Ben Franklin will be this year’s Founding Father. Come spend an hour with him at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, June 30.

News Release

SYRACUSE — As part of Chautauqua’s annual Patriotic Speaker Series, the 2024 program will feature American patriot Ben Franklin. The performance will feature professional actor Barry Stevens as Ben Franklin.

Meet and discuss events with this man, the most famous man in America at the time he lived. Franklin has a long list of accomplishments: printer, inventor (the Franklin stove, of course, the armonica, the lightning rod and an odometer, to name a few), scientist, politician, musician, postmaster, satirist and founder of the University of Pennsylvania and the first fire department in the colonies.

In fact, Stevens says, Franklin is considered the “patron saint” of fire departments. As he traveled to locations throughout the Colonies, he was known as Dr. Franklin, and even traveled to Paris, France.

Stevens has been presenting Benjamin Franklin while participating as a member of a company of Revolutionary War re-enactors since 2005. The performer has requested attendees to come with questions to “Ask Ben” which allows him to share historical information and anecdotes.

The performance is from 4:30-5:30 p.m. at the Wawasee High School auditorium Sunday, June 30, in Syracuse. The program is free to attend.

Actor Barry Stevens has been portraying Benjamin Franklin since 2005.

Also in Syracuse, at 7:30 p.m., the annual Patriotic Pops concert by the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra is performed on the lawn at Oakwood Resort. Stop by the Chautauqua tent for a free flag and glow light. Attendance is free for this family-friendly event.

As a resident of the Washington D.C. area, Stevens has access to troves of primary resources. Even his outfits are tailor-made to 18th-century specifications, and his eyeglasses are an accurate replication of Franklin’s (the good doctor invented bifocals).

Stevens didn’t set out to become Ben Franklin. His interest in early American history led him in 1999 to join the First Virginia Regiment for Revolutionary War reenactments. At the group’s events, he was so often addressed as Ben by the other participants, who swore he looked just like Franklin, that he began assuming the character’s role.

His first enactment as Franklin was to read the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2005, at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home. Since then, he has brought Franklin to schools, organizations, events, even a 200-year-old restaurant in Virginia, and has portrayed him in films and TV shows.

See Chautauqua-Wawasee’s website, www.chqw.org, or call 574-377-7543 for more information.