Kate's Love of Historical Stories

Kate Dudding is drawn to stories which bring history to life. She has been commissioned to create stories set in history several times:

• The New-York Historical Society asked Kate to create stories for families about John Chapman (1774-1845), the real Johnny Appleseed, and Carlotta, a lady balloonist and inventor who set many flying records in 1880-1891. Stacy Gilinson, Supervisor of Family Programs at the Historical Society, later wrote:

  "The mix of music and storytelling truly brought historical information to life. We had an extremely positive audience response and I especially appreciated the connection you formed with our youngest participants."

• The Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site, in Albany, NY, had Kate tell both historical stories and legends about New York state historic sites. Some of the true stories sounded unreal, and some of the legends sounded real, so Kate had her listeners vote after hearing each tale. Some of the people were fooled all of the time, but a good time was had by all :-)

• The Empire State Aerosciences Museum, in Schenectady, NY, commissioned Kate to create a story about Harriet Quimby, a New Yorker and the first woman to fly across the English Channel in 1912. While not many people know about Harriet today, she was well known in her own day and a hero to teenaged Amelia Earhart.

• The Easton Library, in Easton, NY, commissioned storytellers Kate Dudding and Nancy Marie Payne to create a story about the Easton Political Equality Club, a grassroots woman suffrage organization in this farming community at the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s.

Kate's first solo CD, Lighting the Way Home: Stories of Lighthouses and Their Keepers, is a Parents' Choice Approved Award Winner of 2007, one of six storytelling CDs to get an award this year. Click hear to read the Parents' Choice review.

Other programs of Kate's historical stories include:

• Irving Berlin: The Man Behind the Songs
  Many people are familiar with some of the 1,000 songs Irving Berlin published in his lifetime. But few people know the stories of the man himself. Come listen as award-winning storyteller Kate Dudding shares the stories of: how Irving Berlin came to write the song "Always;" what he volunteered to do during World War II; and why she considers him Broadway's greatest gentleman. Join Kate in singing several of Irving's songs.

• Celebrating Women: Their Labors, Laughter, Troubles and Triumphs
  Kate Dudding shares stories of extraordinary women, including Betty Friedan and others who formed the National Organization for Women -- women who worked hard to expand opportunities for all American women.
  

• Painters and Friends: Stories of Claude Monet and John Singer Sargent
  Learn the stories behind the paintings with storyteller Kate Dudding. Claude Monet and John Singer Sargent were friends as well as giants in their fields and obsessed with light. See images of their paintings while hearing about their work and their lives.
  Photo courtesy of Ellouise Schoettler

• Tales of New Yorkers
  Many fascinating people came from New York state: a lady balloonist, the first woman to fly across the English Channel, Broadway composers, survivors of World War II. Come hear Kate Dudding share these stories of famous and not so famous people who all made a difference.
  

• Pioneer Women Aviators: Mary Myers, Harriet Quimby, Willa Brown, and Jerrie Cobb
  Hear Kate Dudding share the stories of a lady balloonist, a record-setting pilot from 1912, a pilot and mechanic who lobbied Congress in 1938 for equal rights for African American flyers, and 13 women who wanted to be astronauts in 1960.

• Broadway's Music Men: Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter
  Some of Broadway's greatest composers were Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter. Come listen as award-winning storyteller Kate Dudding shares the stories behind their songs and join her in singing a number of their biggest hits.

• Tales From the Twentieth Century: Modern Jewish Stories
  Storyteller Kate Dudding shares historical stories about well-known people and little-known people as well as a story by Issac Bashevis Singer. One of these stories is from her second CD, People Who Made a Difference, Volume 1.
  

• Remember When: Stories and Songs from World War II
  Kate Dudding shares the unpublished stories of World War II, weaving together cumulative details of life on the front lines and here at home to capture an era for her audience. Join Kate in singing the songs from that era as we all remember when.

• Leaving the Old Country: Immigration Stories
  Kate Dudding shares immigration stories from the last few centuries, including stories of the Irish potato famine, an eight year old girl leaving Egypt in 1948, and a Russian immigrant we know as Irving Berlin.

In addition, each of Kate's e-newsletters contains an historical story.