On Saturday, August 7, the CSS Neuse Interpretative Center will host its third annual dinner theater focusing on female spies during the Civil War. This program, which begins with dinner, features the inspiring and tragic story of Rose O’Neal Greenhow.

Few people today know how effective female spies were during the war. Women spies on both sides of the conflict provided intelligence that often turned the tide of battle. Social connections allowed them to gather information from enemies during social gatherings. They also used disguises, created ciphers, and hid messages on their bodies to take through enemy lines.

Rose Greenhow was born around 1813 or 1814 in Montgomery Co., Maryland. Her given name was Maria Rosette O’Neale. When she and her sister Ellen were orphaned, they moved to Washington, D.C., where they were cared for by their aunt, Mrs. Maria Ann Hill.

Newspapers described Rose Greenhow as “the most persuasive woman ever known in Washington.” The same papers said she was “a woman of almost irresistible seductive powers” who would do anything to get ahead. She used her powers to gain intelligence for the Confederacy during the war.

Charles Sumner, a Congressional representative from Massachusetts, was a leader of the Radical Republicans. He said of Rose Greenhow that she was “worth six of any of Jeff Davis' regiments.”

The dinner theater program will focus on the activities of Rose Greenhow and the fallout from her efforts as a spy. Kelly Atkins Hinson, a living historian from Jackson Springs, NC, will portray Rose Greenhow in her one-woman play titled “The Tale of a Lady Spy.” Hinson has been performing this play since 2014.

Her first-person impression focuses on the most famous lady spy of the Confederacy. Hinson as Rose Greenhow spins her tale on the deck of the doomed blockade runner “The Condor” on the night of September 30, 1864. On that night, “The Condor” ran aground as a Union ship closed upon it.

Following the program, multiple staff members and volunteers will be downstairs to share stories of other female spies. Emeline Pigott, Sarah Slater, Sarah Emma Edmonds, Elizabeth Van Lew, and Mary Jane Richards are a few of the spies explored in this program. Visitors can engage in spy activities such as encrypting and decoding messages.

This program is appropriate for ages eight and up. The dinner theater portion of the program will last approximately one hour. Tickets are $20 per adult and $15 for children and Gunboat Association members.

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. to allow visitors the time to tour the museum before dinner begins at 6:00 p.m. The theater portion of the program will begin at 6:15 p.m. Olivia’s will be catering this event. The tentative menu features preset salad with dressing, roast beef, baked chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, vegetable medley, rolls, and a dessert bar.

Make plans early to attend the dinner theater. The 70 available seats will go quickly. Living history programs are some of the best ways to hook young people on the fascination of history. They are also an excellent way to broaden the historical knowledge of adults.

Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.