For our season finale, Devin and Lauren tell the story of the Fox sisters, who rose to fame as early practitioners of modern spiritualism in the 19th Century. Margaretta and Catherine Fox were able to convince many people that they could commune with the dead, though they later admitted to making their stories up. Despite this, their form of “rapping” spiritualism exploded across the nation and beyond.
Marker of Focus: The Fox Sisters, Newark, Wayne County
Guests: Tracy Murphy, executive director of the Historic Palmyra Museums; and David Stiles, former president of the Newark-Arcadia Historical Society
A New York Minute In History is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio, the New York State Museum, and Archivist Media, with support from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. This episode was produced by Jesse King. Our theme is “Begrudge” by Darby.
Further Reading:
Ann Braude, Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women’s Rights in Nineteenth-Century America
Amy Lehman, Victorian Women and the Theater of Trance: Mediums, Spiritualists and Mesmerists in Performance
Simone Natale, Supernatural Entertainments: Victorian Spiritualism and the Rise of Modern Media Culture
Barbara Weisberg, Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism
Teaching Resources:
Adam Matthew Digital, Nature and Scope – Spiritualism, Sensation and Magic
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Devin: Welcome to A New York Minute in History. I'm Devin lander, the New York state historian.
Lauren:
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