About 15 years ago, Missouri Western’s president, Dr. Robert Vartabedian, and his wife, Laurel, stopped at a visitors center in Trinidad, Colo., where a display caught their attention. It told the story of a 1913-14 immigrant coal miners’ strike in the area that
culminated in what has become known as the Ludlow Massacre. Intrigued by that
story, Dr. Laurel Vartabedian wrote the book and lyrics for the folk opera
“American Story.”

Her work, which had previously been staged in Colorado, Texas and New York, was performed by Missouri Western students on campus in April and in Trinidad in May. The cast of 10 adults included students in Dr. Susan Carter’s opera class.

Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president, was the director, and it was the first time he had directed at Missouri Western. “The students were delightful and very talented,” Dr. Robert Vartabedian said. “They rose to the occasion and I was very happy with the outcome. I have missed working with students on projects like this.”

“American Story” is about an Irish immigrant, Mary Thomas, and her life-altering experience of the Ludlow Massacre on April 20, 1914. Twenty people, including two women and 11 children, were killed during a Colorado militia raid on a tent colony of coal miners and their families.

“It was very, very moving, especially in Trinidad, where the history was well known
and real to the audience,” said Sarah Waters, who played labor activist Mother
Jones. “People were crying a lot.” She said audience members spoke to the cast
for almost an hour after their Colorado performance, and they met a lot of
relatives of the miners and those who were killed. “Most said, ‘We’re so glad
you brought this to life.’”

While in Colorado, the students visited the Denver Center for Performing Arts and the site of the Ludlow Massacre in Ludlow, Colo. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2009. “It meant a lot to the students because they had met some of the descendants,” Dr. Laurel Vartabedian said. “It was very touching.”

A group that is planning events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the massacre in Ludlow in 2014 recently contacted Dr. Laurel Vartabedian about returning to perform “American Story” in three cities as part of the commemoration.

“The students said they felt like they were a part of history, part of something bigger than themselves,” Dr. Laurel Vartabedian said of the Colorado performance and trip. “It was a wonderful experience. I couldn’t have been prouder of the students.”

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