by Lou Ann Thomas
When Calamity Jane removes her hat she becomes Joyce Thierer, history professor at Emporia State University. Actually itıs Thierer who becomes Calamity Jane, but she is so convincing that you forget beneath the rough-talking storyteller thereıs a quiet scholar.
Thierer has spent the last decade portraying Calamity Jane, and other strong women from history. Thierer and Ann Birney have transformed their love of history into Ride Into History, a touring troupe headquartered out of their farm house near Admire, Kansas (pop. 150).
In addition to Calamity Jane, Thierer also portrays Rosa Fix, a farm woman from the 1890ıs, and has recently created two new characters -- a granddaughter of a French fur trader who farms with her Indian grandmotherıs people in the early 1880ıs and a woman who disguised herself as a man to fight in the Civil War.
But it is her interest in Calamity Jane that first fired Thiererıs passion for making history come alive through her performances for audiences of all ages.
"Calamity Janeıs life struck a chord in my life," she said. "If she could live through all she did, and do it her way, so could I. She was my hero."
Thierer has read everything she can find about her hero, including memorizing Calamityıs letters to her daughter, and is a stickler for historical accuracy in her presentations.
Birney shares this dedication to accuracy and authenticity in her portrayals of Amelia Earhart, Julia Archibald Holmes and teacher-turned-suffragist, Elizabeth Hampstead.
Both Thierer and Birney are accomplished horsewomen and share their farm in the rolling Flint Hills of central Kansas, with several horses, a few goats, chickens and other animals. At fairs, festivals and other outdoor venues they often perform on horseback, galloping into the staging area to the delight of the audience. At the end of each performance Thierer and Birney return to their 21st century personas as scholars and historians to answer questions about the characters.
Ride Into History has provided multi-day workshops for school children from Wyoming to New York, and has performed for adult audiences from Washington D.C. to Texas. The school workshops help children learn research and script writing techniques, and offer an opportunity for the students to present their chosen historical character to their classmates.
"We think itıs a marvelous way to use history across the curriculum," Birney said. "To create a character by writing a script you have to know much more about that person than you actually use in your script. And what else can you do with a child who tells you she hates history, finds research boring and considers speaking loudly the only relevant communication skill? We think encouraging her to learn about ordinary people doing extraordinary things, then offering her the opportunity to take the stage and share her knowledge is a good answer."
Both women find satisfaction in seeing a light suddenly reflected in a studentıs face indicating they have connected the past with the present.
"After a workshop we did in Junction City (Kansas) a fifth grader told me she wanted to grow up to be a historian. It made me so happy to think this little girl realizes this is a choice for her," Thierer said.
Another student once wrote to say that Thierer was her role model, just like Calamity has been for Thierer.
"Iım allowing a strong womanıs voice to be heard and at the same time Iım taking on many myths and stereotypes of the West," Thierer said.
Although Ride Into History is a business, Birney and Thierer often donate their time and expertise to help their community. Thierer has tutored students in the Admire schools who could use a hand up in history and the two offered benefit performances that raised over $3,000 for a defibrillator for the North Lyon County First Responders.
First Responder Coordinator, Rich Gould, said the small, rural fire department would not have been able to purchase the defibrillator without the help of Thierer and Birney.
"They did something above and beyond what a normal citizen of the community would do. They gave of themselves to help others," Gould said. "I feel really lucky that we have them in our community."
The two historians believe strongly in giving back to their community and also have helped with fund raisers to repair the neighborhood Duck Creek School building. Birney has performed Amelia Earhart in nearby Emporia as a benefit for a man who needs a liver transplant and both donate time to the Emporia Arts Commission fund raisers and make a point of supporting local businesses.
"Most of the programs we do are for non-profit groups," Birney said. "We are especially committed to getting high quality programs to under served, rural groups."
Birney admits this sometimes means living on a shoestring with 30-year-old shag carpeting in their rural Admire home and headquarters, but both members of Ride Into History believe itıs worth it.
"We like to think weıre making a difference, and we enjoy what we do," Birney said. "We are investing in something of great value and are helping our audiences look at people of the past in new ways, celebrating our shared myths while disturbing historical stereotypes."
--30--
--Back to Writing Samples
Writing
Speaking
Resume