History Comes Alive Festival June 12 - 23, 2026

Captain Henry Felder (Hans Henrich Felder) was born in Switzerland and immigrated to South Carolina in 1735 at age nine with his parents who settled in the backcountry. He became a merchant farmer and was appointed to the Royal court system. After witnessing deep corruption and tyranny in his district from the Royal judges, he tried to reason with them and petition George III but was rejected at every turn. The Crown responded with more taxes, then violence. Felder cast his lot with the independence movement and is celebrated for his passionate, eloquent fight for freedom by writing his Address and Declaration of Separation from the English King seven weeks before Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. He was appointed by patriot leadership to make gunpowder and gather artillery. Felder then formed a militia company along with his seven sons and fought tyranny across the colony. His story is one of risking his life and family, taking a revolutionary stand against the most powerful army in the world of that era, a fight to defend God-given birthrights for all people.

Clarence Felder is co-founder of Actors’ Theater of South Carolina, executive producer, writer, director, actor and playwright. His career in film, TV and stage spans five decades. In Hollywood, he co-starred for two years with John Ritter as “Bobo” Pritzger in ABC’s hit cop television series Hooperman, Danny Devito in Ruthless People and Bruce Willis in The Last Boy Scout. He starred as his ancestor, Captain Henry Felder, in the award-winning film All For Liberty, Daniel Morgan in Echoes of Glory, Heroes from the American Revolution, Henry Laurens in John Laurens' War and wrote and starred in John at Patmos, An Allegory. He spent twenty years in New York City co-starring in ten Broadway productions as well as starring in New York’s Shakespeare in the Park and Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival. Mr. Felder has worked with some of our greatest stars, writers and directors; and adapted seven plays of William Shakespeare. Clarence has also starred in or directed most of ATSC’s 117 stage productions since 1995.

Rebecca Brewton Motte was raised in a wealthy family in Charleston and, along with her brother, Miles Brewton, became a passionate patriot by 1770. She and her husband, Jacob Motte (descended from Huguenots), began courageously supplying the newly gathered Continental army in 1775. Rebecca continued to do so after Jacob died early in 1780, even cleverly hiding her daughters in the attic from British officers during their occupation of her Charleston home following the invasion of Charleston on May 12 of that year. Later in 1780 the British allowed her to move to her other home on the Congaree River which, ironically, the Redcoats seized also, calling it Fort Motte. In 1781, Francis Marion (the Swamp Fox), Henry “Lighthorse Harry” Lee and Patriot forces arrived to fight. The enterprising Rebecca offered surprising tools to destroy the British garrison and force surrender of her occupied country home. She emerged as one of South Carolina’s bravest, most undaunted and wittiest individuals.

Chris Weatherhead has been a leading actress in film, television and stage for fifty years on both coasts. She trained with Brewster Mason of the Royal Shakespeare company (USC, Irvine and London). She is a writer, director and producer of nine award-winning films and co-starred, wrote, directed and co-produced All For Liberty, Echoes of Glory, Heroes from the American Revolution, The Final Trials of Anne Hutchinson, Light for Your Journey and John at Patmos, An Allegory. She also wrote/directed Frederick Douglass, No Turning Back and John Laurens’ War. She recently co-starred in the thriller Valley of the Horntak. On prime-time television, Ms. Weatherhead has had numerous guest starring roles including on Dallas, Our Family Honor, Moonlighting, Night Court, Sinatra (mini-series) and Equal Justice. Chris was the evil Alicia Van Dine on ABC’s Edge of Night for more than two years. She guest starred on The Young & the Restless and Days of our Lives. Ms. Weatherhead’s historical novel, Against the Wind, the Rise of Kamehameha the Great is based on her award-winning screenplay, Ku-Makani.

Edgar Allan Poe was a creative and much admired and imitated author of many of America's most remembered poetry and fiction. With the writing of “The Raven,” Poe's talent became recognized nationwide. He toured the states giving literary reviews, poetry demonstrations and even scientific lectures.

But his great successes were punctuated by a tortuous personal life, especially after the early death of his wife at the age of 24 following her long struggle with tuberculosis.

