Spirit Photography

Séance, anyone?

The desire to communicate with the dead (and other supernatural beings) is nothing new. Chances are you’ve seen at least one movie or TV show in which the characters attempt to make contact with ghosts or glimpse “beyond the veil” – you might have even tried it yourself! The belief in life after death and the possibility of communing with deceased loved ones are major tenets of Spiritualism, a religious/philosophical movement in vogue ca. 1840s – 1920s. (By the way, if you’re interested in an overview on Spiritualism, one of our past blog posts is a great place to start!)

Photograph of Mrs. Tinkham and spirit

by William H. Mumler. The J. Paul Getty Museum, 

Los Angeles, 84.XD.760.1.7

In the mid-nineteenth century, Boston was a major center for the Spiritualist movement. The movement drew the interest of true believers and sceptics. Unfortunately, it also attracted opportunistic fraudsters who were looking to capitalize on people’s grief. Various methods of making contact with the spirits existed and are still used today, for example, through consultations with mediums, i.e., people believed to be ‘sensitive’ to the spirit world and therefore able to perceive spirits.

Another way (or so it seemed) was through ‘spirit photography.’ This branch of photography arose when photographers noticed that sometimes blurred or translucent images appeared near or overlapping the actual subjects of their photos. These initially unintended effects were likely caused by the accidental reuse of glass negatives and other issues. The more maverick photographers realized that they could make these images by experimenting with layering multiple negatives and using different exposure times. You can read more about some of the techniques behind spirit photography (and how you can make your own spirit photos!) in this article by photographer Gabriel Biderman.

Some photographers claimed that these translucent figures were in fact spirits and they began to advertise their self-professed abilities to capture the images of spirits haunting the living. Thus, spirit photography was born!

For some, these photographs provided irrefutable evidence of the existence of ghosts; however, not everyone was convinced.

Harper’s Weekly May 8, 1869 issue

One of the most famous of these ‘spirit photographers’ was William Mumler who became active in 1861 and worked in Boston and New York. Illustrations of his spirit photos feature on the cover of Harper’s Weekly’s May 8, 1869 issue (we just so happen to have a copy of this issue in our collection!).

The accompanying article discusses the court case which the people of New York brought against Mumler a month earlier. The spirit photographer had been charged with fraud over his photographs. You can read the digitized version of The Spiritual Magazine’s publication of the trial on Hathi Trust. Mumler was eventually acquitted by Judge Dowling and continued to sell his photos – as can be seen in an advertisement in the Spiritualist newspaper, Religio Philosophical Journal, which published brief descriptions of some of the photos’ subjects. The editors of this journal cited his acquittal as further proof his photographs were genuine.

The following is an excerpt from Religio Philosophical Journal V12 N20 Aug 3 1872 which can be accessed online through the website of The International Association for the Preservation of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals.

Below are some of the stories of the Massachusetts residents whom Mumler photographed, as advertised in Religio Philosophical Journal:

Mrs. Tinkham, Lowell, Mass. Spirit child, fully recognized. This picture is a remarkable one, inasmuch as it shows the power of spirits in moving tangible objects, the child having raised a portion of the sitter’s dress.

Mrs. Cottrell, Boston, Mass. Spirit child sitting in its mother’s lap. This picture is also a most excellent test, not only from its being readily recognized, but from the correct name of the child, which plainly appears in a wreath of flowers in its lap.

Master Herrod, N. Bridgwater, Mass. This young man is a medium. Before sitting for this picture three spirits offered to show themselves, representing Europe, Africa, and America. As will be seen by the picture, the promise was fulfilled[.] Also a picture was taken while entranced, and shows his double.

Some of Mumler’s photos are held at the Getty Museum in California. Fortunately, the Getty has digitized them, and the photographs can be seen on the museum’s website here. See if you can match the photos with the advertised descriptions!

Spirit photography is only one chapter of the fascinating history of Spiritualism. If you want to learn more about this movement and the key individuals involved, check out some of these titles available in our collection or through the CW MARS network:

• Boston in the golden age of spiritualism : séances, mediums & immortality.
• Trial of the spirits : a discourse delivered in the First Congregational Church, Quincy, Massachusetts, June 25, 1854.
• Preliminary report of the Commission appointed by the University of Pennsylvania to investigate modern spiritualism in accordance with the request of the late Henry Seybert
• The magician and the spirits : Harry Houdini and the curious pastime of communicating with the dead.

Happy hauntings!

