Jamestown Public School students interact enthusiastically with a Living Voices performer. Submitted photo

The Robert H. Jackson Center recently invited students, their teachers and the public to experience history in a unique way.

The Jackson Center brought Theatreworks USA’s Living Voices to present a total of six performances over two days, June 12 and 13, combining dynamic solo performances with archival film and sound, turning history into a moving and personal journey for audience members.

Two historical dramatizations, “Through the Eyes of A Friend,” about young people’s experiences during the Holocaust, and “New American,” about immigrants arriving in New York City through Ellis Island, were featured. The audience experienced a unique multi-media combination of theater, digital and live interaction. Nearly 700 area elementary and middle school students and their teachers attended from Sherman Central School, Jamestown’s Persell Middle School, Ring Elementary School, Fletcher Elementary School, Lincoln Elementary School and Washington Middle School. The performances offered a unique opportunity for students in particular to understand Justice Jackson’s legacy by illuminating events in history that he directly impacted. Teacher guides were made available to educators to facilitate discussion before and after the programs which address state Common Core subjects.

New American tells the story of a young girl named Bridget, whose first steps in America take her through Ellis Island to New York City’s Lower East Side. The program follows Bridget as she leaves Ireland, travels in steerage on a steamship, and faces the challenges of immigration and entry to the United States upon her arrival. “Through the Eyes of a Friend” tells a story of young people’s experiences during the Holocaust, through a fictional friend of Anne Frank’s who is a composite character inspired by the testimonies of individuals who knew Anne Frank or who experienced the Holocaust firsthand.

The performances at the Jackson Center were free and open to the public by advance registration through the Jackson Center’s website. They were made possible through the financial support of Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Board of Cooperative Educational Services, M&T Bank and the following funds held at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation: The Stanley A. Weeks Fund, The Kohl Family Fund and The Isabelle C. Erickson Fund.