LEAH GRAZIANO
Special to The Leader
Bonnets strapped on and lanterns in hand, 14 women march in protest against the dangers of alcohol — on set.
Assistant professor in the Communication department, Roslin Smith, has been working to put together a historical documentary about Fredonia called “Among the Hemlocks. Fantastic Stories from Fredonia, NY.”
“Among the Hemlocks” will feature historical reenactments of important moments in history that took place in Fredonia.
Fredonia is one of the first places where the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement was formed.
Smith gathered 14 women from the Fredonia community to reenact this movement.
Inspiration for this film came from Smith’s love for history.
“I kind of found that there were a few interests in stories about Fredonia and I thought ‘I wonder if anybody has done a documentary on it’ and as far as I’m aware, after looking into it, there wasn’t,” said Smith.
Smith put in a proposal to the Cattaraugus County Arts Council to help fund the documentary. Once she got the green light, she was ready to begin her research.
What Smith has come across is nothing you would find in an average history book.
“The actual name for the documentary came from Canadaway Creek. Historically it was your indigenous people that lived here and they had this word called ‘Ga-na-da-wa-o’ which means ‘living among the hemlocks,’ which in time became Canadaway Creek, which is kind of where the story starts,” she said.
Her research was conducted over Christmas break last year. Together, she and archivists from the Barker Library dug through newspapers, old books and other primary sources to find these stories.
Filming for the documentary has been going on all summer and will continue through the month of September.
Smith isn’t filming “Among the Hemlocks” alone. She has gotten help from many students, SUNY Fredonia staff and local residents.
Students Peter Maziarz, Haley Poth and Kyle Licht are among the students who have been helping Smith with production.
“I was spark for the Women’s Temperance reenactment scene,” said Poth, a junior video production and public relations major. Spark is the person on a film set who helps set up the lighting.
“It was a professional environment, but we all had a lot of fun working together. It was cool because we were working with a lot of actors and it was interesting to watch Ros direct that many people,” she said.
Maziarz, a senior video production major, is the assistant director for the women’s temperance scene.
“I love being on set. When you get the right group of people together, it can be a really fun and productive time,” he said.
“Life on a set is stressful but extremely rewarding. It is a lot of work to make everything go exactly the way you want but when you see the footage come out exactly the way you want, the feeling is euphoric.”
Smith found local residents through looking on Facebook, word of mouth and through e-mails. She found Nancy Adams, who provided many pieces of the 19th century clothing for the women’s temperance scene, Smith’s favorite part of the film.
“It was such fun that day,” she said. “It was as soon as the ladies put their bonnets on with their costumes and they all felt as if they were living from ‘Downton Abbey.’”
The first preview for the documentary is on Dec. 6 at the Octagon Gallery in Westfield at 6 p.m. But, the longer version, which includes “spooky” stories, will be shown in early March at the Williams Center as part of the Brown Bag Lunch series.
“That’s the big one,” said Smith. “That’s where I want the red carpet taken out for all of my ladies. It would be nice if the ladies came and dressed up as well and came along.”
Viewers can expect to see these interesting stories from Fredonia come to life.
“It’s the old voices told through the new people,” said Smith.
Supported by SUNY Provost Dr. Terry Brown, Among the Hemlocks, Fantastic Stories from
Fredonia NY is also supported by the New York State of Opportunity, Council of the Arts. These grant programs are funded by the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program with support from Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Legislature.