President George Washington paid a visit to the University’s Bey Hall Young Auditorium last Thursday at 1 pm to celebrate Constitution Day.
Dean Melissa, who is the only official George Washington historical actor at Mount Vernon, portrayed Washington in an hour-long presentation of his life’s triumphs filled with historical accounts and even a dance performance.
A PowerPoint presentation displayed slides with facts and myths as the audience awaited his arrival, and let everyone know that cutting down a cherry tree and proclaiming, “I cannot tell a lie,” was indeed a myth.
After a short introduction by Provost Thomas Pearson, Alexandria Todd of the Political Science Club told the audience of a voter registration table right outside the auditorium and the presentation began.
As the first President walked through the crowd and approached center stage, he said to a boy in the front row, “No time for a bath or a shave, son?” and the audience erupted into laughter. He immediately got down to business, but always remained in character.
Throughout his performance, Washington kept the audience laughing and involved by saying things like, “Technology, do you know it? You should learn it,” and took everyone on a journey from when he was born on a farm in Virginia to when he started as a farmer, became a surveyor, and later a soldier.
Accounts of Washington’s arrival to Philadelphia for the first time captivated the audience’s attention as he described it as, “Vibrant, people spoke 17 different languages, there was commerce in the streets, and people knew my name.”
Midway through the lecture, noting the drooping heads of tired students, Washington proposed a break and taught a student a Virginia curtsey and Minuet step, which is an old fashioned dance step.
Washington went on to explain how his years at Mount Vernon were his “golden years” and how the French and Indian War was responsible for the formation of the United States. He spoke about the taxes Britain imposed on the colonies to pay for the expensive war and how, particularly the Stamp Act, drove the American colonists to fight for representation in Parliament or declare war.
When the time to speak about the first Continental Congress came, he said, “We came together as Americans for the very first time.” Washington also claimed that he was “heartened and humbled” by the fact that the Constitution has lasted for so long.
As the e-mail invitation encouraged students to “transport back to the 1790s and meet President George Washington,” that’s exactly what attendees did. Melissa provided insight into original presidential character and our nation’s first leader.
“We thought it would be a great idea to bring in the nations leading George Washington historical actor to help celebrate the 225th birthday of our nation’s constitution,” Joe Patten, Chair of the Department of Political Science and Sociology, said. “He played a critical role in establishing the role that our President plays in our system of government, so it also links nicely with the upcoming presidential election.”
Students were crammed into the auditorium, some sitting and some standing in the crowded room to watch the entire performance. Among attendees was Kelly Craig, Vice President of the Student Government Association, a junior political science major and English minor.
“I though it went very well,” Craig said. “Washington was able to keep people’s attention for over an hour by involving the audience as much as possible and was extremely historically accurate.”
Students appeared to enjoy his performance and looked thrilled to be able to see history come alive.
“I thought it was awesome,” Lianne Kulik, a senior history/political science education major, said. “A cool way to see living history. I’ve been learning that it’s always more memorable and effective if you can connect history to real human emotion.”
Kulik said that having the Washington actor here to make events like Constitutional Conventions real was “pretty sweet,” and added that her favorite part was watching a fellow classmate learn a dance step with the General.
The event was sponsored by The Office of the Provost, Department of Political Science & Sociology, and Stand Up and Be Counted.
Other accolades of Melissa include performances as George Washington in TV productions for PBS, The Discovery Channel, NBC, National Geographic Channel, Showtime Network and more according to his website.
PHOTO COURTESY of Blaze Nowara
