Home on the Range?
Unique Performance Reveals Early Settlers’ Challenges; Use Of LandLISLE, IL (June 26, 2008) – Many of us have pets named Fido or Fluffy: dogs and cats that we cuddle on our laps. Not Josiah Granger. His pet, Jim, was no lap dog.
Josiah’s Jim was a bear, a “fine bear” in fact, according to Josiah’s 1852 diary entry. The hilarious story of Josiah, Jim, and what happens when Jim is traded for smoked pork but escapes from his new owner to find his way home, is one of the funny and poignant stories in “Voices of the Land,” Sunday, July 20 at 1 p.m. at The Morton Arboretum Thornhill Education Center. This performance featuring live music brings to life stories of the Chicago region’s early residents. It will be a fun but educational afternoon, says Megan Dunning, Arboretum Manager of Natural History Education.
“The audience will get a rare view of the settlers’ challenges and delights when they arrived in the Chicago area in the late 1700s and early 1800s. They found a rich land, and in writings, described how they used the land,” Dunning says.
Josiah lived like TV’s “Little House on the Prairie” folks, except his home was right smack in the Kankakee Marsh. The diary and journal entries, and excerpts from letters, will give a sense of what settlers’ life in the “new world” was like: the difficulties of leaving their families back east to open new farms and new chapters in their lives. There was no email or phone in those days: the early arrivals were truly going it alone. But the show will reveal how the natural world inspired people to achieve.
The show will also reveal how the settlers interacted with the fauna and flora they encountered, and will help a modern-day audience connect to what early settlers and folks at the turn of the century saw: what the prairies, marshes and forests looked like in those different times.
“It’s especially appropriate that these stories are told here, amid Arboretum landscapes that are similar to what those early settlers were talking about, as they described the land and natural resources,” Dunning says.
Another story focuses on an infamous murderer, whose memoir details “Bum,” his pet bird while he was in prison.
There are writings to be presented from poets, hunters, and even a member of the Illinois Supreme Court.
A cast of three presents this program of music, readings, and images. Joel Greenberg, who compiled these stories in his recent book, Of Prairie, Woods, and Water: Two Centuries of Chicago Nature Writing, will read a number of selections. Greenberg will be available to sign copies of his book.
Chris Kastle and Tom Kastle from the Old Town School of Folk Music will read other pieces, perform songs, and play mood-setting period instruments. They will also offer their CD for sale.
Tickets for “Voices of the Land,” are $20 ($16 for Arboretum members), available at 630/719-2468.
Garfield Field Museum and the Illinois Humanities Council in part support the “Voices of the Land” presentation.
The Morton Arboretum is an internationally recognized 1,700-acre outdoor museum with collections of 4,117 kinds of trees, shrubs, and other plants from around the world. The Arboretum's beautiful natural landscapes, gardens, research and education programs, and year-round family activities support its mission – the planting and conservation of trees and other plants for a greener, healthier, and more beautiful world. Conveniently located at I-88 and Rte. 53 in Lisle, Illinois, the Arboretum is open 7 days a week, 365 days a year, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Time or sunset, whichever is earlier. The Children's Garden is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., March through October, and 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., November through February. Visit www.mortonarb.org or call 630-968-0074 to learn more.
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