Introducing "Mrs Satan," Spritualist Medium, Free Love Advocate, and Journalist Victoria Woodhull : Guest Post by Artist and Scholar and Residence Shannon Taggart

In the following guest post, Morbid Anatomy Artist and Scholar and Residence Shannon Taggart introduces us to the exceptional feminist figure Victoria Woodhull; dubbed “Mrs. Satan” by her vilifiers, she was not only a Spiritualist Medium but also the first woman to run for president (in 1872), a stockbroker, journalist, publisher, and free love advocate, all at a time when women were still denied many basic rights.

The life of Victoria Woodhull will be explored in an upcoming lecture Morbid Anatomy Museum lecture by Dr. Cristina Zaccarini on the afternoon of June 11. This is just one component of a five-day series exploring Spiritualism and its historical connections to feminism with talks, live demonstrations, and workshops that invite the audience to experiment with Spiritualist practice. The program is co-hosted by mediums Lauren Thibodeau and Susan Barnes from Lily Dale, NY, the world’s largest Spiritualist community. You can find out more about Saturday's talk here, and more about the series here.

 “Yes, I am a Free Lover. I have an inalienable, constitutional, and natural right to love whom I may, to love as long or as short a period as I can; to change that love every day if I please, and with that right neither you nor any law you can frame have any right to interfere.” – Victoria Woodhull 

Spiritualist Medium Victoria Woodhull was not only the first woman to run for president in 1872, but also a stockbroker, journalist, publisher, and free love advocate. Amidst a life of scandal and vilification, and even dubbed “Mrs. Satan” by the press, Woodhull was an accomplished woman even by contemporary standards: Woodhull did this all at a time when women were lacking in many basic rights to their children and property, protection from rape, and citizenship. In the upcoming lecture Free Love Advocate and Presidential Candidate: The Revolutionary Feminism of Victoria Woodhull, Cristina Zaccarini will illustrate the myriad ways that Woodhull’s achievements were inextricably linked to the spiritual and intuitive abilities she exercised throughout her lifetime.

"Spirt Photography" A New Midnight Archive by Ronni Thomas Featuring the Incomparable Shannon Taggart

I am so exited about the newest episode of The Midnight Archive, Ronni Thomas' fantastic documentary series centered around Brooklyn's Observatory and filmed in conjunction with Morbid Anatomy. This episode, entitled "Spirit Photography," features the incomparable Shannon Taggart--über talent, good friend, Observatory colleague--on the curiously entwined history of spiritualism and photography.

To watch the episode, simply press play in the viewer above, or click here. More on the episode, in the words of director/creator Ronni Thomas:

The Midnight Archive - Episode 16: Spirit Photography
Photographer Shannon Taggart explores the Victorian born art of ‘spirit photography’, a practice in which the spirit of a loved one or guide would appear in one’s photograph. Shannon takes a heartfelt and unconventional look at a topic that had been plagued with scandal. For more of her work, please visit her website shannontaggart.com.

For more on the series, to see any of the episodes, or to sign up for the mailing list and thus be alerted to future uploads, visit The Midnight Archive website by clicking here. You can also "like" it on Facebook--and be alerted in this way--by clicking here.

"Ouija: The Talking Board" A New Episode of The Midnight Archive, Featuring Mitch Horowitz

A new episode of The Midnight Archive--the web-based documentary series centered around Observatory--has just been uploaded and can be viewed above. Here is what the series creator--film-maker and many-time Observatory lecturer Ronni Thomas--has to say about this episode:

Episode 11 : Ouija: The Talking Board -- And we’re back - with the fascinating Mitch Horowitz (see Occult NY parts 1 and 2) and the incredible history of the Ouija Board. Learn about its early roots as a sort of ‘telegraph’ to the other side - to its evolution into the board game to outsell Monopoly. Get a haunting glimpse into some of the celebrities who used the board and learn about its ominous warning to poet Sylvia Plath. Its more than just a toy and a Morrissey song. So enjoy this latest installment and make sure to ‘like’ us on Facebook. Also for a more detailed history make sure to check out Mitch’s book Occult America (which can and should be purchased here).

For more on the series, to see former episodes, or to sign up for the mailing list and thus be alerted to future uploads, visit The Midnight Archive website by clicking here. You can also "like" it on Facebook--and be alerted in this way--by clicking here. You can find out more about the amazing work of Sigrid Sarda by clicking here.

“Death and the Lady," Vaudeville, Turn of the Century

In 1906 The Journal of the English Folk Song Society published a piece on the old English ballad “Death and the Lady.” Some enterprising female entertainer encountered the article and realized the story might be used as a great vaudeville piece about the evils of card play and alcohol. Touring performers were always searching for material that would play well in the sticks. The city folks would enjoy the Grand Guignol staging, the traditional song, and the vocal technique. Here Joseph Hall, the Brooklyn born photographer who had made a career on baseball pictures and theatrical production stills, captured the sequence of the action, providing a peculiarly detailed & rare view of the progress of a single vaudeville performance.

Click on images to see larger, richer versions; you can see the complete series of photos on the Historical Ziegfeld website by clicking here.

Via Turn of the Century.

Tomorrow Night at Observatory: "Documenting the Invisible: Spiritualism, Lily Dale, and Talking to the Dead," Illustrated Lecture by Shannon Taggart

Tomorrow night at Observatory! Hope very much to see you there.

Documenting the Invisible: Spiritualism, Lily Dale, and Talking to the Dead
An illustrated lecture by photographer Shannon Taggart
Date: Tuesday, August 31
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $5
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

Spiritualism is a loosely organized religion based primarily on a belief in the ability to communicate with spirits of the dead. The movement began in upstate New York in 1848 when two young girls named Margaret and Kate Fox claimed to be in contact with the spirit of a dead peddler buried beneath their home. Photographer Shannon Taggart first became aware of Spiritualism as a teenager when her cousin received a reading in Lily Dale, NY, The World’s Largest Spiritualist Community. A medium there revealed a strange family secret about the death of their grandfather that proved to be true. Taggart became deeply curious about how someone could possibly know such a thing.

Thus began a five year photography project focused on Modern Spiritualism. During her image making she immersed myself in the history and philosophy of Spiritualism, had more readings than she can count, experienced spiritual healings, took part in séances, attended a psychic college and sat in a medium’s cabinet, all with her camera. Despite this exposure she finds herself no closer to any definitive answer of what it all means. She feels as if she has peered into a mystery.

Shannon Taggart is a freelance photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. She received her BFA in Applied Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Her images have appeared in numerous publications including Blind Spot, Tokion, TIME and Newsweek. Her work has been recognized by the Inge Morath Foundation, American Photography, the International Photography Awards, Photo District News and the Alexia Foundation for World Peace, among others. Her photographs have been shown at Photoworks in Brighton, England, The Photographic Resource Center in Boston, Redux Pictures in New York, the Stephen Cohen Gallery in Los Angeles and most recently at FotoFest 2010 in Houston. For more about Shannon Taggart, visit www.shannontaggart.com.

You can find out more about this event here. You can get directions to Observatory--which is next door to the Morbid Anatomy Library (more on that here)--by clicking here. You can find out more about Observatory here, join our mailing list by clicking here, and join us on Facebook by clicking here.

Image: Ron with the Fox Sisters, Founders of Spiritualism; Lily Dale, NY © Shannon Taggart