| Label | Information |
|---|---|
| Dates & times |
|
| Category | All Ages/Family |
Join First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy on Saturday, July 20 at 7:00 PM in the library's Riverside Room as she reminisces about her life as First Lady both before and after the death of President John F. Kennedy.
Local musician Jalyn Short will be performing from 6:15 - 6:45 PM.
Amy Stoner's living history portrayal of Jackie Kennedy will begin at 7:00 PM. A Q & A session will follow the performance. Questions can first be asked to Ms. Stoner as Kennedy and then to Stoner as herself.
Refreshments will be available for a donation from 6:00 - 6:45 PM and after the Q & A session.
If at all possible, attendees are asked to park in the gravel lot directly across from the Library on Spruce Street.
What is "Living History Nights"? Performances that bring history to life. Each night a scholar/living historian will assume the role of a notable historical figure and perform a monologue based on the life of that individual. This will be followed by an audience Q & A session with questions addressed to both the character and the scholar/living historian.
This event, presented by the Gallipolis Living History Nights Committee, is suitable for all ages and is free and open to the public.
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994) was born in Southampton, New York to affluent parents. John and Janet Bouvier were part of the social register until her father "Black Jack" lost most of the family fortune in less than admirable dealings on Wall Street. After her parent's divorce, Jackie went to live with her mother and new step-father in Virginia.
Always the independent spirit and personality, Jackie succeeded in all that she did. She was an accomplished equestrian, ballerina, reader, and excelled at learning several foreign languages.
She studied history and French literature in college. She was awarded an apprenticeship from Vogue magazine to study and work in Paris. Soon after graduation, Jackie began working for the Washington Times-Herald as a photographer. It is here that she met a young and handsome congressman named John F. Kennedy.
They would marry, have (and lose) children and Jack would become President. Throughout their turbulent and very public marriage, Jackie had to take a back seat and suppress her own hopes and dreams. While First Lady, she would find her voice in the preservation and restoration of the White House. After the tragedy of John F. Kennedy's death, Jackie found herself a young widow with two small children. She now needed to find out who Jacqueline Kennedy was.
In 1968 she would marry a man that she, her family and Jack had known for many years - Aristotle Onassis, a man more than 20 years her senior. He provided the security and secrecy that Jackie needed. Upon his death in 1975, Jackie, once again, was left to rediscover herself. Her children were older and she now needed a new purpose in her life. She went back to her roots and what she loved - books. She would go on to become an editor for Viking Press and for Doubleday.
Although never out of the news, she could now live a life that was much more private. This gave her a chance to explore who she really was and to find happiness. (courtesy of Amy Stoner)
Amy Stoner has been acting, on stage, since 1986 and is originally from Mount Vernon, Ohio. Mrs. Stoner has been portraying historical characters for several years in the Elixir Presents Chautauqua series and is now owner and manager of MadCap Living History in Mount Vernon, Ohio.
Among her characters are Amelia Earhart, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Katherine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, Louisa May Alcott, Princess Diana Spencer, Gilda Radner, Maria von Trapp, Pocahontas, Laura Ingles Wilder, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, Helen Keller, Sacajawea, Janis Joplin, and Amelia Bloomer.
Amy lives in Frederickstown, Ohio with her husband, Jim, who is also a historical actor and the playwright of "The Black Cyclone: The Charles Follis Story." Amy is an elementary music teacher for the North Fork Local School District in Licking County, Ohio.