World Travel Series - a 33 year run

The World Travel Series at Rockefeller Arts Center ran from fall of 1983 through spring of 2016. Over the course of the series, 139 programs were presented by 54 filmmaker-speakers. Over 62,000 people attended. Many thanks to all the patrons, sponsors, agencies and especially the filmmakers who made the series possible.

Chronological List of Programs Presented

Press Release About the Closure of the Series

Event Playbill from Final Program

Three of the most popular speakers on the series were (left to right, above) Fran Reildelbger, Doug Jones and Rick Ray.

The final event on the series was Rick Ray's "The Promised Land: Adventures in the Middle East." At the beginning of the second half of the program, Mr. Ray read the following tribute which was penned by filmmaker Doug Jones and signed by the most prominent members of the travelogue industry:

To Jefferson Westwood on the occasion of the final travelogue program at Fredonia from your travel film producers:

Travelogue filmmakers have been appearing on travelogue lecture series across the nation for more than 100 years. Some of the theaters are large, some small, but the best and most successful travelogue series always have one thing in common – they are run by an individual who truly cared about the audience and the filmmakers.

In that area, Jefferson Westwood, you had no peers. You genuinely loved the travel films and the people who made them. You made us feel welcome and special on your series at the Rockefeller Arts Center in Fredonia. And you loved your audience and worked hard to find the best films that would give them an evening of entertainment and insight into the world.

The Fredonia series was always a highlight on any film lecturer’s schedule. We could be assured that every effort would be made to promote our show, present it flawlessly, and that we would be made to feel at home on your stage.

The travelogue business is coming to a close after more than a hundred years of entertaining audiences and showing them the world. For those of us who made our living this way, the travelogue community was an extended family. We were always on the road, we had little contact at home, but across the country we had family in each city where we presented our films. You and Wendy were a special part of that family. Coming to Fredonia was like going home for Thanksgiving and seeing your favorite uncle.

Jefferson; all of us in the travelogue business love Fredonia, love your audiences, but most of all we loved you. We wish you all the best in the years ahead.