March is Women’s History Month and what better way to celebrate than to visit Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, a place where equal pay for equal work was the practice in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Highlighting the celebration will be performances of the National Park Service plays, “From Out The Fiery Furnace” and “Fragile Freedom”. All performances are slated for 2 p.m. on Saturdays in the park Visitor Center and are free of charge.
A one act play written and directed by nationally recognized playwright Christine Emmert, “From Out The Fiery Furnace” will be presented on March 7, 14 and 21. This play features the stories of life in the 19th century at Hopewell Furnace, Set on the “Homefront” of the Civil War, the play demonstrates how a woman’s life and love could be singularly tracked through her relationship with a Hopewell stove. Several characters are brought to life including runaway slaves, “fallen” women, indentured servants, orphaned children, and others. The play also sheds light on the practices of the furnace including providing equal pay for equal work regardless of race or gender. Women worked side by side with men as finishers, colliers, woodcutters as well as many other occupations.
Emmert’s second play “Fragile Freedom” will be offered only on Saturday, March 28. Performing her own work, Emmert will take us on the journey from the country’s early history to the present day with tears, laughter, and many companions including Sojourner Truth, Mark Twain, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others. Along the way there will be new names that are not so easily recognized, but are nonetheless, important spirits in shaping a true democracy.
Christine Emmert is a writer, actress, director and educator. She holds a Masters in Humanities. Her belief in the arts as the transformers of lives goes deep. The piece she adapted with Katherine Mallon-Day, “The Yellow Wallpaper” was performed to enthusiastic audiences at the Philadelphia Fringe last summer. Working for the Outreach Program for Hopewell Christine has taken her own “Fragile Freedom”, about women fighting for the vote, to the Susan B Anthony House last July. Her novel, THE NUN’S DRAGON, is presently out on Amazon Kindle.
g to Emmert, “From Out The Fiery Furnace” was written to be performed by actress Barbara Hannevig who will stage the March 7 and 14 performances. Hannevig studied at the Goodman Theatre School in Chicago and has worked professionally for over forty years. In addition to her stage work she has performed in videos and voiceovers. She has graced the stage of Steel River Productions in such diverse pieces at “Jake’s Women”, “Almost Maine”, and “Lettice and Lovage”. She starred in the Forge Theater’s production of “On Golden Pond” and was in their production of “Lil Abner”ER in Phoenixville. She was then cast in Steel River Playhouse’s production of “Lost in Yonkers” and next played Violet in “August, Osage County”. In 2014 she played Ruthie in “Making God Laugh” with the Dutch Country Players.
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site preserves and interprets an early American industrial landscape from natural resource extraction to enlightened conservation. The site is surrounded by the 73,000 acre Hopewell Big Woods, the largest forest in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Showcasing an iron plantation and it surrounding countryside, all of the park’s facilities are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday including Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day and Veterans Day. It is closed other federal holidays. A featured stop on Pennsylvania’s Civil War Trails, Hopewell Furnace is located five miles south of Birdsboro, PA, off of Route 345. Admission to Hopewell Furnace is free. For more information stop by the park’s visitor center, call 610-582-8773, visit the park’s web site at www.nps.gov/hofu, or contact us by e-mail at hofu_superintendent@nps.gov. Visitors with specific needs may contact the park for assistance before their visit.