http://ipraudio.interlochen.org/Peterboro.mp3
When Eastport artist Betty Beeby found a bunch of old letters in a trunk, she discovered a story of maternal love and deep heartbreak. Now, that story is being turned into an original ballet.
Beeby found the trunk of letters in her grandfather's Eastport barn. That was in the early 1970s. There were thousands of letters in the trunk. Letters from the Civil War. And letters about the recent Louisiana Purchase. But one set of letters from around 1900 really captured her attention.
Betty says, "It says on the very first page, 'I have unintentionally become party to a secret which was not intended for me to know.'"
The Secret
That secret was about Minnie Griffin. And that letter was written by Minnie's niece. Minnie had lived in Eastport and she gave birth to a son. But she was only 17 so she was forced to give up her child for adoption. And she was told to move to avoid the scandal of having a child out of wedlock. She settled in Peterboro, Canada. Then, she was told her infant son had died. The secret was that Minnie found out her son was alive. The two finally found each other and a meeting was arranged and, according to the letters, the upcoming meeting caused Minnie great apprehension.
Betty reads from one of the letters: "The day will come when I'll have to meet you and it will take all the courage I've got."
They met and got to know each other. But Minnie had a sewing business in Peterboro and her son had a wife and teaching career in Detroit. Minnie lived out her life unmarried and living in a small boarding house.
Betty Beeby traveled to Peterboro to find out more about Minnie and discovered the place where Minnie lived.
Betty says, "These ceilings were all in the old metal ... they were patterned ceilings and fortunately they were still there."
Those patterned metal ceilings and other remnants of Millie Griffin's life became fodder for Betty's artwork. She made a series of lithographs including all these elements. Lithographs are prints made on soft, thick paper. Betty's are collages of images from Minnie's life. One of them shows a part of the ceiling pattern in one corner, a box of letters in the center and an envelope with postmarks in the center. In the background is sun coming through Minnie's windows.
These Are Music
Betty's close friend, composer Lynne Warren, was visiting Betty and saw the drawings.
Lynne Warren said, "And I said to her, 'Betty, these are are music.' so she invited me to write something for them."
Lynne went through her own emotional hardship which led to her own emotional hardship which led to the composition. She was living in Los Angeles at the time and she would take walks to try to make sense of her heartache.
Lynne says, "And I was thinking about everything that had happened and the theme began to come. It came right away."
Now, Heather Raue, choreographer for the Crooked Tree Arts Center, has developed an original ballet based on Betty's art.
The ballet will start with portions of the letters read on stage. Betty's lithographs will be projected on the back of the stage.
The Peterboro Ballet will be performed at John M. Hall in Bay View Saturday night at 7 p.m. with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra.