Trailblazing Writers Leader, Long, and Prowell

Trailblazing Writers Leader, Long, and Prowell. A Heart of Hanover Trail Stop. , On these first blocks of Frederick Street lived pioneering newspaper woman Mary Sophia Leader (1835-1913), famous author John Luther Long (1861-1927), and historian George Reeser Prowell (1849-1928), all buried one mile south of here in Mount Olivet Cemetery. , Mary Leader's father, Senary, owned and published The Spectator, a weekly newspaper that operated next to their home, which was across the street on the corner of Frederick and Franklin Streets. After Senary's death in 1858, Mary and her mother Maria ran the paper until 1875, when Maria died. Under Mary's direction, the paper continued churning out weekly editions until 1892. According to an often-told story, the 28-year-old Mary Leader walked to and from Gettysburg, 14 miles away, to cover President Abraham Lincoln's world-famous Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. Throughout the nation, journalistic response to Lincoln's brief speech was mixed. The pro-Republican Spectator printed excerpts of Lincoln's "few appropriate remarks." , Hanover born and bred John Luther Long, whose childhood home stood in front of you, was a lawyer and prominent author. In addition to about 100 short stories, as well as the plays Dolce and Andrea (both co-authored with famous theater producer David Belasco), Long penned the 1898 short story, Madame Butterfly, his most known work. Madame Butterfly became a stage play before renowned Italian composer Giaccamo Puccini adapted it into a world-famous opera in 1904. , According to Long, Madame Butterfly was based on the recollections of his sister, Jennie Correll, who had visited Japan with her husband, a Methodist missionary. Long's original work shows the female lead character, Cho-Cho-San, a geisha abandoned by her American lover, as a survivor who starts to kill herself, but ultimately decides otherwise. She lives to raise her child. By contrast, Puccini's opera tragically ends with her suicide. , Long's work inspired the Tony award-winning 1988 play, M. Butterfly, which became a movie, and the hit 1989 Broadway musical, Miss Saigon. His November 1, 1927 obituary in The New York Times described Long, in his own words, as "a sentimentalist, and a feminist and proud of it." , Another significant author, George Reeser Prowell, historian, journalist and Hanover's first school superintendent, also lived on this side of the block, at 51 Frederick Street across from present-day borough offices. Prowell wrote the multi-volume The History of York County (1907). , To explore performing arts, check out the Eichetherger Performing Arts Center: www.theeich.org , To explore literature, visit Hanover's Guthrie Memorial Library and York County Libraries: www.yorklibraries.org , [photo captions] , . Poster for Giacomo Puccini's opera, Madame Butterfly: , https://www.galerie123.com/en/original-vintage-poster/41066/madame-butterfly-musique-de-g-puccini , . The Spectator Office painting. Reuben Becker Jr., artist (1960). Courtesy of Guthrie Memorial Library . This historical marker was erected in 2022 by Main Street Hanover; and Heart of Hanover Trails. It is in Hanover in York County Pennsylvania