2021 Keynote

The Buffalo Ghostbusters: Physicians, Mediums, and the Court of Public Opinion

Abstract

In 1848, reports of mysterious knockings emerged from the small town of Hydesville, NY. Late that March, the Fox family and neighbors witnessed disembodied sounds seemingly emanating from the walls of their family home. Daughters Margaretta and Catherine soon developed the ability to communicate with these unseen forces, and along with their older sister Leah, would establish themselves as mediums and the founders of the American Spiritualism movement.

The "Rochester Rappings", as these early events were termed by the press, captivated the American public. They also captured the attentions of Drs. Austin Flint, Charles Alfred Lee, and Charles Brodhead Coventry in the nearby town of Buffalo, NY. As three of the founding fathers of the nascent Buffalo Medical College (now the University at Buffalo), Drs. Flint, Lee and Coventry had a vested interest in the success of their school. As members of the developing profession of medicine, they also worked to expand and legitimize their professional endeavors through the lens of science.

In 1851, an arrangement was made, the Drs. proposed and the Fox Sisters consented to a detailed physical examination.

Each side had a story to tell. And the public, they had a choice to make.

This talk will detail the events that led up to the physical examination of the Fox Sisters, as well as the examination itself. The findings circulated to a curious public will also be discussed. Finally, just as Drs. Flint, Lee and Coventry did, we'll confront the limits of science and reason in countering the belief systems of an informed, yet unwilling public.