Mar 29 2009
Berks Jazz Fest at Hopewell Furnace!?!
I had trouble understanding how a Berks Jazz Fest 2009 event belonged at a national historic site of an iron-making community which operated from 1771 to 1883. I mean, there wasn’t even ragtime as these early citizens of the republic went about their daily lives. They were the contra dance people, not the swing dancers.
However, all was explained after the Exeter Community Band (an under-rated gem of a group) wowed the crowd with its first few numbers. Park Superintendent Edie Shean-Hammond informed the band and the audience that the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site property was purchased by the federal government to become a “Recreation Demonstration Area” through the Work Projects Administration (WPA). Restoration work was performed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), so those men definitely would have been living at the time that jazz selections similar to those being performed by the Exeter Community Band were popular. In addition, Ms. Shean-Hammond stated, World War II servicemen (more jazz listeners) worked on the site. Therefore, she felt very confident that the spirits of those men were present and appreciative of the music.
Therefore, jazz does belong at Hopewell Furnace. Perhaps it is not germane to the iron plantation days, but it is a part of the total story of this historic American site.
