Elizabeth Oakes Smith Visits Patchogue

Today was my first theatrical re-enactment of EOS thanks to Marjorie Roe of the Greater Patchogue Historical Society, Sister Grace Rowland of Clare Rose Playhouse and SJC, and the Patchogue Arts Council. In the first half I read a letter to Sarah Whitman. Marjorie and I combined real EOS diary entries from the early 1860's to create this letter. The second half is a fictitious lecture. To create this part, we took our favorite lines and ideas from the article series "Woman and Her Needs." Some of the words in the speech we modernized for the 2011 audience.

To prepare, I studied mid-19th century style of dress and the few pictures I've seen of EOS. The hoop skirt that shaped the dress, and other props, were lent to me by the Islip Town Historical Society.  The dress itself I got on eBay - the deal of the century. Its style is actually more colonial, so I added the velvet jacket. The sleeves are made from a discarded lace curtain.

I've read many old newspaper reviews of EOS's real lectures to get a sense of how she delivered a speech. From those accounts I attempted to say the words as she would, in a way that was "soft spoken," but "spirited."

Sister Grace and Marjorie have been meeting with me since the summer to design the presentation and practice its delivery. Marjorie and I were interviewed by a freelancer from one of my favorite hometown newspapers, Long Island Advance. I have a feeling that's not the last you'll be seeing of Elizabeth Oakes Smith.

 -Loren

Here is a link to a local article about the re-enactment.