Maryellen Larkin

Government Documents Reference Librarian

Sources:

Biderman, G. (2019). “Photographing Phantoms: How to Capture Ghosts and Spirits in Night Images.” National Parks at Night.

Morris, D. (2014). Boston in the golden age of spiritualism: séances, mediums & immortality. The History Press.

Religio Philosophical Journal V12 N20 Aug 3 1872.

The National Science and Media Museum. (2022). “Spirit Photography and the Occult: Making the Invisible Visible.” National Science and Media Museum.


*If you would like to view our copy of the Harper’s Weekly issue in person, please contact our Special Collections Department (special.collections@mass.gov) to arrange an appointment.

Panel Presentation: To Live and Thrive in Massachusetts: Native American Perspectives on Wealth

• Authors Dr. J. Cedric Woods, Dr. Allison Taylor, and Dr. Phillip Granberry presenting their 2025 report: To Live and Thrive in Massachusetts: Native American Perspectives on Wealth
• Wednesday, November 5th, 2025. 12pm - 1:00pm
• In-person and Virtual event. No registration required.
• State Library of Massachusetts - Room 341, Massachusetts State House
• Livestream on YouTube
• Full Report available online!

The State Library of Massachusetts Author Talks Series is hosting authors of the 2025 report, To Live and Thrive in Massachusetts: Native American Perspectives on Wealth. Please keep reading for details on the event and authors.

This is an in-person and virtual event. The livestream available on our YouTube channel courtesy of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Broadcast Services. Tune in at noon!

Be sure to sign up for our Author Talks newsletter and follow our social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, and X) for the latest information on our visiting authors. If you are unable to attend, the recording will be posted to our YouTube channel to watch anytime - view all past recordings here!

About the report: Published in January 2025 in partnership with Boston Indicators and UMass Boston's Institute for New England Native American Studies (INENAS), To Live and Thrive in Massachusetts is a unique report that compiles both qualitative and quantitative data to look at the wealth disparities of Native American communities and families living in Massachusetts. The report is organized into three parts; historical overview and context at both the state and federal policy level, quantitative analysis of Massachusetts Native American communities with data on income, homeownership, business ownership, population, etc. and finally qualitative research which brings in findings from focus groups with interviews of local MA Native American families.

Authors

Dr. J. Cedric Woods is the Director of the Institute for New England Native American Studies at UMass Boston. Please read below for information on Dr. Woods from the UMass Boston INENAS site:

Cedric Woods is a citizen of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. He combines over a decade of tribal government experience with a research background, and has served as the director of INENAS since 2009.

The institute's purpose is to connect Native New England with university research, innovation, and education. Currently, Cedric is working on projects with tribes in the areas of tribal government capacity building, Indian education, economic development, and chronic disease prevention.

Prior to arriving at UMass Boston, Cedric completed a study on the evolution of tribal government among the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. While pursuing his doctoral studies at the University of Connecticut, he served in a variety of capacities for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. These positions included director of career development, research analyst, tribal government spokesman, and deputy chief operating officer.
Cedric has served as a consultant for the National Museum of the American Indian, the Haliwa Saponi Indian Tribe of North Carolina, and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Plimoth Plantation, a bicultural living history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Dr. Allison Taylor is a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Dr. Taylor specializes in qualitative and community-based research and evaluation, with a focus on how the voices of people with lived experience can help improve employment services and systems. Dr. Taylor is the principal investigator (PI) for the Lawrence Partnership for Transition to Employment (LPTE) and the recently awarded Rapid Engagement Team Approach (RETA) Project, and leads a community-based participatory research study for the Native Equity in Employment and Recovery (NEER) project. She earned an MSW from Boston University and a PhD in sociocultural anthropology from Brandeis University.

Dr. Phillip Granberry is a Senior Lecturer in Economics and Data Analyst for the Gastón Institute at UMass Boston. Dr. Granberry’s area of expertise includes Social Capital, International Migration, and Urban Economics. Granberry holds a PhD, Public Policy, from University of Massachusetts Boston. For more information on Dr. Granberry visit the Gastón Institute site which includes a list of his publications and professional biography which is also below: 

Phillip Granberry is a social demographer who specializes in unauthorized immigration in the United States. He worked with various community-based organizations assisting recently arrived U.S. immigrants before earning a PhD in public policy from the University of Massachusetts Boston. He has published several articles on the accumulation and use of social capital among Mexican migrants and the impact of welfare and immigration policy reform on Latinos in Massachusetts. He teaches courses on international migration, labor market, and metropolitan areas. In addition to his teaching in the Economics Department, he is a senior research associate for the Gastón Institute, where he is using his survey research skills to develop a probabilistic household survey of Puerto Rican mothers in Springfield, MA. In this research, he is an investigator for Por Ahí Dicen, a research project of the Center for Health Equity Intervention Research (CHEIR). Por Ahí Dicen evaluates the effectiveness of media campaign to promote Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican mother-child communication about sexuality and sexual health.

