I-102 and CH-39: PEG LEG JOE AND THE DRINKING GOURD
For Intermediate Readers and Intermediate/Advanced Voice Choirs
(Click HERE for Primary RT and Voice Choir Versions of this same basic story).
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During the 1800’s, slaves were told:
"Find the north, and you'll find freedom."
But which direction was north?
Slaves knew the promise of freedom lay to the north, but they didn't know how to get there. In a desperate effort to keep their slaves from running away, masters tried to prevent them from learning any directions.
"They find out which was is east, then they figure out west. The next thing you know, they figure out which way is north," went the old saying.
Yet the deliberate attempts to keep slaves ignorant, and therefore enslaved, were destined to fail. Slowly the word spread that to find freedom, one had only to look to the skies. With the North Star pointing the way, thousands began the perilous journey to freedom. Those who could not or would not attempt the journey at least wanted to ensure that their children knew how to escape.
So, as soon as slave children were old enough to understand, their parents would take them outside and point out the big dipper in the night sky. The dipper was also called the "drinking gourd” because it looked like the hollowed out gourd slaves used to scoop up and drink water. Once the children knew how to locate the big dipper, their parents taught them the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd”. This was a coded song that gave the route for an escape to the north from Alabama and Mississippi. Of all the routes out of the Deep South, this is the only one for which details survive.
An old man named Peg Leg Joe passed the song and its lyrics from slave to slave. Working as an itinerant carpenter, Joe spent winters in the South, moving from plantation to plantation, teaching the slaves this escape route. At the end of the "drinking gourd" was the North Star, and the path of the North Star was the path to freedom.
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I-102 For Intermediate Readers. In this story-poem RT script, 12 SOLO READERS and an ALL CHORUS tell about Joe, the song, and the code. (This script may be easily adapted to include frewer or more solo readers, as required). The script needs to be read with attention to rhythm and rhyme, including lively hand-clapping to help keep the beat.
To view sample pages for the RT Version, please click HERE.
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CH-37: A Choral Speaking/Reading Version of this script is also available for Intermediate/Advanced Voice Choirs. It is formatted for ALL, ALL GIRL VOICES and ALL BOY VOICES.
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To order go to our online order form HERE OR simply e-mail lois@scriptsforschools.com
