Mark Twain

The Chautauqua Troupe

Moderator: Mark Twain

Warren Brown presents Mark Twain, American humorist who commented on American culture and politics. Born Samuel Clemens in 1835, Mark Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri which would eventually become the setting for two of his most famous novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain began the travels that became the catalyst for much of his writing as a steamboat pilot’s apprentice on the Mississippi River. In 1861 Twain traveled with his brother to the Nevada Territory and later served as a correspondent from the Sandwich Islands and Europe, which gave him his reputation to launch his lecture and literary career. He became a national voice of his time and fully embraced the “Free Soil, Free Labor” ideology at the heart of the 1862 legislation and was fascinated by the development of railroads through the latter half of the 1800s.

Chautauqua Workshops
May 21 Mark Twain 7:30 pm
May 22 America in the Gilded Age 12:00 pm
May 25 Twain's Hadleyburg 2:00 pm