The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln’s Ghost

When:
Saturday, Oct 21, 2017 2:00p -
3:30p

Where:
Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02215

EventScheduled OfflineEventAttendanceMode

Admission:
FREE

Categories:
Date Idea, Lectures & Conferences

Event website:
https://www.masshist.org/calendar/event?event=2290

More than just a ghost story; this is a portrait of a young nation struggling to separate fact from fiction. The trial of “spirit photographer” William H. Mumler, who claimed he could take pictures of the souls of the dead, is detailed by the Smithsonian’s Peter Manseau in a lecture that also explores the battlefield exploits of the fathers of photojournalism Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner, who created frauds of their own. These stories offer a view of our nation’s obsession with the afterlife, and our reluctance to choose science over fantasy.

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10/21/2017 14:00:00 10/21/2017 15:30:00 America/New_York The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln’s Ghost More than just a ghost story; this is a portrait of a young nation struggling to separate fact from fiction. The trial of “spirit photographer” William H. Mumler, who claimed he could take picture... Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA 02215 false MM/DD/YYYY

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