PROGRAMS II.
Tony Gerard teaches Biology at Shawnee Community College. He has been involved in living history since the early 1980s, with a particular interest in the eastern frontier of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Gerard has given seminars on first person interpretation at various historic sites throughout the US and Canada, including Colonial Williamsburg, Fortress Louisburg, Fort Loudon, and Fort Toulouse. He has served as a technical advisor, casting, set dressing, and location scout for numerous History Channel productions (over 30 to date) and was a core extra in the motion picture Last of the Mohicans and the recent PBS production The War That Made America.
1. Crossing Cultures-Jean Baptiste Le Kaskaskia
Born of a French father and a Kaskaskia Indian mother, Jean
Baptiste makes his living as a “Courier de Bois” in the southern
part of the Illinois country. He hunts, traps, and trades with
various Native groups. Jean Baptiste will discuss his life in
Illinois of the 1760s, including his thoughts on religion,
marriage, and the continual influx of English into the area.
2. With Lewis and Clark-Jean Baptiste LaJunesse
Jean Baptiste LaJunesse was one of nine French boatmen hired
by the Captains Lewis and Clark to accompany the expedition
as far as the Mandan Indian villages of North Dakota. LaJuneese spent the winter in the Dakotas, then returned the following spring with the expedition's keelboat. It is now 1805, and the expedition has not been heard from in quite some time. Baptiste will tell, in brief, about how and why he came to be hired, the journey up the Missouri River to the Mandans, the winter there, and what he believes will become of the expedition. He will then take
questions on his life and experiences with the "Voyage of Discovery."
*** If your group or organization is from Illinois then any of these three programs may be paid for, in part, by The Illinois Humanities Council. Check out their “Roads Scholars” Program –
A fictitious, first person narrative based on
historical documentation.Caleb Tucker is a career infantry soldiers
assigned to gather the Cherokee for forced removal to
Oklahoma in the 1830s. He later takes his discharge from the
military and signs on as a teamster with a civilian contractor,
accompanying the Cherokee on the “Trail of Tears.” This
program deals frankly with a sad and shameful time in American
history and may not be suitable for young children.
4. Cold Blooded Creatures of Southern Illinois
These programs deal with Reptiles, Amphibians or both. A typical program combines a power point presentation with display of live animals so participants can get up close and personal. Each presentation is customized for the particular group. A field hike can be combined with the program.