Poe created the supernatural horror genre that we recognize today in the works of author H.P. Lovecraft and director Alfred Hitchcock. As the creator of the first detective story, the Mystery Writers of America named their annual awards of excellence “The Edgars” in Poe's honor. 

Poe was never an ordinary hail-fellow-well-met. He was dark, moody, always looking for love and acceptance and talented beyond his peers. From his childhood to his death, he created wonderfully crafted poetry and memorable tales and now seems to those who study his life and works as if he were himself a character from one of his own stories.

Larry Bounds has been a Chautauqua performer since 2002, presenting an assortment of figures including Churchill, Einstein, Houdini and Disney for festivals from Florida to Colorado and Nevada. This year he is revisiting one of his favorite authors: Edgar Allan Poe, a haunted, literary genius that he taught about in his English classes for decades. 

In 2019 Larry retired as a nationally certified teacher after 35 years in the classroom. He earned his B.A. in theatre and an M.S. in Education from The University of Tennessee.

Larry also still regularly performs as a professional magician as he has since 1973 when he performed for 8 years for Ripley's Believe It or Not! He lives in Greer, South Carolina with his wife Carole, is active in Mensa and serves on several community boards.

Mother Jones was a passionate, fiery orator, and an active force in the labor movement in the early part of the 20th century. An immigrant from Ireland, she took to heart the revolutionary spirit of America and campaigned for the rights of workers in many occupations. Specifically, she spent a great deal of time working with the newly formed United Mine Workers of America. Mother Jones is also known for her work with the textile workers in the South, railroaders and steel workers. She famously marched with children crippled in the textile mills of Philadelphia to bring attention to the plight of child labor. Her efforts took her all over the nation, from West Virginia to Colorado to South Carolina, where she had a tremendous impact on the organization of labor unions. 

Karen Vuranch has been researching and performing the character of Mother Jones for more than 30 years. She has performed 14 characters, including Julia Child and Cass Elliot in Greenville, but Mother Jones was her first Chautauqua character. She began performing Mother Jones for the 1989 UMWA strike against Pittston Coal Company and was the warm-up speaker for Cesar Chavez. Through her company, WV Enterprises, Karen travels throughout the nation with her Chautauqua characters, murder mystery performances and storytelling. She has performed throughout the US and England and Wales with her one-woman play Coal Camp Memories that she wrote from gathering oral history in West Virginia. She has also participated in a storytelling exchange in China. Karen taught theatre at Concord University in West Virginia from which she retired in 2022.  

Paul Robeson was a singer, actor, athlete, scholar, and social activist. A man of deep conviction and extraordinary complexity, Paul came of age during one of the more difficult periods in American history.

Born in Princeton, New Jersey and raised by his father, the Rev. William Drew Robeson (his mother, Maria Louisa, died when Paul was six years old) and by numerous members of Princeton’s African-American community, Paul grew to become an outstanding scholar-athlete in both high school and college. After graduating from Rutgers College in 1919, Paul went to Columbia Law school where he earned his degree in 1923. Paul married Eslanda Cardozo Goode while in law school, and it was she who helped guide him into a career as an actor and singer. For more than 25 years, Paul was known as one of the great artists of his generation.

Between 1927-1939, Paul lived in London, England where he became totally politicized. He became an uncompromising fighter for civil and human rights at home and abroad and for friendship with the Soviet Union. It was these activities that led the US government to nearly destroy him during the 1950’s.

Marvin Jefferson has an extensive background as a professional actor/director, educator and living history scholar. He has devoted many years to studying the lives of Paul Robeson and Martin Luther King, Jr. Since 1997, he has engaged audiences across the country with his popular chautauqua performances of these two important historical figures. In 2012, he was commissioned to portray York for Ohio Chautauqua. Most recently, Marvin was commissioned to portray Louis Armstrong for High Plains Chautauqua in August of 2024. In February 2024, Marvin portrayed Martin Luther King, Jr. as part of the Black History Live tour. He portrayed Louis Armstrong  for the same tour in 2025 sponsored by Colorado Humanities. Marvin studied acting at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. From 1995 to 2018, he taught acting at Bloomfield College, a private liberal arts college in Bloomfield, New Jersey. He began his training as a Chautauquan with the help and guidance of two nationally renowned scholars, the late Giles R. Wright and Dr. Clement A. Price.