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from the Sudbury Town Crier and MetroWest Daily News Dorothy Mains Prince in costume as Frances
E.W. Harper SUDBURY - Dorothy Mains Prince grew up knowing quite a bit about African-American history, but it wasn’t until she was a professor at Emerson College in Boston that she discovered the literary works of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, a nineteenth century orator, author and activist. "Her name had never come up, yet she was probably the best known and most popular African-American poet before Paul Laurence Dunbar," said Prince. "She really was an extraordinary person. She was out speaking at a time when most women weren’t welcome out in public as speakers." Prince, a teacher, director and performer brings Harper to life in a one-woman show that uses Harper’s writings to tell the story of an exceptional woman and her times. "As a teacher what I enjoy doing is seeing intellectual growth in my students. My objective is to inspire people who hear about Harper and say, ‘I never knew about her,’ to want to learn more about her," said Prince. "People often tell me they went out the next day and looked for her poems or short stories." On Saturday, Feb. 9, at 8 p.m., First Parish of Sudbury will host the performance "Frances E. W. Harper: The Bronze Muse of the 19th Century … and Beyond." The 90-minute performance, including a Q&A session with Prince in character and as a scholar, will be held at the First Parish Meeting House, 327 Concord Road. The show is free and open to the public, but a good-will offering will be taken to benefit the "Teaching Tolerance Project" at Southern Poverty Law Center, an anti-bias educational institute. Harper, born a free woman in the slave city of Baltimore, Md. in 1825, she was hired by the Maine Anti-Slavery Society in 1854 and continued to be a popular orator on issues of women’s rights and temperance until her death in 1911. She also had a long and distinguished literary career, publishing her first collection of poems in 1845. "We understand the story of Frances E. W. Harper to be one of a person concerned with the issues of her day, who urged people to become actively engaged in living out and working for the things that mattered to them most deeply," said Rev. Katie Lee Crane, pastor of First Parish. "Because Ms. Harper was a woman, an African American, and a Unitarian, her story is likely to be quite inspiring to us - and, of course, to speak out as a woman and African American in the mid 19th century was quite unusual." Prince performs in the Chautauqua style, a lecture, entertainment and performance forum that was originally developed as a training method for Methodist teachers in 1874. Celebrities of the day would come to towns to address the community in tents set up to accommodate the crowds. An extremely popular form of entertainment and education, the practice died out with the advent of radio and television, but was revived in the 1970s. "People say ‘You are an actress’ and I say ‘No.’ Even though I have a theater background, I say, ‘I’m a scholar performer," said Prince. "I use primary sources. This monologue I’ve developed is an evolving monologue, made up of her speeches, essays, poetry. And then of course, in addition to trying to hear her voice in what she wrote, I read about how other people described her in that time." Harper was a woman who "thought beyond herself," said Prince, and believed her talents and gifts were not for her own personal advancement but for the betterment of mankind. "She was a very intelligent woman, a very well-read woman
who understood the importance of education. She wanted to uplift not only her
own race, but the nation," said Prince. "She was a free woman –
she was never a slave – and yet she knew the importance of doing what she
could to make the nation a better place to live for all people." "The six women I perform are all literary personalities," said Prince. "That’s my background and what I like to do." Harper’s social activism is particularly meaningful today, said Prince, as the presidential primaries include a woman and an African-American candidate. "Of course it excites me to think about the possibilities and how the nation has developed," said Prince of the 2008 presidential race. "As people consider the importance of their vote, perhaps hearing her words will show them the importance of getting out there and casting their vote."
