Category: History

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Making the Best of It

The initial shock has passed and now we cautiously go about our business with an eye towards avoiding contagion.  We hope you are bearing up well.  Since we have ceased our activities and the museum is closed,  we are offering two new columns  to keep you in touch with our mission of curating artifacts and promoting local history.

Chris’s and John’s columns can be accessed  through the “Interesting Reading” links at the top right of this page (or possibly below if you are using a small screen).  We’ll keep updating as we go along.  We hope you find it enjoyable.

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Michael Keene Hosts New Podcast

A good friend and frequent speaker at the museum in years past has a new podcast debuting on September 15, 2019.   Local history author Michael T Keene, along with voice actress legend Norma Jean Gradsky, will host “Talking Hart Island”, a half-hour weekly podcast that will interview guests to explore the history of Hart Island,  the final resting place of lesser-known and sometimes famous New Yorkers.  It is estimated there are over 1,000,000 people buried there.

“Bringing to life the souls of the past that until now have been lost to history … Highly recommended.”
—Richard M. Ryan, Professor of Psychology, University of Rochester

Clicking on the image above will take you to the site.  A link will also be posted at the bottom of any of these pages.

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170 Years Ago

The Fox Sisters

It has been 170 years, almost to the day that one of the most prominent religious movements of the 19th century began in the bedroom of two young girls living in a farmhouse in Hydesville, New York.  On March 31st, 1848, Margaretta “Maggie” Fox and Kate, her 11 year old sister, along with their mother, Margaret, held the first demonstration of communicating with the spirit world.

It was the beginnings of Spiritualism.  The Finger Lakes region of New York State also gave birth to Mormonism and Millerism, the precursor to Seventh Day Adventism.

The Saltbox home is no longer standing, but there is a memorial located on its very foundation in Hydesville at 1510 Hydesville Rd, Newark, New York.

More information can be found by viewing our Modern Spiritualism & the Fox Sisters display at the Museum.