BackStory

The following links and documents relate to the BackStory episode “American Spirit: A History of the Supernatural”, originally broadcast in October of 2010. You can listen to the entire episode here.

All Centuries

• Linking Halloween to the Catholic feast days of All Saints and All Souls
• Ghosts and seances in the White House: a multimedia presentation
• Readings on psychical research recommended by UVa’s Division of Perceptual Studies
• The long history of Halloween mischief

18th Century & Before

• A documentary archive and online exhibit of the Salem Witch Trials
• Sarah Jessica Parker uncovers her witch ancestry with the help of historian Mary Beth Norton
• In colonial Virginia, no candy, but plenty of pumpkins
• The pre-18th century origins of Halloween
• Historian Richard Godbeer’s study of the other witch hunt of 1692
• Excerpts from several landmark studies of New England witchcraft

19th Century

• A first-person account of spiritualism in Lincoln’s White House by medium Nettie Maynard
• “The Perils of Passivity: Women’s Leadership in Spiritualism and Christian Science,” an article by religious historian Ann Braude
• “Dealings with the Dead,” a haunting collection of 19th-century ghost tales and songs from France
• The memoir of Leah Underhill, eldest of the Fox Sisters
• Listen to the uncut version of Nate DiMeo’s radio piece, “The Sisters Fox”
• A visit to Lily Dale and Cassadega, two communities with roots in 19th-century spiritualism
• An exhibit and book exploring photography and the occult

20th Century & Beyond

• How a St. Louis housewife rose to literary stardom with the help of a Ouija Board and a 17th century spirit
• The Patience Worth Writings
• Modern spiritualism as practiced at the Lily Dale Assembly
• An interview with Bruce Greyson, director of UVA’s Division of Perceptual Studies, which explores the science behind paranormal phenomena
• The International Association of Near-Death Studies
• Americans’ belief in ghosts still going strong