As always, this author talk is free and open to all. Assisted listening devices will be made available upon request. If you are able to join us in person for this talk, attendees will be able to participate in a question-and-answer session with the authors.

Any questions or concerns, please email us at AuthorTalks.StateLibrary@mass.gov. For more information on the State Library Author Talks series, please visit our site.


April Pascucci
On behalf of Author Talks Working Group

Barn Owls Swoop Into the Library

A striking yet eerie sight awaits you in the State Library this October! The Barn Owl (plate 171) is on display in our Audubon case. With its distinctive white heart-shaped face and dark eyes, it has a ghostly appearance as it flies and perches in the night. Both the male and female are shown, along with an unfortunate squirrel. 

The Barn Owl is nocturnal, and this is one of only a few Audubon prints that depicts a nighttime scene. Unlike other owls, they screech rather than hoot, so if you hear one at night you might get a bit of a spine-tingle!

In Massachusetts, they are a species of greatest conservation need. You can read more about them on the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife page.

Visit us from October 14 through November 12 to see the Barn Owls on display. And read about our other spooky October birds here: Raven, Common Crow Blackbird, and Vulture.

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

Celebrating 25 Years of the Massachusetts Book Awards

This past week marked a literary milestone in the Commonwealth: the 25th anniversary of the Massachusetts Book Awards! On Tuesday, October 7, the State House welcomed authors, librarians, educators, and book lovers from across the state to honor a quarter-century of exceptional storytelling and scholarship by Massachusetts writers and highlight the richness and diversity of Massachusetts’ literary community.

Hosted by the Massachusetts Center for the Book, this year’s ceremony recognized 36 distinguished authors, selected from a competitive field of more than 400 nominated titles. The Massachusetts Book Awards honor outstanding works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and children’s and young adult literature, all created, illustrated, or translated by residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

This year’s ceremony introduced two notable additions to the awards program: a new category for Graphic Novel/Memoir, acknowledging excellence in visual storytelling and a Notable Contribution to Publishing award that recognizes the work of Massachusetts-based presses.

This year’s Massachusetts Book Award winners are:

• Fiction: The Naming Song by Jedediah Berry
• Nonfiction: We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance by Kellie Carter-Jackson
• Poetry: Auguries & Divinations by Heather Treseler
• Middle Grade: Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear by Robin Wasley
• Graphic Novel/Memoir: Sunshine by Jarrett Krosoczka
• Notable Contribution to Publishing: Beacon Press for An Indigenous People’s History of the United States: A Graphic Interpretation by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

As the official depository library for the Massachusetts Book Awards, the State Library is excited and privileged each year to receive all the winning and must-read titles from the Massachusetts Book Awards. Along with the Massachusetts Center for the Book, the State Library plays a vital role in preserving and promoting the literary contributions of authors across the Commonwealth. Come visit our display at our 4th floor entrance (Room 442 in the State House) to browse the titles and start your reading lists! If you’d like to enjoy one of these award-winning books at home, they are available to borrow via interlibrary loan—simply make a request through your local library.

For more information about the Massachusetts Book Awards, and to see current and past winners and nominees, please visit the Massachusetts Center for the Book’s website and explore the full collection of award-winning books in the State Library’s online catalog.

Here’s to 25 years of literary excellence—and to the many more stories yet to be told!

Judith Carlstrom

Head of Technical Services

Farmer's Almanac - Spooky Edition!

Almanacs mark holidays throughout the year, and while the late 18th and early 19th century volumes in our collection don't mention All Hallows Eve or Halloween, that doesn't mean that their content doesn't veer a little creepy sometimes! This month, our Collection Spotlight case features The Farmer's Almanac from 1793, 1807, and 1816, all of which are on theme for October.

Looking for cures to remove freckles, pimples, or corns? Then grab your elderflower and oil of tartar and check out the 1793 edition for those recipes. While we don't have potions in our collection, these home remedies come close! We’ve transcribed the recipe “to cure a pimpled face and sweeten the blood below:”

Take jena, one ounce; put it in a small stone pot, and pour a quart or more of boiling water on it; then put as many prunes as you can get in, cover it with paper and set it in the oven with household bread; and take of this every day, one, two, three or more of the prunes and liquor, according as it operates; continue at least half a year.

