President Benjamin Harrison Home Rolls Out Romantic Valentine’s Evening Of Victorian Love Letters and Poetry Plus Multi-Course Propylaeum Dinner.  Featured Presenters Will Include WTHR’s Angela Cain, Hoosier Author Ralph Gray. and Victorian Theatre Actors Donna Wing and James Trofatter.

The President Benjamin Harrison Home will roll out “Romance and Remembrance,” a special evening of Victorian love letters and poetry at the Presidential site and multi-course dinner at The Indianapolis Propylaeum, Thursday, February 14 at 6 p.m.

Presenters will read Victorian and contemporary masterpieces in the historic rooms of the Harrison Home, 1230 North Delaware Street.  The presenters will include:

• Angela Cain, community affairs director at WTHR (Channel 13), who will read from the works of Booth Tarkington
• Ralph D. Gray, native Hoosier author of a number of books and articles about Indiana, who will be reading from Meredith Nicholson’s writings
• Donna Wing, creative director of Victorian Theatre, who will portray  Caroline Harrison
• James Trofatter, playwright and Victorian Theatre actor, who will portray Benjamin Harrison, Caroline’s suitor/husband. 

Inspiration for the evening was an occasion of two nights in May 1902, on which the Indianapolis English Opera House boasted a line-up of the richest literary talent in the country and a spectacular audience.  The Indianapolis newspapers described it as the greatest audience ever assembled in the English Opera House.  The occasion was a benefit for a memorial to the only man elected President of the United States from the State of Indiana, Benjamin Harrison who served ably as the 23rd President at a time that was politically meager but artistically profuse.  He died in March 1901.  The result of the two evenings of public readings by renowned authors is the statue of Harrison that stands today in University Park.

All of the readings to be presented during the “Romance and Remembrance” event are by authors who participated on the 1902 occasion.  In some cases, the same material will be read.  In the master bedroom of the Harrison Home, guests will be treated to a glimpse of the love and devotion shared by Benjamin and Caroline Harrison in original love letters from the Harrison Home collection.

The authors to be featured in the memorable Valentine program are Booth Tarkington and Meredith Nicholson, a neighbor on Delaware Street (currently the location of the Indiana Humanities Council).

Caroline Scott was an attractive 17-year-old brunette with brown eyes who met young Ben in Cincinnati while he was enrolled in Farmer’s College.  They met again in Oxford, Ohio, when Ben was a student at Miami University and Carrie was attending the Oxford Female Seminary.  There, they rekindled the stirrings of love.  After graduation from Miami in 1852, Ben went to Cincinnati to study law.  The letters and poems read for the “Romance and Remembrance” event come from their younger days and depict the depth and longevity of their love.  Some of the pieces to be read include: the engagement letter, written by Benjamin to Caroline’s father, asking for her hand in marriage; Carrie’s “Reflections”; a letter from Ben to Caroline, dated January 5, 1855, while she was away with their baby; a letter from Ben to Carrie when he was homesick.

Dinner menu at The Propylaeum will include appetizer of strawberry and brie on toast pointe, sweethearts salad, entrée of salmon or beef tenderloin, and dessert of goat cheese tart with strawberries. 

Reservations for the “Romance and Remembrance” event are required and may be made by calling 317-631-1888.  Cost for the occasion is $130 per couple or $120 for member couples.

The President Benjamin Harrison Foundation, Inc., is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization, which sees its mission to be increasing public understanding of, appreciation for, and participation in the American system of self-government through the life stories of an American President. 

The Foundation preserves and maintains the historic 1875 Italianate Victorian home of the 23rd President as a museum and memorial, accredited by the American Association of Museums.  The three-level landmark home contains many of Harrison’s paintings, furniture, and decorative arts including unique political memorabilia.  More information is available on the home’s web site: www.pbhh.org.