Political Little Ones

Dear Friends of Lunch With Books. As you know, the first ever Wheeling Arts Fest will be held on Saturday August 20. The library has a full lineup from 10-4 and other venues include WV Ind Hall and WVNCC. See the web site at www.wheelingartsfest.com for the full schedule.

The kickoff event of the first ever Arts Fest will actually be held at West Virginia Independence Hall on Friday evening, August 19 at 8 pm, the day before the main festival. Wheeling based playwright Jeremy Richter has created an original play called Political Little Ones, based on the Lucy Bagby case (see below for details). As many of you know from a recent Lunch With Books program, Ms. Bagby was probably the last slave returned under the Fugitive Slave Act before the Civil War.

I hope all supporters of Lunch With Books and other library programs will consider attending the play on Friday August 19 to show support for the Arts Festival. Jeremy has worked very hard and I'm sure the play will be first rate.Let's make sure WV Ind Hall is filled to capacity!

POLITICAL LITTLE ONES
Friday August 19 at 8 PM Reception to follow...

On January 25, 1861, the Wheeling Intelligencer reported that "near the town of Lima, Ohio a negro man and a white man, both of whom were armed, were arrested under the suspicion that they meditated a rescue" of Lucy Bagby, a fugitive slave girl belonging to Mr. Wm. Goshorn of Wheeling, Virginia. Jeremy F Richter's new play, Political Little Ones, centers itself on the days prior to the men being disarmed and captured. Three men (and one boy) that stand accused of assisting in Ms. Lucy's escape, have been interviewed by U.S. officials and soon spin a plot that might secure an opportunity for an emancipated life; for individual, for state, for all.