Into the Eye of the Storm: Hopewell Furnace 1863

[snowcraig]

Date: May 31st ? June 2, 2013
Name: Into the Eye of the Storm: Hopewell Furnace 1863
Location: Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Elverson, PA
Sponsor/Host: Jessica Craig
Capacity: @ 40 civilians

POC: Jessica Craig snowcraig@ymail.com or
Website: http://hopewell.mainecav.org/ (website will be updated soon)
Listserve: Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/agatheringbeforethestorm/

Join us in recreating a few days in the life of an early industrial village at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. This event builds on two previous events that depicted life leading up to the Civil War. This year, in keeping with the 150th anniversary cycle, we will portray late spring 1863.
Hopewell Furnace is located in Southeastern Pennsylvania and is a remarkably intact example of a 19th century iron furnace village. The furnace, which still exists today, was in operation from 1771 to 1883 and produced a wide range of finished goods and raw materials. The village includes the ironmaster?s house, the furnace complex, several dwelling houses, a boarding house, a blacksmith shop, a spring house, barns, and outbuildings. The setting is rural with little modern distractions and naturally beautiful.

This civilian-only event will portray everyday life in Hopewell Village in 1863. There will be primarily sustained first person interaction with third person interaction at times with the public. The event lends itself to impressions ranging from the poorest servant to wealthy visitors from Philadelphia. This is an opportunity to interpret the lives of people who not only made the iron possible, but of the villagers who made Hopewell village self-sufficient.

Hope to see you there!

Jess Craig

[BetsyConnolly]

Hi Jessica,

I'm interested in this event. I know that previous Hopewell Furnace events have been held in the fall; will there be one this fall?


Betsy

[bevinmacrae]

Yay! Dates I can make!!!
Bevin

[snowcraig]

Betsy,

No, there will not be an event in the fall.  The change was due mostly to my ever-increasingly busy fall season. It will be fun to occupy the park at a different time of year, although the fall there is so beautiful.

Bevin - I'm so glad you can make it!

Stay tuned for more updates.

Jess Craig

[snowcraig]

Registration is officially open and the website has been updated. http://hopewell.mainecav.org/ 

We are looking for civilian men to work in the blacksmith shop and the carpenter's shop.  We hope to have lots of tasks for men and women, but if you have a special skill that is appropriate for this setting, please let me know.  We can accomodate lots of working class impressions, as well as middle and upper class merchants, professionals, and visitors.

Hope to see you at Hopewell!

Jess Craig

[Kevin Bender]

Greetings All,

Every year this has been a wonderful event at a wonderful location.  Here's the park website if you wish to get a digital look at the grounds and pick up some site history.

http://www.nps.gov/hofu/index.htm

My registration is going in the mail tomorrow.

Kevin

[bevinmacrae]

Mine too!! Finally! I think I have wanted to attend for over 4 years!
Bevin

[Kevin Bender]

Hats off to Mrs Craig & Company,

Another great Hopewell event is in the books.  Hopewell 1863/2013 was a nice mix of folks, old and new, locals and visitors, workers and management types.  As always, great first-person moments, great food, and new experiences.  While the weather was on the warm side, it didn't dampen the excitement.  If you are looking for a great civilian event to be part of, watch for details for Hopewell 1864/2014.

Kevin Bender  (AKA Mr. Henry Baer of Hopewell Furnace)

[snowcraig]

Thanks Kevin!

Hopewell 1863 was a great success! We had about 35 men, women, and children come out for a very warm, but very fun weekend. We kept busy with work in the furnace, whitewashing buildings, carpentry projects, cooking, baking, quilting, sewing, knitting and more. The small creek that runs through the village provided all-day entertainment for the children and some refreshment for the grown-ups who dipped their feet in from time to time. The ladies met on Sunday for a soldiers' aid society meeting and came up with a shared quilting project for next year.

To keep us in first person, everyone was assigned goals or "story lines" to follow to help with interaction between participants. There was mail delivered to the village on Saturday and that provided some good topics for discussion. We also had a "surprise" visitor to town in the form of an army sergeant who was supposed to be looking for men potentially eligible for the upcoming draft. Saturday evening, after a delicious dinner (including homemade ice cream!), the group gathered for games, singing, and music.

The site is beautiful, the participants are all historically minded, the food is excellent...if you want to come out to Hopewell 1864, let me know. I will post dates as soon as I know them!
 
Here are some photos of the event. Enjoy!
 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=09855f2f47
 
Hope to see you at Hopewell next year,
 
Jess Craig

[Deb Kessler]

It was our first Hopewell after several years of wanting to attend and it held up to every expectation! All in all a marvelous weekend- We are still chatting about it and looking forward to next year.

Our fellow participants were just fabulous to interact with- having goals really helped me in direction and of course, unexpected things occurred along the way- just as in the "real world" which made it all the more tangible an experience.

There were special moments that will always stay in my mind- first thing Saturday morning and walking into the boarding house for breakfast- I felt as though I stepped through time- what a sight.

Thanks to everyone who participated and made it truly a memorable "time travel" experience.

Deb Kessler

[BetsyConnolly]

I'm so sad I had to give this one a miss this year. I really hope I'll be able to go to the next one - it's been on my reenactment bucket list for a few years!