1997 Kelli Kauterman Eberlein Gave Voice to Women of Schuylkill County

While she was earning her master’s degree in humanities from Penn State Harrisburg, Kelli Kauterman Eberlein interviewed more than a dozen women of Schuylkill County about their education, childhood, marriages, and families and then turned their stories into a performance titled Where Are Their Voices? Portraying the Lives of Schuylkill County Women.

She performed the piece twice in September 1997, once at Penn State Harrisburg and again at the Penn State Schuylkill campus. Both times it was well received by students, faculty, staff, and other community members.

Eberlein was raised in Schuylkill County and lived there for most of her adult life. She noticed there was little written about the women in the county and their everyday lives. So her decision to create this performance stemmed from the desire to give the Schuylkill County women a chance to tell their stories and give back to local history.

She performed her piece shortly after Capital Campus merged with the Schuylkill campus.

After earning her M.A., Eberlein—now Kauterman—returned to Penn State Harrisburg as lecturer in theatre and communications.