In this episode, we're turning our attention to the town of Webster, Massachusetts, and a truly immersive museum experience that brings the past to life in a remarkable way. We talk with Barbara Van Reed who is the executive director of the Samuel Slater Experience and Nicole Gaudette, the museum’s program coordinator.

In this episode, we interview Bruce Dorsey, author of the book Murder in a Mill Town: Sex, Faith, and the Crime that Captivated a Nation, the story of the Sarah Maria Cornell case and its societal ramifications, including social change, the birth of a new religion, popular culture, and jurisprudence.

On this episode of the Lizzie Borden Podcast, we are pleased to bring you a reading of "The Purloined Curio" by author Richard Behrens. It is one of the earlier stories in the Lizzie Borden Girl Detective mysteries. The title is no doubt an homage to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Purloined Letter." The story includes a nefarious medium who is hired by a bereft widow in the hope that she may make contact with her departed husband. All is not as it seems, and it is up to Lizzie Borden, Girl Detective, to put things right. The story explores the spiritualism movement in late nineteenth century New England, which was of particular interest to the author. Richard Behrens also includes his usual wry humor and comic characters that make his stories so unique and enjoyable. The story is read by a voice conjured by artificial intelligence.

In this episode, we interview George Schwartz, the curator-at-large for the new exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, titled, Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums. Over the past twenty years, at PEM, George contributed to many of the institution’s most successful exhibitions. He has lectured internationally and teaches courses on material culture at Tufts University in the Museum Studies program.

Just in time for Halloween, the exhibit and the accompanying book elaborately detail the origins of the Spiritualist movement in America and its locus in the belief in life after death. We explore the history, controversy, personalities, and symbolism of spirit photography, the public exhibitions of mediumship, magicians like Harry Houdini, Thurston the Great, Kellar and his Amazing Cabinet Mysteries, among others, as well as the makers of objects used to conjure spirits.

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In this episode we interview the curator of the Fall River Historical Society, Michael Martins, about the past few years of work at the Society and the changes yet in store. It is a fascinating look at what goes on behind the scenes at the oldest cultural institution in Fall River, now celebrating its one hundred and third year.

Michael’s long tenure as the curator affords him deep insight into the history of Fall River, the building in which more than half a million items are archived, and the operational day to day programs that make the Society the gem of the SouthCoast of Massachusetts. Today, he has graciously agreed to be interviewed about the recent progress made in major structural projects at the organization and tell us what is in store for the foreseeable future, including the remainder of this year.

In this episode we interview Fall River historian and professor emeritus of history at Bridgewater State University, Dr. Philip T. Silvia Jr. He has edited three books on the Victorian history of Fall River, Titled Victorian Vistas, which are considered important sources not only of the history of the region but of labor and immigration. He has also published numerous articles in journals such as Spinner, Labor History and Catholic Historical Review. An avid baseball fan, he is also quite well known as the historian of Fall River’s professional baseballists, lecturing on the subject many times. You can watch those recorded lectures on baseball as well as all of the other public lectures given by Dr. Silvia by going to the website of the Fall River historical Society.

Phil’s expertise in these subjects cannot be understated. Today, he has graciously agreed to be interviewed on a subject near and dear to his heart: early immigration in Fall River, the news media in the city, and how this may have impacted not only the course of Fall River’s future, but also the life of one Lizzie Borden.

In this episode we present part 3 of our interview with Dennis Binette, co-author of many books published by the Fall River Historical Society, including The Knowlton Papers, Women at Work, the Fall River Discourses series, The Knowlton-Pearson Correspondence, The Jennings Journals, and Parallel Lives: A Social History of Lizzie A Borden and Her Fall River.

From his many years as assistant Curator of the Fall River Historical Society, Dennis is an acclaimed expert at research and sourcing information relating to Fall River history and the life of Lizzie Borden and the Borden murders. Dennis shares his tips, techniques, stories of working on the books, and research tools with us today.

In this episode we present part two of our interview with Dennis Binette, co-author of many books published by the Fall River Historical Society, including The Knowlton Papers, Women at Work, the Fall River Discourses series, The Knowlton-Pearson Correspondence, The Jennings Journals, and Parallel Lives: A Social History of Lizzie A Borden and Her Fall River.

From his many years as assistant Curator of the Fall River Historical Society, Dennis is an acclaimed expert at research and sourcing information relating to Fall River history and the life of Lizzie Borden and the Borden murders. Dennis shares his tips, techniques, stories of working on the books, and research tools with us today.