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Spirits & Spiritualists of Laurel Hill

Presented by Laurel Hill Cemetery at Laurel Hill Cemetery

October 9, 2012

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In the 19th century, thousands of Philadelphians believed that they could communicate with the dead. All that it took was a darkened room, a circle of believers, and a sensitive medium. Other Philadelphians mocked the table-rappers and tried to expose their tricks. Both believers and skeptics are well represented in historic Laurel Hill Cemetery. Along this tour, we will stop at the resting place of Catherine Drinkhouse Smith, whose monument proclaims her as “one of the best mediums of her time,” and at the grave of Adam Seybert, whose last will and testament allocated a large sum to the University of Pennsylvania for a study of the truths of spiritualism. We will also visit the grave of Horace H. Furness, the Shakespeare scholar who led an official inquiry into the claims of spiritualists, and at the hillside tomb of Elisha Kent Kane, the famed Arctic explorer who scoffed at spiritualism but who fell in love with America’s most beautiful young medium.

This walking tour will be led by Dr. Michael Brooks, author of John Ruskin and Victorian Architecture and Subway City. It will conclude with wine, beer and refreshments, and is not recommended for ages under 21 years. Bring your own flashlights.