View source for Barbara Frietchie

{{short description|Play written by Clyde Fitch}}
{{italic title}}
{{about||the historical character on which this play is based|Barbara Fritchie|the silent films|Barbara Frietchie (1915 film)|and|Barbara Frietchie (1924 film)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
[[File:Julia Marlowe as Barbara Frietchie.jpg|thumb|Actress [[Julia Marlowe]] in ''Barbara Frietchie''|alt=]]
[[Image:Barbara Frietchie (poem).jpg|thumb|right|250px|{{center|Illustration of [[John Greenleaf Whittier]]'s poem "Barbara Frietchie" showing [[Barbara Fritchie]] waving the [[Union flag]] out of her window.}}]]
'''''Barbara Frietchie, The Frederick Girl''''' is a play in four acts by [[Clyde Fitch]] and based on the heroine of [[John Greenleaf Whittier]]'s poem "Barbara Frietchie" (based on a real person: [[Barbara Fritchie]]). Fitch takes a good bit of artistic liberty and intertwines her story with that of his own grandparents' love story, which also takes place during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].

[[Barbara Stanwyck]] took her film name from the name of the play, and  a British actress named [[Joan Stanwyck]] who starred in one of the play's productions, perhaps in [[London]].

An illustrated version of the poem is contained in [[James Thurber]]'s ''[[Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated]]''.

The play met with mixed reviews in 1899 because of the romance he added to the tale, but it would be successfully revived a number of times. Fritchie, a central figure in the history of [[Frederick, Maryland]], has a stop in the town's walking tour at her home. When [[Winston Churchill]] passed through Frederick in 1943, he stopped at the house and recited the poem from memory. At 90 years of age she waved the Union flag out of her window despite opposition from [[Thomas J. Jackson|Stonewall Jackson]]'s troops, who were passing through Frederick. This event is the subject of the 1864 poem:

:"Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,
:But spare your country's flag," she said.
:A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,
:Over the face of the leader came;
:The nobler nature within him stirred
:To life at that woman's deed and word;
:"Who touches a hair of yon gray head
:Dies like a dog! March on!" he said.

==Known performances==
{{wikisource|Barbara Frietchie|the poem Barbara Frietchie}}
*July, 1899 at the Y.M.C.A. auditorium in Mansfield, Ohio  [source:  Mansfield (OH) News:  11 July 1899]
*October 23, 1899&ndash;January 1900&mdash;[[Criterion Theatre]], [[Manhattan]]
*February 1900&mdash;[[Poli's Theatre]], [[Naugatuck, Connecticut]] 
*March 19&ndash;March 24, 1900&mdash;[[National Theatre (Washington, D.C.)|National Theatre]], [[Washington, D.C.]] Starring [[Julia Marlowe]] Presented by [[Charles Frohman]]
* October 15, 1900 [[Chicago, IL]] with Julia Marlowe & Bruce McRae at grand opening of Illinois Theatre
*January 28&ndash;March 1901&mdash;[[Academy of Music (Manhattan)|Academy of Music]], Manhattan

==Film versions==

The play was adapted for film in [[Barbara Frietchie (1915 film)|1915]] and [[Barbara Frietchie (1924 film)|1924]].

==External links==
*[http://www.ibdb.com/show.asp?ID=1833 ''Barbara Frietchie''] at the [[Internet Broadway Database]]
* {{librivox book | title=Barbara Frietchie | author=John Greenleaf Whittier }}

[[Category:1899 plays]]
[[Category:Plays by Clyde Fitch]]
[[Category:Poetry and hymns by John Greenleaf Whittier]]


{{1890s-play-stub}}