Boston
Sunday Globe July 4, 2004 "Remember the ladies..." With copious research, bone-crushing undergarments, and a reverence for hell-raisers, three local actors bring to life favorite foremothers on the streets and stages of Boston. Each women re-creates the persona and period dress of a character in the Boston Women's Memorial: Phillis Wheatley, a slave who became a renowned poet; Abigail Adams, outspoken first lady who urged her husband to consider women's rights in the blueprint of this young country; and Lucy Stone, a harsh critic of slavery and an eloquent promoter of justice for women. For Dorothy Mains Prince, Linda Myer, and Judith Black, the memorial is a testament to the historical importance of the women they have portrayed for years. The memorial was installed last fall on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall between Fairfield and Gloucester streets. During a recent visit there, the women posed, each with her bronze counterpart, and mused on her foremother's legacy. Up From Chains Prince,
who is in her 50s, discovered Wheatley while growing up in Georgia. But it was
just a few years ago, when the New Hampshire humanities council asked her to perform
as Wheatley, that she began seriously studying the slave who rose to become something
of a literary celebrity. Prince, whose repertoire includes Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston, offers information beyond the biography inscribed on the statue of Wheatley: The book was published in London because no printer in Boston would touch it. The publication created quite a sensation--and Wheatley was freed later that year. But even after that, her life was difficult, Prince said. She found it hard to earn money as a writer. She married a freed black man and bore three children, each of whom died in infancy. In the sole surviving picture of the poet, she wears a necklace that looks like a shell attached to a homemade black ribbon. Prince does the same. She
takes issue with the criticism that Wheatley's poetry is too hard to understand.
Among the poet's works she has taught to schoolchildren is "On Imagination"
which includes the stanza: "You can't understand her unless you understand that she became a Christian and was very religious," Prince said. She hopes a video being produced on her performing as Wheatley will acquaint more young people with the poet. During the American Revolution, Wheatley wrote a poem for George Washington, chief of the Continental Army, and sent it to him. In reply, he invited her to visit him in Cambridge. It's not known if the meeting occurred, but Prince likes to imagine it did, and that the two had a bond. As Wheatley wrote, "I believe that in every human breast God has implanted a principle which we call love of freedom." The character actor finds it appropriate that the Wheatley statue stands near a statue of Washington. "It shows us that nothing ends," said Prince. "There's always hope." "Phillis Wheatley: Make Her Black & Bid Her Sing," a 30-minute video designed as a teaching aid in the classroom, is scheduled to be completed by the end of the summer. The video and guide will be available through dorothyprince.com.
A few years ago, when Pembroke resident Dorothy Mains Prince was researching Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston, she telephoned Dorothy West on Martha's Vineyard. West, also a writer, was Hurston's contemporary. She told Prince that Hurston, who never managed money well, had borrowed a fur coat from her once and never returned it. West, who has since died, figured that Hurston pawned the coat to pay the rent. Yesterday, when Prince played Hurston at the James Library in Norwell, she entered the room wearing a fur coat, a prop inspired by West's story. Underneath the coat were a stylish red dress from the 1920s and a long black necklace. Prince also wore a jaunty black hat like the one Hurston used to wear. Prince began by reading from Hurston's l937 novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," dramatizing each of the characters' voices. The novel tells the story of Janie Crawford, whose grandmother, worried that Janie's good looks might bring trouble, marries her off at the age of 16 to an older man. But as Janie matures, she becomes more and more independent and challenges the power her first two husbands have over her. Eventually, she falls in love with a young man, Tea Cake. When he becomes her third husband, she has a happy marriage for the first time. The story begins in Eatonville, Fla., an all-black community about 10 miles north of Orlando, where Huston grew up. Prince, as Hurston, told stories of Eatonville that were learned at the local grocery store, the small town's gathering place. Much of the material was based on Hurston's autobiography, Prince said after the performance. The humorous stories about relationships between men and women kept the crowd of about 75 entertained throughout the 90-minute performance. Douglas Perry hosted the event, one of a series of literary teas that have been taking place at the library during the past decade. One story was about a woman who leaves her husband because, as Prince told it, "the man gets around too slow to suit me." As an example of his slowness, the woman said, one day when she was very sick, her husband promised to fetch the doctor for her. Hours later, she heard a door slam and assumed her husband was entering the house with the doctor. When the woman cried out in relief, her husband came in and yelled at her, "Don't try to rush me. I ain't gone yet." Born in 1891, Hurston grew up in Eatonville, which was the country's first all-black incorporated community. "Eatonville was a special place," Prince said. Her father, John Hurston, a carpenter, was elected mayor of Eatonville three times. John Hurston felt Zora was much too high-spirited. When she acted up, he said, "just a little bit of your sugar is enough to sweeten my coffee now." But Zora's mother, Lucy, defended her from her father's criticism. "(Lucy) would exalt all her children at every opportunity to jump at the sun," said Prince's Hurston. The encouragement didn't last forever, however. Before Hurston could enter her teenage years, her mother died, leaving her prey to an unkindly stepmother. Hurston left Eatonville, eventually attending Howard University before graduating from New York City's Barnard College in l928 with a degree in anthropology. She began working for the anthropologist Franz Boas, who encouraged her to travel south to collect folklore from a variety of places, including Eatonville. The research provided her with material that made its way into her novels and short stories. She died in 1960. Prince, who was born in Georgia and has lived in Pembroke for 25 years, also portrays 18th-century poet Phillis Wheatley and other historical figures. She said she has been studying Hurston since 1995. When she does research, Prince said, she tries "to study as much as possible the words of the person" she is portraying. Prince balked when someone described her as an actress. She said her work is based on real life, not the imaginary world of theater. She said she considers herself "a performer of historical characters." Prince said she hopes to inspire others to read Hurston's works. Explaining after the performance to a small group gathered on the library's staircase, she said simply, "I'm a teacher."
