COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University's Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities will present Ohio Chautauqua 2000, a traveling tent show that showcases history through first-person historical characterizations.

This year's chatauqua, Creating the 20th Century: Ohio Voices, will introduce spectators to prominent figures from Ohio's past who played a major role in shaping the country, including inventor Thomas Edison, industrialist John D. Rockefeller, political reformer Victoria Woodhull, poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and Branch Rickey, the baseball entrepreneur who integrated the sport.

The troupe of five characters will appear in the following five Ohio communities during June and July.

LANCASTER -- nightly performances begin at 7:45 p.m., Lancaster Camp Ground.

For more information, contact: Joyce Harvey, (740) 653-2745.

PENINSULA -- nightly performances begin at 7:30, Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area.

ASHLAND -- nightly performances begin at 8 p.m., Balloonfest grounds.

June 28 -- Edison; June 29 -- Rickey; June 30 -- Woodhull; July 1 -- Rockefeller; July 2 --Dunbar

For more information, contact: Tricia Applegate, (419) 281-9836.

WILMINGTON -- nightly performances begin at 7:30 p.m., Wilmington College.

July 4 -- Rickey; July 5 -- Woodhull; July 6 -- Rockefeller; July 7 -- Edison; July 8 -- Dunbar

For more information, contact: Kenneth Shaublin, (937) 382-3582.

MARIETTA -- nightly performances begin at 7:30 p.m., Marietta College.

July 12 -- Edison; July 13 -- Woodhull; July 14 -- Rickey; July 15 -- Dunbar; July 16 -- Rockefeller

For more information, contact: Heidi Laughery, (740) 373-9359.

For additional information about the Ohio Chautauqua program and other Humanities Institute projects, contact Christian Zacher, director of the Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities, (614) 292-1882.

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