies and Characters presentation. |
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As a medical social worker, she met a Jewish-Polish refugee who was dying of cancer. They grew close and talked about the need for a home where dying people could find peace in their last days. This led Cicely Saunders to establish St. Christophers Hospice, where she revolutionized the way in which the medical profession cares for the dying and the bereaved. Introducing effective pain management and scientific methodology, Dame Saunders insisted that dying people needed dignity, compassion and respect, as well as excellent nursing and medical care. Her work transformed the care of terminally ill persons around the world. A Creme Tea, Cookies and Characters presentation. |
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Christian Social Worker who took great risks to rescue 2,500 Jewish children away from the Warsaw ghetto under WW II Nazi death camp plans. The Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. The Nazi's brought hate and prejudice, and encouraged neighbors to hate neighbors. As a part of Hitler's "Last Solution" all Warsaw Jews were forced into an overcrowded, diseased ghetto before being taken to the death camp, Triblinka, northeast of Warsaw. Irena became a state sponsored "nurse" to check diseases in the ghetto. In reality, she was an underground courier who sneaked children out of the ghetto under the eyes and ears of the Nazi guards. She and her small group are credited with saving about 2500 children by various and ingenious means. She carried babies out in carpenter boxes under the tools, and she trained her dog to bark at the gates with Nazi guards to cover any cries or noises from the children in morgue boxes. Irena was captured and sentenced to death. In prison she was severely tortured and all her limbs were broken. Her escape and return to her work are a part of the story. |
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Nelli brought a genteel culture with music events and music appreciation to Washington and the White House. She turned the Potomac swamp area near the White House into a Potomac Park. In recognition of their service in the Philippines (1901 - 1904) and Nelli's standing of affection with the Asian cultures she was gifted 3,000 cherry blossom trees for beautifying the Potomac Park in DC. |
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A contemporary of Amelia Earhart. She was a responsible face for Wichita, Kansas aviation success through Beechcraft. A Tea With Personality performance.
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A contemporary of Amelia Earhart. She was a responsible face for Wichita, Kansas aviation success through Beechcraft. A Tea With Personality performance.
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Introducing Creme Tea with special cookies and review of historical performances (i.e. this is not a full tea with personality event). This event features Emerging Performer graduates from the Institute of Historical Echoes. This casual venue will explore historical personalities & include eligibility for a youth ticket with each adult ticket. The performance at this event will be Frances Willard performed by Historical Echoes Associate, Donna Becker, thus focusing on showcasing our student's work and review of more new personalities Youth ticket ages 12 - 16 is $18 when purchased along with a separate adult ticket. Adult ticket is $25. Snow date: January 12. |
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Her story has family, romance, and relationship issues.
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Woman veteran owned
NAICS 66170, 54612
DUNS 079137088
CAGE code 079137088/72CD7
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