humans have developed beliefs, writings, practices, and theories on speaking with the spirits of those who have passed on. For millennia, ghosts have spoken, written, appeared, and raised a general racket.  

Some are summoned by necromancers — sorcerers, sorceresses, mediums, and witches who specialize in raising the dead. Some appear unbidden, often to pass on a message of importance to those they visit. Others visit to terrorize, such as the ghosts that haunt the pages of gothic tales.   

In western New York in 1848, two young girls helped to initiate the movement of Modern Spiritualism. Katie and Margaretta Fox – also known as the Fox Sisters – purported to communicate with a ghost in their home through a series of telegraphic knocks. With the advent of astounding technologies and automations throughout the century, Americans were primed for haunting. (Though one might rightfully ask: have Americans ever not been primed for haunting?) The Fox Sisters’ mediumship proved contagious, spreading throughout New York and ultimately the world. The spirits of the Victorian séance knocked on walls, tilted tables, wrote messages, possessed mediums, sang, spoke, played musical instruments, and appeared in full physical form to spiritualists and onlookers.

This virtual exhibit invites you to step into the spaces where many of these events occurred – the parlors and stages of Victorian England and America. Come in, explore, and enjoy this unique collection of historical artifacts. Welcome to the Séance.