Voices from the Colorado Homefront in World War I: Three Historic Colorado Women | Legendary Ladies Chautauqua Performance
Voices from the Colorado Homefront in World War I: Three Historic Colorado Women | Legendary Ladies Chautauqua Performance In-Person
Join us for a special Chautauqua living history performance of Voices from the Colorado Homefront in World War I featuring Colorado Legendary Ladies Emily Griffith, portrayed by Linda Gleichmann, Ellis Meredith, portrayed by Kathy Swafford, and Dr. Susan Anderson, also known as Doc Susie, portrayed by Joyce Nelson.
About the Historical Figures:
Pioneer educator Emily Griffith believed everyone deserved an education regardless of age, race, gender, or background. Education was the way out of poverty. She dreamed of a school, supported by the Denver Board of Education, where children and adults could come to learn during the day or night. In 1916, her dream came true. She named it, The Opportunity School.
Admired for her spirit and organization, Ellis Meredith advocated for woman suffrage in her daily column in the Rocky Mountain News and helped Colorado become the first state in which men voted for and approved woman suffrage in 1893.
Dr. Susan Anderson, also commonly known as Doc Susie, moved to Fraser, Colorado gravely ill from tuberculosis. To her surprise, she survived. People soon discovered she was a physician--mostly because her first patient was a horse. Dedicated public health, she strove to prevent epidemics of typhoid and smallpox.
About the Chautauquans:
Linda Gleichmann has been performing for The Legendary Ladies, Inc. since 2001. Linda recently retired from teaching and loves to substitute. She now has more time to bring history alive by performing her characters for the students at her school and around Colorado. Linda is portraying Emily Griffith.
Women's history has long been Kathy Swafford's passion, even before retiring from 35 years as a Speech/Language Pathologist. Discovery of two file boxes in the Ellis Meredith Collection #427 at History Colorado revealed actual letters from eastern suffragists and much original material from the Colorado and national suffrage campaigns as experienced by Ellis Meredith, a journalist for the Rocky Mountain News and later the Denver Post. Kathy joined The Legendary Ladies, Inc. to make the fascinating character come alive!
Joyce Nelson has performed in libraries, museums, and schools around Colorado as a 21-year member of The Legendary Ladies, Inc., an educational, non-profit performance organization. Passionate about women's history, her in-depth research and first-person portrayal of five western women help bring their stories to life. Joyce is portraying Dr. Susan Anderson.
