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A Real Character in the History Department
By Elissa K. Harvill
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Vickery doesn't consider himself an actor, but rather a portrayer of historical characters. For ten years now, he has performed with Living Legacy Chautauqua, a history program that "brings notable people from the past to life, speaking as they spoke and thinking as they thought."*
"The concept is to look at the primary sources, what they've said, not just what others have said about them," Vickery explained, "because you want to include in your character their own words." In his honors courses, Vickery has been known to appear in character, often allowing students to present their research by portraying historical characters in lieu of a Power Point presentation.
Especially dear to Vickery's heart, Las Casas is the subject of both his doctoral thesis and his new book which will be released sometime this spring: The Prophet Call and Message of Bartolome De Las Casas (Paulist Press).
A Castilian, Las Casas came to the New World to win souls, but got caught up in the business of encomienda, a land grant system began in 1503 which gave certain Spaniards land in America as well as the natives on it. While reading the scriptures and preparing to preach, Las Casas realized that this was wrong and destructive to the Native Americans.
"What I've tried to emphasize [in the book]," Vickery said, "was that by reading God's word, [Las Casas] had a life-changing experience. He realized that they were exploiting the Native Americans. From that point, he dedicated the rest of his life to speaking on their behalf and trying to change the system."
The text that led to Las Casas' conversion can be found in the apocryphal book, Ecclesiasticus 34:15.
According to Vickery, Las Casas brings a timely word for us today. "He demonstrated through his life what he was preaching from the pulpit," He said, "There was no hypocrisy in him."
As an historian, Vickery wants to get people excited about history: "I see our roles, particularly at ORU, as being healers in the world," he said, " My goal is to help people understand the causes of problems so that we can bring healing to races-reconciliation between peoples, between nations. It's hard to be a part of the solution if you don't know where the problem started."
Vickery will be portraying Las Casas during ORU's annual Multicultural Event, beginning at 7:00 PM in Zoppelt, on Thursday, February 23rd.
*For more information on Living Legacy Chautauqua, visit http://www.okhumanitiescouncil.org.
