“Lift Every Voice: The Black Experience in the Heartland” Play Comes to West Branch

WEST BRANCH, IOWA— The staff of Herbert Hoover National Historic Site is pleased to announce that the Bright Star Touring Theater will present an original play Lift Every Voice: The Black Experience in the Heartland. The one-hour play takes the stage on April 20 at 7 p.m. at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library & Museum auditorium. Admission is free. Lift Every Voice is ideal for kids ages 8 to twelve, but all can enjoy this engaging performance!

The National Park Service and Bright Star Touring Theatre teamed up to produce Lift Every Voice. The production celebrates both the National Park Service’s centennial and the many Black Americans who made a difference in the American Midwest. Watch the pages of history come to life with interactive scenes: from the first black homesteaders reaching Nicodemus, Kansas to the Little Rock Nine on their first day of school. Meet famous leaders, groundbreakers, and heroes such as Charles Young, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington Carver in this engaging and educational performance. Audiences will learn about many great National Parks throughout the Midwest, such as the Lincoln Home in Springfield, Illinois, Brown v Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas, and Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice, Nebraska. This production also includes empowering songs such as “Oh Freedom,” “I’m Gonna Eat at the Welcome Table,” “For Lincoln and Liberty Too,” and “Home on the Range.”

Last year the National Park Service launched its “Find Your Park” campaign which began a two year celebration commemorating its first 100 years of preservation and service to the public. “Find Your Park” is aimed at getting people out to experience all their national parks have to offer and to share their favorite stories about National Parks. Visit www.findyourpark.com to learn more.

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum are in West Branch, Iowa at exit 254 off I-80. Both are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time. For more information go online at www.nps.gov/heho or call (319) 643-2541.