News Release
Courtesy of Rob Velella
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Contact: Hilary Miller, 724-880-0329
Edgar Allan Poe is visiting Friendship Hill, just in time for Halloween! The Friends of Fort Necessity, in partnership with the National Park Service and the Friendship Hill Association, are pleased to host the famous author at Friendship Hill, the historic home of Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, for two special evening performances. Poe, who was born in 1809, is portrayed by literary historian Rob Velella. He will read a combination of Poe's well-known and lesser-known works. Poe will also explain his reasons for writing the way he did and take questions from those in attendance. Photographs are welcome.
Two programs will be held, one at 6:00 p.m. and another at 8:00 p.m., at the historic Gallatin House at Friendship Hill National Historic Site in New Geneva, PA. General admission tickets are $20 per person. Members of the Friends of Fort Necessity and the Friendship Hill Association can purchase tickets for $18, which includes early access to seating. Ticket holders may check in at the Gallatin House visitor center at Friendship Hill as early as 30 minutes prior to the show, but general seating will not open until 15 minutes before the show. Ticket holders also receive exclusive after-hours access to a self-guided tour of the Gallatin House. Tickets may be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/edgar-allan-poe-at-friendship-hill-nhs-tickets-180310081307.
Masks are required for attendees, regardless of vaccination status, per National Park Service policy. The recommended age for these programs is 13 and up. Tickets must be purchased in advance as seating is limited. Tickets will be sold online through 3:00 p.m. on Friday, October 15, as long as space is available. Tickets must be purchased electronically through Eventbrite. Reservations may not be made without a ticket purchase. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door.
Rob Velella is an independent literary historian and playwright specializing in American literature of the 19th century. As a scholar, Velella has published articles and presented academic papers on figures as varied as Margaret Fuller, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Walt Whitman. Nicknamed the “Prometheus of American literary scholarship,” he has taken his research outside of academia by lecturing at various historical sites, libraries, and colleges from Pennsylvania to Maine. He has worked on museum exhibits at the Boston Public Library and at Houghton Library at Harvard University. In his ongoing efforts to bring the writers of yesterday back to the readers of today, he has dramatically brought to life literary figures Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe, for which he has been featured on National Public Radio and the LA Review of Books.
The Friends of Fort Necessity is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of the history of the Fort Necessity National Battlefield. The group works in partnership with the National Park Service to provide educational and interpretive programs to accomplish, not only conservation, but plan for improvement projects for the Fort Necessity National Battlefield and the Mount Washington Tavern.For more information, email FriendsOfFortNecessity@yahoo.com.
Friendship Hill National Historic Site is located three miles north of Point Marion, Pennsylvania, on PA-166.
-FoFN-
Last updated: October 7, 2021