By Camille Kelly | Reporter
Baylor’s history and theater department are collaborating to bring to life the Second Continental Congress onstage at 2-4 p.m. on March 29 at the Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center. Theater students will reenact scenes from historical musicals such as “1776,” “Hamilton” and more while history students portray each of the Founding Fathers and provide historical context for the debate of declaring independence.
Admission is free, and all are welcome.
Planning for this event has been underway for two years in preparation for celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Dr. Julie Sweet, professor of history and director of military studies, reached out to the theater department and has been working together with professors and her own students to make this vision come to life.
According to Sweet, the history students will be in full costume, and there will be a period after the show where the audience can interact with them as they remain in character and answer questions about their stance on declaring independence.
“After the show, they will literally go out into the audience or hang out in the lobby, and audience members will have the opportunity to say, ‘So, Mr. Adams, what do you think about independence?’” Sweet said. “It’s that wonderful kind of one-on-one opportunity to learn history in a completely new, different and unique way.”
One of Sweet’s history students, Eastport, N.Y., senior Maura Okula, has been researching her role as a lesser-known founding father, Richard Henry Lee.
“He was the one that officially put forward the resolution to vote on independence in June of 1776,” Okula said. “There’s actually not a ton written about Richard Henry Lee compared to Jefferson or John Adams. It made my research difficult, but also easier, in the sense that I didn’t have to comb through as many documents as the Jefferson and Adams people did.”
According to Okula, this opportunity is special to her because she gets to combine her love of theater and history.
“I personally love ‘1776’ the musical, because I’m a history nerd, and I’m a theater nerd, so it’s like my favorite thing ever,” Okula said. “You also get to hear some really cool historical debates and speeches, which usually, if you aren’t super into history, is not too long, and a really good way to understand the foundations of America.”
The students participating have not only been preparing with extensive research and rehearsals, but are also set to be outfitted by a national costume rental company with the realistic outfits of the Founding Fathers.
“It’s one thing to see the pictures in the book, but to actually be dressed in britches and a waistcoat and feel like that and have to walk and act — it’s a whole different type of tactile learning experience to be dressed like somebody from 1776 and just understand how all that operates,” Sweet said.
According to Sweet, this opportunity is something Texas does not normally offer and is an extremely interactive way for students and the community to celebrate and learn about American history.
“People usually think that history is boring and it’s just a bunch of names and dates and facts,” Sweet said. “In actuality, they were real people with real lives and real concerns about independence and about life in general. Having students re-create these men and letting audience members interact with them makes history real and relatable, not just boring facts in an old book.”
