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This is the sixteenth in a series of articles leading up to the Lafayette Farewell Tour Bicentennial celebration. For earlier articles, see suffolkva250.com/history.html/.

By Frank and Gloria Womble

Colonial Williamsburg’s professional Lafayette interpreter, Mark Schneider, will appear at three bicentennial events in Suffolk in February 2025. Mark immerses himself in the role, captivating audiences with his unique blend of history and theatrical interpretation. Attendees will be transported to February 1825 and see Lafayette brought to life. 

It is an exceptionally busy time for the man who has portrayed “America’s favorite fighting Frenchman” for the past 25 years. He was in New York City in August, where the American Friends of Lafayette kicked off a 13-month commemoration of Lafayette’s triumphant 1824-25 farewell tour of the United States with a parade down Broadway and a ceremonial welcome at City Hall. He has already appeared in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, and was at events here in Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fort Monroe, Portsmouth and Norfolk in October.

Although Mark will share the role with three other interpreters at the hundreds of scheduled events in the 24 states visited by Lafayette, he is uniquely qualified and an exceptional performer. “His knowledge is second to none, and he’s the best orator I’ve ever seen,” said Chuck Schwam, the executive director of American Friends of Lafayette, which is organizing the tour. “Also, he just looks good in the uniform.”

Mark has always been fascinated with history. “I often say that I did not choose history. History chose me because I have been a lifelong lover of history. In fact, my mother used to say she could never remember a time when I was not fascinated by history.” He learned French from his mother and speaks it fluently.

Mark continues to hone his craft. Although he has a degree in history from Christopher Newport University, “the learning never stops,” he says. “There is always new information that is going to come out. There is information that you need to know about being an 18th century person…not just dance, not just equestrian skills, but how to fence, how to move across a room, how you gesticulate, how you talk with people.”

Like Lafayette, Mark is a military veteran. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1997 and was deployed as a cavalry scout to Bosnia and Herzegovina. After leaving active duty, he joined Colonial Williamsburg’s trades division in 1999 and soon became their Lafayette.

Thomas Jefferson, in a 1787 letter to John Adams, described the historic Lafayette as having “a canine appetite for popularity and fame.” Although Mark gives an exuberant portrayal of Lafayette, he is low-key and self-deprecating in person — someone who is a genuine pleasure to meet. He is generous in his interactions with audiences and happy to answer questions with a unique blend of humor and historic knowledge. 

Long before the musical “Hamilton” introduced Lafayette to a new generation, he stood out as a unique historic figure. The 19-year-old fought alongside the American colonists in their struggle for independence and, in the process, became a close friend of George Washington and one of his most trusted generals. Lafayette was an outspoken critic of slavery and advocate for Native Americans. With input from Thomas Jefferson, he wrote the first draft of France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789. “He was just an incredible individual,” Mark observes. “He was very 21st-century in an 18th-century world.”

Mark does not take his role as an interpreter lightly. “I’m hopeful that Lafayette would approve of how I’m portraying him,” he says. “All I want to do is honor him, the time period that he is from, and all that he has done.”

TowneBank is the presenting sponsor for events in Suffolk. The American Friends of Lafayette is partnering with Suffolk 250, the Constantia Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Riddick’s Folly, Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, and the Suffolk Nansemond Historical Society to commemorate the Bicentennial of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour. Events include “Celebrate Lafayette: Soldier, Statesman, Champion of Human Rights,” a memorabilia exhibit from Jan. 23 to March 1 at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts; Lafayette’s arrival on Feb. 23 at the Suffolk Visitor Center/Riddick’s Folly; a banquet on Feb. 25 at the Hilton Garden Inn Suffolk Riverfront; and a reception on Feb. 26 at the Washington Smith Ordinary in Historic Somerton. 

Quotes were taken from an article published in The New York Times on Aug. 15, 2024, titled “For the Man who Plays Lafayette, It’s a Marquis Event.”

Frank and Gloria Womble are life members of the American Friends of Lafayette. Frank is a retired Army lieutenant colonel. Gloria is the America250 chair of Constantia Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, in Suffolk.