For rural farmers without easy access to medical care, the home remedies provided in the almanacs were useful resources, even if they do read a little bit like spells! Pictured above are the other recipes that were published in the 1793 edition. 

Moving into the 1800s, we came across a section of useful tips in the 1807 edition that included instructions "For Restoring to Life Those Apparently Dead." The phrasing conjures up images of a coven performing a resurrection, or the actions that are going to lead to a zombie apocalypse. In actuality, it is medical advice for administering first aid if someone has drowned or has been exposed to the elements and frostbitten/frozen. After a drowning, though, we aren't sure how beneficial it would be to be "gently rubbed with flannel, sprinkled with spirits; and a heated warming pan, covered, lightly moved over the back and spine." You can read the full text in the image to the right.

Rounding out our almanac display is the 1816 edition open to October. Each month in the 1816 almanac included an illustration of its Zodiac sign and a short verse that related to the month. October’s Scorpio sign, represented by a scorpion, gives off decidedly creepy-crawly vibes. And the verse below creates a spooky atmosphere:

                            The pale descending year yet pleasing still,

                            A gentler mood inspires, for now the leaf

                            Incessant rustles from the mournful grove,

                            And slowly circles through the waving air.

For more information on The Farmer’s Almanac, and the content that doesn’t lean creepy, check out our previous blog post. And visit us from October 7 through November 4 to see these issues on display – if you dare!

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

The 2024 Official Edition of the Massachusetts General Laws Is Here!

The Massachusetts General Laws (MGL) are the laws of the Commonwealth that apply generally across the state and to its citizens. The official MGLs are published every two years on the even year. The set is published by Thomson Reuters (West) and is known for its signature blue and maroon covers which alternate with each edition.

Going beyond the basics, the official edition is important for a few reasons. One reason is that the print edition contains the line numbers. The line numbers are referenced in bills, acts, the laws themselves. They are key access points to reading, understanding, and amending legislation. You cannot find the line numbers anywhere else other than in print.

The other significant reason is that Massachusetts is still a print official state; meaning that the print copy of the general laws is the only official copy. While the general laws are accessible on the Legislature website, this is an unofficial version with a disclaimer:

NOTICE: This is NOT the official version of the General Laws of Massachusetts. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the data provided, do not rely on this information without first checking the Official Edition of the General Laws of Massachusetts. If you require legal advice or counsel, please consult a lawyer.

This site is periodically updated to reflect any changes made to the General Laws. This site includes all amendments to the General Laws passed before January 10, 2025, for laws enacted since that time, see the 2025 Session Laws.

The newly published 2024 edition supersedes the 2022 edition which the library keeps. In fact, the library has the superseded sets of the official MGLs back to the first edition printed in 1984. Prior to 1984, there was a gap in printing and no official copy of the general laws existed. If you need to see how a law looked prior to 1984 that is a more complex research question, so please reach out to our Reference Librarians.

Similarly, throughout the state’s history, the general laws have gone through different revisions and compilations. You may come across citations to these compilations when tracing the history of a statute. The library has these compilations in print and also digitized: Massachusetts General Law Compilations. The older compilations begin with the Colonial Laws and end with the 1932 Tercentenary Edition. As mentioned previously between 1933 and 1983 there is a gap in printing an official version, but that picks back up in 1984! Below is a helpful citation key to the older compilations provided by Social Law Library.

Colonial Laws of Massachusetts (Cited C.L.) 1887
Revised Statutes of 1836 (Cited R.S.) 1836

General Statutes of 1860 (Cited G.S.) 1873

Public Statutes of 1882 (Cited P.S.) 1882

Revised Laws of 1902 (Cited R. L.) 1902

General Laws of 1921 (Cited G.L.) 1921

General Laws, Tercentenary Edition (1932) 1932

The arrival of the 2024 edition of the MGLs was much anticipated this year. The library’s reading room, located in room 341 of the State House, has two sets of the official MGLs available to all to consult.

April Pascucci
Legislative Reference Librarian

State Library Newsletter - October Issue

What do spooky almanacs, pocket Constitutions, and a new Legislative Biography Database have in common? They are all featured in our October newsletter, out now!

Pictured here is a preview, but the full issue can be accessed by clicking here. And you can also sign up for our mailing list to receive the newsletter straight to your inbox.