A Pictorial Story of Hiawatha at Valparaiso University

rot3“Hiawatha: An Evening of Magic Lantern and Early Cinema Entertainment” features lantern slides and musical accompaniment honoring Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem “The Song of Hiawatha.”

In 1903, Katharine Ertz-Bowden, an 1897 Valpo alumna, and her husband, Charles, captured images of a Hiawatha pageant based on Longfellow’s poem. The illustrated lectures were presented as “A Pictorial Story of Hiawatha” from 1904 to 1908 and embraces Ojibwe culture.

The presentation is preceded by a Hiawatha-themed performance by the American Magic Lantern Theater Company.