John
A. Creighton
Want to know how to book? Click here.
The Creightons were a prominent Omaha family, who amassed
a great amount of wealth and contributed this wealth to a great amount of philanthropic
activities, including the establishment of Creighton College, St. Joseph's Hospital,
the John A. Creighton Medical College, the Poor Claire's convent, and other
charities too many to mention.
This does not include their for-profit activities in
building roads and telegraph lines, shipping merchandise to miners in the Montana
territory, running grocery and mercantile businesses, herding cattle in the
first evidence of cattle ranching above the snowline, starting the First National
Bank and the Omaha Stockyards, arguing for the Union Pacific Line to terminate
in Omaha, and other ventures that are difficult to recount.
I perform the character of John A. Creighton, youngest
child of James and Bridget Creighton, who had established a farm near Springfield,
Ohio. Though John is not recognized as being as major of a wheeler-dealer as
was his older brother Edward, he was one of the longer-living siblings, and
was able to witness the progression of the Creighton family from hardworking
Irish laborers to men and women of means.
The Creightons are particularly known for their role
in surveying and building much of the route for the Transcontinental Telegraph.
It is this story that I recount in the character of John, a man known for his
portly body and flowing white beard, if for nothing else.
Having come from the same county in Ohio, and moved
to "work and breathe in Omaha" just like the Creightons, I feel a
certain kinship with them. I walked their soil, I stood in the doorway of St.
Joseph's Priory, where John had gone to College for a short time. Like John,
I chose a career that includes laying the groundwork for the latest technology,
and supporting those who choose to adopt it. And like John, I am very proud
of the Creighton name, and the accomplishments that have been amassed in the
University which bears that name.
My performance, in standard wardrobe of the day, begins
with an acclimation to time and place, and perhaps a direct address to members
of the audience who are in attendance. In Scottsbluff, that meant a bit of time
talking about Mitchell Pass, and its importance as the path through which the
wire was strung. At the Omaha Public Library, it meant talking a little about
downtown Omaha, and its transformation from the early muddy streets to its paved
streetcar busy-ness.
This moves the performance into a short discussion of
the history of the telegraph, why and how it was invented, with spectacles for
the children in the audience.
Then the performance moves into stories and discussion
of the Transcontinental Telegraph, and the Creightons part in it.
The performance does not end until some of the implications
of the telegraph are discussed, such as legislative actions taken by states
to regulate it, the telegraph's spiritualist undertones, and the often humorous
ends to which the workers had to take to protect the line when it was up.
Question and answer sessions, both in character, and
out of character, allow John (and me) to tie the life of the Creightons together
with those of the audience.
Duration: 1 Hour
To Book: email
me with a possible time and date. I will return your email and help you
find the forms for the Nebraska
Humanities Council Speakers Bureau, if you choose to use the service. If
you have used your allotted Nebraska Humanities Council events for the year,
I am willing to make other arrangements -- just ask!