Browse Exhibits (1 total)
Hall of Ghosts and Spiritualism
Modern spiritualism-- the belief in communication with the dead (often through persons known as "mediums")-- began at Hydesville, NY in 1848. Two sisters, Maggie and Katie Fox, pretended to receive rapping messages from ghostly entities. Years later they confessed that it was all a trick, but spiritualism had long since begun to flourish as a popular belief.