The Witches of Whitewater and the Morris Pratt Institute

Content note: mention of suicide, anti-semitism

In this week's belated episode, I talk about the witches of Whitewater, the Morris Pratt Institute, and how traditional views of what's 'weird' shift throughout time. Don't forget to check out the True Crime Podcast Festival in Chicago. Look, I know it's not until July, but it was SNOWING today and I need something to look forward to in my new older age.

Photo of the Morris Pratt Institute from Wisconsin Historical Images

Resources

• Second Salem
• Whitewater college paper on hauntings
• Spine-tingling tales from a weird site
• Roots of Whitewater's witch lore
• Whitewater Historical Society on the Morris Pratt Institute
• WPR piece on the MPI
• MPI site
• In Frightening Times, Witchcraft Rediscovers Its Political Roots
• You can’t control the government—but you can hex it
• Why millennials are ditching religion for witchcraft and astrology
• Intimate photos of modern-day witches across America
• 9 Myths About Witchcraft That Modern-Day Witches Like Me Are Tired of Hearing
• Anti-Semitic Legends
• Why Do Witches Wear Pointy Hats?

Transcript

Welcome to another edition of the Spooky Sconnie Podcast, the podcast that talks about everything, wonderfully creepy, spooky, criminal, and weird in the state of Wisconsin. I'm your host, Kirsten Schultz. And before we dive in to today's very interesting topic, I do just want to remind everybody that I will be at the true crime podcast festival in Chicago that's coming up in July on the 13th. It's a Saturday, it's just the one day, but it's like all day. We did get some more details that um, there's going to be a meet and greet portion of the event with a kind of a relaxed atmosphere and that podcasters are going to be around in the main hall, um, so that you can come meet with us and hang out. So you know, come hang out. The website for that is tcpf2019.com and you can get your tickets and see all the cool stuff going on. I apologize for this episode being late. Um, yesterday was my birthday and I chose to go get drunk and eat a hamburger instead of recording my podcast. But also I have just started a new full time job and my schedule's been a lot busier because of that and because of some of the other volunteer stuff I'm doing. So I just didn't have time to record. I mean I probably did, let's be honest, but I didn't really.

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