Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site will celebrate the Independence Day holiday with a reading of the Declaration of Independence.
The National Park Service and the Friends of Hopewell Furnace will present the reading at 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 4. Also included will be poetry and traditional patriotic songs. The event is free and open to the public, and attendees are encouraged to wear red, white and blue.
The reading will take place at 2 p.m. because this was the hour that the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. The reading at Hopewell marks the hour of America's 243rd birthday.
The first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in Berks County was on July 8, 1776. The document was read publicly in villages throughout the area. Ironmaster and founder of Hopewell Furnace Mark Bird was brother-in-law to two signers of the Declaration, George Ross and James Wilson.
At Hopewell, the principal reader of the document will be playwright and actress Christine Emmert. Emmert wrote, directed and starred in the play "From Out of the Fiery Furnace," which is the story about how a Hopewell stove changed the life of one woman.
Other readers will include Edie Shean-Hammond, a member of the Friends and a past Hopewell superintendent. "Francine Black from the Berks Opera Company and her granddaughter, Isabella, will perform patriot music," Shean-Hammond noted.
The program will take place on the porch of the Ironmaster's Mansion. Attendees should bring blankets or lawn chairs for seating.
"We encourage people to get there at 1:30 p.m. because they have to travel down the hill to the mansion," said Shean-Hammond, noting that the area is shaded. "It's the coolest place in the park."
The furnace site will be open throughout the day and will be staffed by costumed interpreters. "There will be quilting demonstrations and other activities in the village," Shean-Hammond added. "There will be plenty to see and do."
Hopewell Furnace is located 5 miles south of Birdsboro, off Route 345. For more information, readers may call 610-582-8773, visit http://www.nps.gov/hofu, email hofu_superintendent@nps.gov or search for "Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site" on Facebook.
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