Performances
of distinguished women teach valuable lessons Dorothy Mains Prince can trace her zeal for portraying historical women back to her childhood in a small town on the outskirts of Atlanta. "The older people at (my) church said they always loved to hear me talk and my grandmother always encouraged me: 'Dorothy will do this, will read this.' Today Prince, a Pembroke resident, is still performing in front of large audiences. She travels around the country portraying four distinguished African-American women of letters: novelist Zora Neale Hurston, educator Mary McLeod Bethune, journalist and activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett and poet Phillis Wheatley. In each performance she talks directly to the audience as if she's the character who is coming back to reveal the truth about her life. The character's actual words comprise about 90 percent of the monologue. "The characters inspire me. And I'm sure they inspire others." Prince said. "The women I picked are writers and educators, people who have a lot to say and who are communicators." Last year, Prince portrayed Phillis Wheatley during the annual June lecture series at the Adams National Historical Park in Quincy. She's currently working with the education director of Old South Meeting House in Boston, to bring Wheatley, a one-time member of the church, into Boston classrooms. It took Prince more than a year to develop a monologue for each character. To immerse herself in the character and the periods in which they lived, she read "anything the person had said or written." Monologue development never really ends, Prince has discovered, because there's always something new, such as the contents of recently discovered letters or manuscripts, to be woven into the performance. Each performance is different, too, depending upon the audience and theme of the particular program. Her monologues are modeled on a style of historical performance that started in the l870s in Chautauqua, N.Y. "The Chautauqua has a changing, transitional type of monologue," Prince said. "It's not a firm thing. So each time you do it, it's different. based upon your audience, based upon what you feel your focus should be at this particular time." After speaking for a half-hour to 45 minutes, Prince takes questions from the audience. She responds as if she were the character based upon her knowledge of the character and the period in which she lived. "It's fun," she said. "There are questions that a historical character would answer in a certain way. It's her truth, it's not necessarily the way I see it or the way history sees it." Then she steps out of her character and responds to questions as a scholar. Although Prince, 52, started performing historical monologues just six years ago, it's not really a change in direction for her. In school and at church she participated in poetry readings, public speaking and drama productions. When she was 18, she came to Boston to major in theater education at Emerson College. After college, she took graduate courses in theater education at Columbia University in New York. Then she returned to the Boston area where she married attorney Walter Prince and raised three children: Marisa, now 22, Kamaya 18 and Kenneth, 16. She worked as a communications specialists for Nynex for 12 years and also taught evening classes at Emerson College. "I never had really planned to stay (at Nynex), but the money was good," Prince said. "But there was a point when I didn't want to do that any more. I've been blessed to have a husband who is supportive. When Prince left the telephone company, she continued teaching the performance of literature at Emerson and earned a master's degree in that subject. The idea of interpreting one particular character (instead of an entire work) came about when a colleague introduced her to the Chautauqua method. What Prince likes best about portraying historical characters is seeing the enthusiastic reactions of children in the audience. "Kids really energize me," she said. "Last spring, when I portrayed Phillis Wheatley at the Baptist School in Weymouth, the kids asked the greatest questions. 'How did she start writing? What did she do as a slave? Did she ever go any place other than Boston?' This is a way kids learn about history." Prince conducts workshops on historical performance too, because children learn by doing as well as by observing and asking questions, she said. "At an after-school program for junior high school students in Boston, I was working with a little boy who had chosen to portray Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," she said. "He had never done this sort of thing before, and one of his peers told me how he never talked. But he was outstanding. He spoke for almost 10 minutes about Dr. King's life and recited his last speech." Prince's long-term plans include writing a book about the development of the characters she portrays, how they have inspired her and why they should be remembered. A scholar by heart, she also wants to go back to school to broaden her knowledge of American history and earn a PH.D in American Studies.
