Date: Fri 02-May-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

schools-Tubman-Freedom-Train

Full Text:

Eighth Graders Take A Ride On `Freedom Train'

The cast of TheatreWorks USA poses on the Newtown Middle School stage

following their Monday performance of "Freedom Train" for the eighth grade.

-Bee Photo, Evans

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

Most eighth graders studying the Civil War know the Underground Railroad

wasn't an actual train winding north through underground tunnels.

But if there was any doubt, it should have been completely cleared up after

the students spent an hour Monday afternoon watching the TheatreWorks USA

production "Freedom Train" performed on their school stage.

The musical show, sponsored by the PTA Cultural Enrichment Committee, featured

a cast of actors, actresses and singers portraying the life of Harriet Tubman,

the slave who dedicated herself to freeing her people.

M. Drue Williams played Harriet Tubman, the now-famous slave who lived from

1815 to 1913 and became known as "Moses," because she sought to deliver her

people to the Promised Land.

Taking a total of 19 trips along the "Underground Railroad," Ms Tubman was

able to bring 300 of her people north to safety. The secret route was marked

by safe stations, or hiding places, where the runaway slaves were taken in by

sympathetic farmers and Quakers.

Not only did the middle school students learn more about Harriet Tubman Monday

afternoon, they also saw what it meant to be a slave in the south 150 years

ago. Harriet's family struggled to stay together, working on the Maryland

plantation of Master Brody.

The character of Harriet came alive on stage. She was an awkward, rebellious

young girl and then a romantic young lady who wanted nothing more than to

settle down with her sweetheart, John Tubman, and live out her days "working

outside in the fields."

But when at age 25 Harriet learned her master intended to sell her, she was

determined to escape. That first journey north was full of danger and Harriet

didn't always feel as brave as she acted.

"Lord, you have been with me through six troubles; be with me through the

seventh," she would frequently pray during her escape from Maryland to

Pennsylvania.

Good Timing

The TheatreWorks production was perfectly timed, according to Cultural

Enrichment Co-chairman Jackie Kulikowski, since the entire eighth grade had

just returned from a weekend field trip to historic Philadelphia and

Gettysburg.

"We've just seen the very city where Harriet Tubman once lived; now we'll

learn more about what she was really like," said school principal Les

Weintraub during his introductory remarks.

The Cultural Enrichment Committee plans to follow this production with another

show titled, "Meet The Musicians" on Friday, May 9, during which an actor will

portray three famous composers in succession - Scott Joplin, Mozart and

Beethoven.

Mrs Kulikowski and her co-chairman Jenny Williams intend to continue bringing

cultural events to the middle school stage, as long as there is support in the

form of adequate funding.