Voices of Three Rivers

Voices of Three Rivers is a compilation of addresses, speeches, letters, and pronouncements from prominent historic figures and regionally known personalities who contributed to the history of our country through their public and private dialogue that represents a verbal history of northeast Indiana. These individuals left words of suppression, dissonance, rebellion, and vision as acts of disobedience, frustration, and insightfulness through the eyes and words of the activist themselves. The life and words are portrayed by actors who reenact the moment through readings left behind. The words are inspiring and insightful and project the same frustrations and anxieties of modern society. The readers are professionals, amateurs, and often just interested individuals' participating in a significant recreation of the verbal history of our past. The message seems to be the importance of what was being said as much as the importance of who was saying it. These were words that engaged people, changed views, and brought forth ideas and issues to the forefront. Many of these individuals were pioneers of dissanance, who took contrary positions to the public policy or thought, who brought forth non traditional thinking and spoke out with strong voices and conviction. These were the dissenters like Susan B Anthony who violated election laws by casting an illegal vote, or Delores Huerta who worked tirelessly for the rights of farm workers in California, or early civil rights activists like William Willis Elliot of Fort Wayne, or the abolitionist Sojourner Truth. These were individuals who left a legacy of activism and were at the forefront of constructive change.
The presentation I viewed of Voices of Three Rivers was a local production viewed on a CD. I thought the presentation was good, with some presenters better than others. I followed the readings with the text I had downloaded from an IPFW forum site, and curiously folowed the omissions, deletions, and enhancements that the readers produced that were not a part of the text or were left out of the presentation. In some cases the deletions were distracting while the additional verbiage that some presenters added actually gave greater meaning to the sentence bening read. Either way, it was a distraction. The presentation would have been greatly enhanced is the presenters could have been in period dress that actually would depict the time frame of the writings and that of the writer. The attire certainly would enhance the presentation and place the author in the appropriate time frame.
It is certainly commendable that a concerted effort has been made to retain the verbal history of Fort Wayne through Voices of Three Rivers. This becomes an interesting format for historic reflection.