Thursday, June 29th, 2017
6:30-8:00 pm
Hermann-Grima House
820 St. Louis Street.
The evening readings are by thespian and burlesque historian Ashton Akridge, Big Easy Award winner Richard Mayer, along with a relative newcomer on the New Orleans theatre scene, Aaron Richert, currently performing in Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre.
This event gives a special glimpse into the personal lives of a few, well to do, French Quarter residents from the antebellum era to battlefield accounts during the Civil War. Readings also include: a love triangle resulting in a duel, antiquated healthcare techniques such as blood letting with leeches and home made small pox remedies—and—the occasional personal request (heavily paraphrased here) “dear brother…while you’re out and about during your Parisian stay, would you mind picking up for me a little opium?”
In addition to Hermann-Grima+ Gallier Historic Houses (HGGHH) staff, several institutions and individuals are instrumental in making this Letters Read segment possible: Jenny Dyer, Education Director, HGGHH, Nicole Horne, Tulane University doctoral candidate for translating, editing, and notating some of the letters, Tulane University Howard-Tilton Memorial Library and The Historic New Orleans CollectionWilliams Research Center (WRC) where some of the letters are housed. Thanks also to M. L. Eichhorn, Senior Reference Associate at WRC, and Dr. Adrienne McFaul helping formulate the evening’s introduction.
