ISSUED: 5 April 2022
MEDIA CONTACT: Dana Costa
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s Common Reading Program, in conjunction with Speak Story Series and the Shepherd University Foundation, is hosting storyteller Sheila Arnold for two shows on April 12 and 13.
Oney Judge
Arnold will present “Oney Judge: 18th-century Free Woman; Past personal maidservant to Martha Washington” on Tuesday, April 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education auditorium and online via Zoom.
Oney Judge was the personal maidservant to Martha Washington from the time George Washington was elected to attend the Continental Congress until the end of his second term as president. Through Arnold’s storytelling, we meet Judge in the latter parts of her life where she talks about her time with the Washington’s, her home life and upbringing, her run for freedom, her attempt to negotiate with the first president of the United States, and her new life as a free Negro.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
On Wednesday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m., in the Erma Ora Byrd Hall auditorium, Arnold will present “Runnin’ Into Dunbar.”
She will tell the story of Paul Laurence Dunbar, late 19th-century poet, short-story author, composer, and scholar. In honor of Dunbar’s 150th birthday, Arnold will share Dunbar’s poems, stories, and life mingled with her personal narratives and spirituals.
A performer since age eight, Arnold presents storytelling programs, historic character presentations, Christian monologues, professional development for educators, and inspirational/motivational speaking for schools, churches, and organizations throughout the U.S. She also manages and contracts new business for History’s Alive!, which mentors and provides opportunities and guidance to performers. Arnold is co-founder and artistic director of Artists Standing Strong Together, a support network for artists and storytellers created in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to be a source of inspiration, strength and action in the storytelling and artists world.
Admission to each show is $15 and free for Shepherd students with a valid Rambler ID. Tickets for in-person attendance will be sold both nights at the door.
Those who want to purchase tickets for the April 12 online show can visit the Speak Story Series online ticket webpage.
Shepherd students wanting to attend the April 12 online show for free can visit the Speak Story Series online free student tickets webpage.
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