The Virginia Poe Bicentennial & Gothic Tea Party Program was recorded at Westminster Hall & Burying Ground, August 13th, 2022.
The hidden her-stories of the women in the Poe family, including a Revolutionary War patriot, and how a mother’s love changed literary history.
Act I
The Life of Elizabeth Cairnes Poe, Matron & Patriot
J. Scott Watkins appears as David Poe Sr., Revolutionary War hero and patriot at the battle of North Point in the War of 1812, to talk about the family’s contribution to the founding of the United States, and the forgotten war service of his wife, Elizabeth.
Act II
Poetry reading: “To My Mother”
Storyteller and writer, Kalin Thomas, will read Edgar Alln Poe’s poetical tribute to the woman who became his surrogate mother in his later years.
Baltimore Mothers: Real and True Women
Antebellum women were expected to be pious, pure, submissive, and domestic. This ideal was not one that all women were able to achieve. Join Dr. Amy Rosenkrans for a talk on motherhood in Baltimore across race, religious, and social classes.
Act III
Viewing of items pertaining to Virginia Poe from the Special Collections Department at Enoch Pratt Free Library. Eben Dennis will talk about the Poe Collection’s array of manuscripts, photographs, and rare books.
This is the fifth in a series of monthly programs for the Virginia Poe Bicentennial; follow us on social media to be alerted when events are happening! The Virginia Poe Bicentennial is presented by Poe Baltimore, Westminster Hall & Burying Ground, Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, the Poe Cottage at Fordham (Bronx, NYC,) with generous help and participation from Poe Studies Association, The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore and The Poe Museum (Richmond.)
Grave-side chat with J. Scott Watkins, Living History Performer and descendent of the Westminster sextons who buried Edgar and Virginia Poe–several times! We talk about the Poe family’s Revolutionary War history, then share what to expect for “MOTHER: Hidden Her-stories of the Women in the Poe Family” our May session of the Virginia Poe Bicentennial Discussion Series.
Virginia Poe was Edgar Allan Poe’s devoted wife (and first cousin.) Though widely believed to be the inspiration for Poe’s writing and recurring themes of dark beauty and doomed devotion, only one piece of writing from his wife survives: an acrostic Valentine to Edgar in 1846, less than a year before she would die at the age of 24. Listen to a special recording of Virginia’s own love words to her husband, then join us for a graveside chat with Dean Knight of the Poe Museum (Richmond) for a talk about the marriage of Edgar Allan Poe to Virginia, including Edgar’s proposal of marriage.
Debbie Phillips of Richmond, Virginia, is a freelance lecturer, tour guide, and living history interpreter. She enjoys bringing history to life for audiences of all ages, and has worked in public history for 15 years. Her living history repertoire ranges from mid-18th century through World War II, including several women from Edgar Allan Poe’s life. Debbie and her husband have two wonderful boys, and in what spare time she can find, she enjoys singing, acting, backpacking, camping, knitting, cooking, and reading.
Dean Knight is the Programs Coordinator at the Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia, in charge of scheduling and delivering tours and programs for groups of all ages both on-site and virtually. He is a Standardized Patient at the Medical College of Virginia, portraying patients with a variety of psychiatric ailments for the education of medical and nursing students, which helps him better understand what a genius Poe was at portraying mental illness in literature. He is also a regional stage actor, having performed in over 40 mainstage productions throughout Central Virginia over the past 15 years.
This is the second in a series of monthly programs for the Virginia Poe Bicentennial released in 2022; follow us on social media to be alerted when events are happening! The Virginia Poe Bicentennial is presented by Poe Baltimore, Westminster Hall & Burying Ground, Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, the Poe Cottage at Fordham (Bronx, NYC,) with generous help and participation from Poe Studies Association, The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore and The Poe Museum (Richmond.)
Additional Playback Options
- High res, non-annotated version
- Audio Only
Poe Baltimore’s mission is to celebrate Edgar Allan Poe’s legacy, a man at times unfairly maligned, at other times fairly taken to task for his faults. As good stewards of history, we must be uncompromising about the truth: about Poe, about ourselves, and about our American story.
203 N. Amity Street was established as a house museum and shrine to Edgar Allan Poe in 1949. We are an active and important cultural highlight in the Poppleton neighborhood of West Baltimore. And while we are a federally designated National Historic Landmark, the raw physical truth remains that Poe House is a small 620 square-foot remnant of a house that was built in the 1800s. The museum could not have survived for nearly 75 years without the care and regard for history that the members of this predominantly Black community have shown. Neighbors see wandering tourists and lead them to our door. Children playing with their friends outdoors helpfully point people our way. Black and minority individuals are the majority corps of Urban Rangers who lead tours at Poe House.
As an organization, Poe Baltimore supports our neighbors and fellow citizens as they support the museum in our care. We owe nothing less than an unequivocal statement against racism in any form, and specifically racism against Black people. Black Lives Matter. There is no place for racism or hate in any community. We stand with Poppleton in the beautiful City of Baltimore and commit to work together to turn the page on a new chapter for our city and country.
The Poe Baltimore Board of Directors and Staff
