2025 Lawton Chautauqua: Anything Goes: America in the Roaring 1920s

June 17 -21, 2025

Albert Johnson Sr. Conference Center
91 NE Maine Street
Lawton, OK 73507

Schedule of events:

Tuesday, June 17

Morning Workshops:
9:00 am - 10:00 am - Selene Phillips
Han! Han! (Yes! Yes!): Beadwork, porcupine quills, wild rice, and fancy dancing 

11:00 am - 12:00 noon - David Fenimore
"When I was a Cowboy": Black, Hispanic, & Indigenous Riders of the Range

Evening Performance:
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Al Capone: Public Enemy #1 by Doug Mishler

Wednesday, June 18

Morning Workshops:
9:00 am - 10:00 am - David Fenimore
John Ford's The Searchers: The Anatomy of a Perfect Western Film (Warts and All)

11:00 am - 12:00 noon - Doug Mishler
Rocking the foundation of "traditional America" in the 1920s

Evening Performance:
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Zitkala-Ša: Native American Activist by Selene Philips

Thursday, June 19

Morning Workshops:
9:00 am - 10:00 am - Rebecca Marks Jemison
Got the Blues? Tracing the origins of Blues music through lecture, songs, and discussion.

11:00 am - 12:00 noon - Selene Phillips
Indians in the 1920s: Aspects of the Indian reform movement

Evening Performance:
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Zane Grey: Frontier Mythmaker by David Fenimore

Friday, June 20

Morning Workshops:
9:00 am - 10:00 am - Doug Mishler
"New Women" and "Neglected Males": How gender roles started to morph in the 1920s

11:00 am - 12:00 noon - Karen Vuranch
Vaudeville: Family entertainment in the early 20th century

Evening Performance:
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Bessie Smith: Empress of the Blues by Rebecca Marks Jemison

Saturday, June 21

Morning Workshops:
9:00 am - 10:00 am - Karen Vuranch
Speak No Evil: Censorship in America

11:00 am - 12:00 noon - Rebecca Marks Jemison
Visions of the African American experience during the 1920s

Evening Performance:
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Mae West: Sultry Siren of the 1920s by Karen Vuranch