Every time I attend one of his performances, I am able to understand that particular aspect of American history
in a way I never had thought about before. Audiences are on the edge of their seat as he discusses
the events that shaped our nation and our interactions with other countries.
Karen Vuranch - Chautauqua Performer; Professor of Theater, Concord University (retired)
Jim’s scholarship is superb, his repertoire of Chautauqua characters is without peer, and the high level
of audience engagement with his presentations is always enthusiastic.
Charles Everett Pace - Program Advisor, University of Texas at Austin
As a fellow Chautauqua performer, I should be envious of Jim Armstead’s ability to enchant an audience
with his knowledge and charm. But in the end, I can only watch him on stage with amazement.
Only one thing needs to be said. Jim Armstead is one of living history’s finest.
Debra Conner - Chautauqua Performer
Jim Armstead has performed over 300 historical characterizations for 32 years and portrays over 34 characters at Chautauquas throughout the U.S. -- now through his newly formed Sierra Nevada Mountain Chautauqua. In the Chautauqua tradition, prepared character performances are followed up by live question and answer session. Jim's authentic costumes, historical scholarship and remarkable storytelling bring the teaching of history alive through the voices of real people who lived through interesting times.
Jim Armstead is a retired professor of Strategy and International law from the US Naval War College. He has taught international law, strategy and national security policy at 19 universities over 50 years and continues to lecture frequently on international law and national security affairs. He served in Europe as an international election observer in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and also can speak on his experiences with the United Nations, and as a Dept. of Defense negotiator enlarging NATO in eastern Europe.
James Beckwourth, Western explorer and mountain man
Frederick Douglass, American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman
Thaddeus Dunkley, early Western cowboy,
Lt. Henry Flipper, Buffalo Soldier, mining engineer, expert on Spanish land grants
Willem Alexander Leidesdorff, merchant, land developer, founder of San Francisco
Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet laureate, novelist, playwright, political activist
Alexandre Dumas, French revolutionary War general, rival of Napoleon
Francois Dumas, New Orleans haberdasher, Civil War soldier, politician
Kamal Mustapha Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, WWI general, victor at Gallipoli
Col. Benjamin O. Davis, leader of Tuskegee Airmen, first Black USAF general
General Benjamin O. Davis. first Black US Army general
Col. Charles Young, superintendent of Yosemite, member of Mexican Punitive Expedition
Maj. Martin Delaney, Civil War soldier, author, judge, doctor, civil rights activist
Mathew Hensen, Arctic explorer
Rev. Lemuel Haynes, theologian, poet, Revolutionary War Minuteman at Lexington
Dr. Percy Julian, chemist who discovered synthetic steroids
Emperor Haille Sailasse, Ethiopia
Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall, US Supreme Court, civil rights lawyer
Dr. Ralph Bunche, UN Under-Secretary for Political Affairs
Mansa Musa, King of Mali Empire, richest man in history
Mohamed Ibin Battuta, scholar, historian, geographer, medieval traveler
General Louis Franchet D'Espery, WWI Commander of French 5th Army and Allied Armie d'Oriente
Sierra Nevada Mountain Chautauqua
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