The Chautauqua held July 10-13 at Montogomery College_Germantown Campus included some often-overlooked representatives of the nation's early days and the scholar who portrayed them said that was a good thing for those who attended. "(I hope) that their eyes will be opened to the fact that there were other people there - Black people were there - they were not all slaves," said Dorothy Prince, who presented African-American poet Phillis Wheatley on the college stage Thursday night. Prince said she at first turned down a request to impersonate Wheatley but is now glad to count the poet (an African-born freed slave) among her repertoire of characters. "I find her inspiring," Prince said. "I pick people who inspire me -I really do. I pick people who...give me hope and I say, "This is a person I want children and as many people as possible to know about." As a former college professor, Prince hoped that the effect of Chautauqua performances stretch beyond a single night _ leading audience members to do their own research. "I would hope in doing these people, that they inspire others and their lives would continue to be a part of our culture," Prince said.
The historical past, far from being finished, is part of an ongoing continuum. Since 1995 Prince, of Pembroke, has immersed herself in the past, researching the lives of African-American women and bringing them to life in dramatic character portrayals. On Sunday, Feb. 10, Prince will take on the persona of writer Zora Neale Hurston in a one-woman show at the James Library and Center for the Arts in Norwell. The program is part of the center's popular literary tea series. The presentation begins at 3 p.m. When Prince performs Zora Neale Hurston on Sunday, it will likely be to an appreciative audience, as the author is now back in vogue. Hurston is well-known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1937. Hurston, who was born in 1891 and died in 1960, was one of the earliest black female writers to give voice to a woman's search for independence. "She is a much sought after character," said Prince. Hurston's works are being taught in secondary schools today, adding to the public's interest. "For decades she was the most prolific African-American writer" addressing issues of concern to women. Hurston's work has a wide appeal to contemporary women. Prince has found. "She was a woman many people considered ahead of her time. She was a black woman in search of her own life, instead of waiting for others to define what her life would be. She was a woman trying to find her place in the world." Prince has brought her talents to libraries, schools and colleges throughout the area and just recently performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in celebration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King. "I happen to like history," said Prince. "When I present a certain historical character to an audience, it brings history alive." At the Kennedy Center, Prince portrayed Ida B. Wells Barnett, an African American journalist and activist who spoke out against lynchings and mob violence. Other characters in her repertoire include educator Mary McLeod Bethune and 18th century poet Phillis Wheatley. America's first published black poet. Prince's monologues are based on a style of performance made popular in the 1870s in Chautauqua, N.Y. but which declined in popularity as radio and later, television, became the dominant forces in mass entertainment. Back then, people flocked to lecture series and dramatic monologues performed under tents in rural areas and in small town assemblies. It is a style of entertainment that still draws audiences, conveying a sense of immediacy and intimacy that radio and TV lack. Prince performs in costume, an aspect of the portrayal that she enjoys. "That's one of the things about it that's fun." Describing herself as "a teacher at heart," Prince is also part actress and historian. "I've always been a history buff and I like to perform." She is the founder of Sojourns, a program that brings the lives of African-American women to schools and libraries. Assuming the character of African-American women who have made significant contributions takes time and research. The next thing Prince would like to do is portray poet Gwendolyn Brooks, who recently passed away. She was the first black poet to win the Pulitzer price. "I have a lot of work to do there," Prince said. |
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Dorothy Mains Prince, history is a living, breathing thing, something we can learn
from and that can help us make sense of the constantly evolving world around us.