"Harrisburg Proud" makes history lesson entertaining Continued from page 1 featuring the first black man on the city’s school board, the publisher of the Steelton Press, an abolitionist/entrepreneur and an Civil War correspondent/attomey. But Will iam Howard Day, Peter Blackwell, Jane Chester and T. Morris Chester are not sim ply characters, they are true swatches in the quilts of Pennsylvania’s black history. “I didn’t want to create characters,” King said in her cozy office at PSH. “I wanted to see what we had done locally.” In other words, entertainment should be mixed with a little history an understand able approach for those of us who nodded off through interminable history classes in high school. So King put on her lab coat and went to work. “The script was meant to celebrate local African-Americans,” she said. “We forgot local heroes. I wanted to see what we had done around here.” That would prove to be fairly difficult. Af ter realizing no such work was done in the area before, King was able to secure a grant to begin to study. She assembled a team of researchers who went to work digging up a poorly kept piece of history. “We were limited to these characters,” King explained. “We couldn’t find enough infor mation on others.” Working off original documents and pri mary sources, King and her Pen Owl team began to piece together the lives of the four When Valentine's Day arrives, some guys will never win ILL J A Dear Jack and Jill, I purchased some flowers and a card for my girlfriend for Valentine’s Day last week and was feeling great because I was being the romantic one this year. Needless to say, she made me look bad again this year when she got us two tick- NEWS/FEATURES characters. Their goal was to take James Loewen, author of “Lies My Teacher Told Me,” and his advice to heart. He suggested the United States often deliberately interprets history incorrectly. Historians, he says, should go to primary sources for research. Out of King’s four characters, Jane Chester is the only one who left little primary mate rial to work from. Her character had to be extrapolated to some extent. The others were based directly on their own words and deeds. Once the leg work was done, King went to writing her script and enlisting Frazier, whom she had met while working in theater in New York City. The two began patching history’s bare spot King’s script hoping to capture the essence of heritage, Frazier’s music try ing to capture the nuances of the day. Most of the audience thought they did ex actly that after an abridged Martin Luther King Jr. Day performance at PSH and two full performances at The First Lutheran Church in Carlisle (Feb. 14) and HACC’s Rose Lehrman Arts Center (Feb. 16). One woman said she couldn’t believe the music was original. Many more, however, said they appreciated the history lesson even more, King included. “I’ve learned so much about black history from this project,” she said lamenting the lack of black history in area schools now as well as when she went. “When we’re taught about American history in schools, we’re stuck with this ‘America can’t be wrong’ notion.” She would prefer a balanced record be ets to Tahiti for spring break. Now I feel terrible. How do I make it up to her? What should I do? -Belittled boyfriend Dear Belittled, Sounds like she’s rich what’s the prob lem? You obviously are doing something for her, so don’t get all into your head and ego about the money thing. Just keep from being a jerk and go with it, baby. -Jill Dear Belittled, You sir, are obviously in deep trouble. She will remember these types of things for ever. Furthermore, she’ll make sure you don’t forget it either. Here’s your options: 1) get out now before you get in too deep, 2) confront her about it to see how she feels, 3) beg, steal or borrow to cover your tail, or 4) ride the money ship as long as she is willing to spend. Just remember my masculine brother, no matter how many times someone tells you, “It’s the thought that counts,” counting involves money not thinking. -Jack Photo courtesy of Dorothy King Professor/playwright Dorothy King and musician Grenoldo Frazier breathed life into the stories of four African-American leaders in their play "Harrisburg Proud" taught. Teach much of the current curricu lum but strike a balance with what has been ignored, she said; add stories about the un derground railroad, slave narratives and other similar minority contributions to the forma tion of this country. In essence, let America have its wrongs and leam from them like your history teach- ers alivays told you. “As long as you’re stuck in that ‘America can’t be wrong’ attitude, you’re sidestepping history.” And leaving an unavoidable hole in the fab ric of our heritage. \' »T f j * WB with this coupon || 8 I with this coupon ||l with thia coupon | I |Hb 8255. EsanhotwBhd i i |Mv 22:5. fc'iswiwrttßivd , j flw 2255. &vd. ! I IMDHU Mkldtetowj" 985-1257 | , ncoSlu. MHdWom •985-1257 . [ T-ffan I Middletown .935-1257 J *l™ ,i. J Monday, February 22,1999 3 WPSH broadcasting, still expecting growth Right now the station is working on train ing new students to work with the equipment, get them familiar with the studio and feel comfortable being live on the air. WPSH is a big supporter of local bands as well. They love to get stuff from small, up start groups to help get them heard. As well as music, the disc jockeys include news and weather into their air shifts while making various announcements for the events of student clubs and organizations. The station operates Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. with a Lion's Den Lunch Hour Jam from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Nothing seems to be etched in stone for how far this station is willing to go however. They have plans for band inter views and a possible campus music festival. “We try to keep an open forum for students to voice their opinions and ideas,” said Moist. “After all, we are the students’ radio station.” Answers to this issue's crossword Continued from page 1
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers