Clay S. Jenkinson: Difference between revisions

Jenkinson was born in [[Dickinson, North Dakota|Dickinson]], in southwestern [[North Dakota]];<ref>{{YouTube|QdFvFq2r5f0}}</ref> his father was a banker and his mother a schoolteacher. Although the family moved quite often when he and his sister were children, Jenkinson grew up mostly in Dickinson. He graduated from [[Dickinson High School (Dickinson, North Dakota)|Dickinson High School]] in 1973 and then attended [[Vanderbilt University]]<ref name=JeffersonHour0987>{{Cite podcast |url=https://jeffersonhour.com |title=Episode #987 At The Barn |date=2 September 2012}}</ref> and the [[University of Minnesota]]. He graduated in 1977 with a degree in English, and was then a [[Rhodes scholar]] at Oxford.

AtIn 2005 at the age of 50, Jenkinson returned to [[North Dakota]] as a permanent resident in 2005; he resides in [[Bismarck, North Dakota|Bismarck]]. He is currently the Director of The Dakota Institute through The Lewis & Clark Fort Mandan Foundation, Chief Consultant to The [[Theodore Roosevelt]] Center through [[Dickinson State University]], and a Distinguished Humanities Scholar at [[Bismarck State College]], and a columnist for the [[Bismarck Tribune]]. He is James Marsh Professor-at-Large at the [[University of Vermont]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.uvm.edu/artsandsciences/forfaculty/marsh_profs/?Page=profs_at_large%2Fjenkinson_clay.html |title=Clay Jenkinson : James Marsh Professors-at-Large : University of Vermont |access-date=2022-06-29 |archive-date=2012-10-08 |archive-url=https:/jenkinson_clay/web.archive.org/web/20121008035754/http://www.uvm.edu/artsandsciences/forfaculty/marsh_profs/?Page=profs_at_large%2Fjenkinson_clay.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Jenkinson has one child, Catherine Missouri Walker Jenkinson,[http://bismarcktribune.com/news/obituaries/everett-albers/article_b84983d5-6f1e-5b49-a2f5-f27dae43b26c.html][https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112119/http://nullrefs.com/ev/six-pie-day-in-delightful-dickinson.htm] from his marriage to Etta L. Walker (they married on 16 March 1986 and divorced in 1997). His daughter was named after the Little Missouri River, which Jenkinson has said he finds poetic.

Jenkinson first achieved fame for his portrayal (first-person historical interpretation) of [[Thomas Jefferson]]. On April 11, 1994, he was the first public humanities scholar to present a program at a White House-sponsored event when he presented Thomas Jefferson for a gathering hosted by President and Mrs. Clinton.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jeffersonhour.com/about%20clay.html |title=The Thomas Jefferson Hour |website=www.jeffersonhour.com |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809131539/http://www.jeffersonhour.com/about%20clay.html |archive-date=9 August 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> As co-founder of the modern [[Chautauqua]] movement,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dakotaskyeducation.com/ |title=Dakota Sky Education |access-date=2005-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060202065721/http://dakotaskyeducation.com/ |archive-date=2006-02-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Jenkinson has also portrayed [[Sir Francis Bacon]], [[Jonathan Swift]], [[J. Robert Oppenheimer]], [[John Wesley Powell]], [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], [[Theodore Roosevelt]], and [[Meriwether Lewis]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dakotaskyeducation.com/Chautauqua.htm |title=Chautauqua |access-date=2010-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226060342/http://dakotaskyeducation.com/Chautauqua.htm |archive-date=2009-02-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Jenkinson's public portrayals take the form of lengthy monologues followed by Q & A sessions as the character (in costume) featured for that performance. At the end of his performances, he steps out of character and answers questions as himself. Another performance variation is represented by his nationally syndicated radio show, ''[[The Thomas Jefferson Hour]]'':<ref>http://www.jeffersonhour.org/</ref>

In 1989, Jenkinson became one of the first winners of the nation’snation's highest award in the humanities, the [[Charles Frankel Prize]], awarded by President George H.W. Bush for his achievements. The [[National Endowment for the Humanities]] once described Jenkinson as, “A"A leader in the revival of [[Chautauqua]], a forum for public discussion about the ideas and lives of key figures in American history.”" He has been awarded the [[Robert Laxalt|Robert J. Laxalt]] Writer of the Year Award from [[University of Nevada-Reno]] and is a [[Rhodes scholar]] and Danforth Scholar. Jenkinson was a senior fellow for the [[Center for Digital Government]], based in [[California]], and was scholar-in-residence at [[Lewis & Clark College]] in [[Portland, Oregon]] from 2002–20062002 to 2006, and Roosevelt scholar-in-residence at [[Dickinson State University]] from 2005- to 2008. In 2004, Jenkinson was inducted into the [[Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame]], a signature event of [http://hostfest.com/sahf/sahf-inductees/ Norsk Høstfest]. <ref>{{cite web|title=SAHF Inductees|url=http://hostfest.com/sahf/sahf-inductees/|website=hostfest.com|publisher=Norsk Høstfest}}</ref>

*''The Character of Meriwether Lewis: Explorer in the Wilderness'' {{efn|name=CML}}

*''Message on the Wind: A Spiritual Odyssey on the Northern Plains'' {{efn|name=MOW}}

*''Becoming Jefferson's People: Re-Inventing the American Republic in the Twenty-First Century'' {{efn|name=BJP}}

*[httphttps://www.jeffersonhour.org/ Thomascom Jefferson Hour.orgcom] - official site

[[Category:21st-century American historians]]