Assembly to take 'Journey into the American Presidency'

Next weekend, visitors to the annual Florida Chautauqua Assembly in DeFuniak Springs will have the opportunity to meet one of the Founding Fathers.

The theme for this year’s Assembly is “A Journey into the American Presidency,” for which the keynote speaker is longtime Thomas Jefferson impersonator Bill Barker.

Barker has worked for 18 years at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. His career started 30 years ago when his friend, a teacher who moonlighted as William Penn, asked Barker, “Did anyone tell you that you look like Thomas Jefferson?”

“It was purely propinquity. I am the same height, weight, and coloring as Mr. J.,” said Barker.

He started his career as an impersonator at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, then moved to work at Colonial Williamsburg, which was restored in 1926 through the gumption of the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin, and philanthropy of John D. Rockefeller Jr., with the aim of preserving the influential part of nation’s past.

“It’s a fascinating vocation,” said Barker of his career, which merges his college major in history and theater involvement.

The Florida Chautauqua Assembly was established in 1874 along the shores of Lake Chautauqua, N.Y., as a three-month learning forum. The Assembly later became six months to meet the needs of the education hungry masses.

With the increase in time, the Chautauqua Assembly surpassed the comfortable-weather timeframe, and the founders looked for a warmer climate in which to hold the assembly during the winter months.

And that is how the Florida Chautauqua Assembly came to be in DeFuniak Springs in 1885. The town was chosen because of its temperate weather, situation on a major railroad vein, and picturesque location.

“The founders got off the train and said ‘Yes, that’s the perfect home for us,’” said Christopher Mitchell, president of the Florida Chautauqua Center.

Since then, the Assembly has grown in size and breadth, with speakers and attendees traveling from as far away as Canada, England and Africa to attend, according to Mitchell.

In its early years, the attendees would camp out, later building the now-historic homes surrounding Lake DeFuniak.

Today, the four-day Florida assembly maintains its purpose — to educate through presentations, performance teas, free exhibits, and other breakout sessions.

Food at the performance teas will be provided by the Walton High School culinary arts class, funded by a $1,000 donation made by the Sandestin Hilton.

Former late President Jimmy Carter’s wife, Rosalyn, shared a White House recipe with the students, which they will present to the certain delight of tea attendees.

In addition to dining on White House-approved fare, attendees will also be able to share their thoughts with the third U.S. president, by way of Barker.

“It’s open to public inquiry,” he said. “It is a continual conversation with Mr. Jefferson.

“My stand is to get the history right,” Barker added, “and dispel some of the myths about Thomas Jefferson.”

Speakers at other performance teas will include reenactments of President Andrew Jackson, Lady Bird Johnson and Octavia Walton Le Vert.

The four-day event will kick-off with an Arbor Day tree-planting ceremony Jan. 26, 11:30 a.m.-noon, followed by an Arbor Day luncheon and tour of the original Florida Chautauqua campus.

“One of the first speakers at the Florida Chautauqua Assembly was from the National Arbor Day Foundation,” said Mitchell. “That birthed Arbor Day in DeFuniak Springs.”

Thanks to generous donations from The Hilton, DeFuniak’s Little Big Store, and the City of DeFuniak, which contributed facilities and $4,100, the public is invited to attend a number of exhibits free of charge, including Teddy Roosevelt's Camp Conservation live animal exhibit, a Florida Chautauqua History Exhibit, Florida Frontiersmen Settlement Camp, Civil War camp and reenactments, and a porcelain art show.

Tickets for the four-day assembly are $125, but Saturday and Sunday day passes are available for $60. To purchase tickets or for more information about the Florida Chautauqua Assembly, visit florida-chautauqua-center.org.