Wednesday, February 18, 2009

2/28/09: Sojourner Truth concert

Carte de visite, seatedImage via Wikipedia

Listening For Truth, a benefit concert to raise funds for a memorial to Sojourner Truth, will be presented on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009 at 3 PM at the Reformed Church on Salem Street in Port Ewen.

The choral concert will feature the Esopus Festival Choir directed by Linda Bresnahan McCarthy, and the Ulster County Community Outreach Chorus, directed by Dennis Washington. Music will include a variety of songs and hymns, some written by Sojourner Truth, and period music she would have known. In addition, a dramatic reading will be presented.

Tickets will be available for a suggested donation of $10 at the door. Seating is limited. Refreshments will be provided.

Money raised at the concert, through donations, and in the future at other fundraisers will be used to erect a statue to Sojourner Truth in a park being constructed on Broadway in Port Ewen. As a slave, Sojourner Truth lived and worked in a tavern which stood on the site in the 19th century.

In 2005, the Esopus Town Board voted to name the park in her honor and a citizen's committee organized the Memorial Fund to raise funds for the statue. The Sojourner Truth Memorial Fund is affiliated with the Ulster County Community Foundation. All contributions are tax deductible.

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