American Timeline 2023: Pursuing Freedom

Barry Stewart Mann (in character above), performs as Sequoyah (also called George Guess or George Gist) in this year's Timeline event. Barry was born in suburban New Jersey and spent his adolescence in West Palm Beach, Florida. After earning his B.A. in English from Harvard University, he attended the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York, studying with the legendary Sanford Meisner, and pursued his career as an actor in small productions and regional tours. He then moved to San Diego to earn his M.F.A. at the University of San Diego. In 1995, Barry married fellow actor Sheri Mann Stewart, and they moved to Atlanta, where Barry established himself as a freelance actor, storyteller, and arts educator. He has worked with the city of Atlanta’s and the state of Georgia’s premiere cultural institutions, including the Alliance Theatre, the High Museum of Art, the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Emory University, the Georgia Public Library Service, the Children's Museum, the Atlanta Zoo, and the Atlanta History Center. Barry and Sheri are the proud parents of two sons, Tendal and Royce, who are performers and activists in their own right. 

Terry Allee, acting as Samuel Worcester, is a retired teacher who discovered his love and natural ability for performing while still teaching. When he realized that he and his history students were bored by traditional methods of teaching, he decided to try a new strategy. Terry recalled the 1984 film Teachers, in which one of the teachers dressed as historical characters to bring life to the lessons, and Terry decided to give it a try himself—in a real classroom. His students loved it, so Terry added more and more characters over time, creating a character for everything he taught. By the time Terry retired, he was doing about 70 historic character programs per semester and had created almost 200 different characters. After taking a year off following retirement from teaching, Terry started a business called You Asked For It and now dresses up as historical or fictional characters for pay, with most days on his calendar booked. Terry now has over 400 characters, and he’s not stopping there. He thrives on the challenge of creating new ones.

Gwendolyn J. Napier, aka Miss LuvDrop (in character above), portrays Harriet Ross Tubman Davis (known just as Harriet Tubman by most people). Miss LuvDrop listened to stories her mother, Sarah F. Jackson, told for countless hours about life and her mother’s childhood and family. Miss LuvDrop became inspired by constantly asking and understanding, “How do you tell stories?” Her mother replied, “Storytelling comes from the heart. Just be yourself.” The sharing of a myriad of life experiences, wisdom, and professional training made Miss LuvDrop realize that everyone has a story and that there are people who would love to listen to this storytelling. These stories prompted volumes of questions which led to Miss LuvDrop’s making her fantasy of owning a business and storytelling a reality. 

John Edward Doyle, Jr., who portrays Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is a storyteller, actor, and teaching artist. Originally from Burnsville, Minnesota, John moved to Atlanta to attend Morehouse College. After college John chose to start his professional career in Atlanta. John’s passions are the arts and education, and he has had a wonderful opportunity to blend the two in his career. In 1997, after receiving theater training from Carol Mitchell Leon at Clark-Atlanta University, John began working as a professional teaching artist, actor, and storyteller in Atlanta. He has been an actor-educator at Kaiser Permanente Education Theatre Programs, and he became a core company member that toured the state of Georgia doing children's and adult theater. While at Kaiser, John also created their Male Empowerment Workshop geared towards middle school to high school boys. John currently has nine educational performance shows that tour the state, and he is an accomplished storyteller as well, telling everywhere from birthday parties and schools to festivals and conferences. He also conducts workshops on how to incorporate storytelling and digital storytelling into the classroom. He is the past resident storyteller at the High Museum of Art.