Spirits in the Stacks: A Ghostly Tour at the Congregational Library & Archives

Feeling spooky? Join us on October 8th at 14 Beacon for chilling tales of the macabre. NEHH Project Director Dr. Tricia Peone will guide you through the haunted history of the Congregational Library & Archives.

Hear ghost stories drawn from the 400-year history of Congregationalism, and learn why the CLA has collected occult literature. View rare books and manuscripts from the CLA’s collections, including seventeenth-century books on ghosts and witchcraft, nineteenth-century pamphlets on vampires and seances, and twentieth-century haunted house sermons.

This interactive tour will begin with a discussion of puritan belief in ghosts and the invisible world, including works by Boston ministers Increase and Cotton Mather that continue to shape the way people understand these topics. Dr. Peone will explore the legacy of New England’s supernatural landscape and how this history continues to affect us today.

Email any questions to programs@14beacon.org.

SPEAKER BIO

Dr. Tricia Peone joined the CLA in 2022 as the Project Director for New England’s Hidden Histories. Prior to joining the CLA, she was a research scholar at Historic New England for the Recovering New England’s Voices project. She has also previously worked as the public programs director at New Hampshire Humanities, a university lecturer teaching classes on the Salem witch trials, early New England, and public history, and as a researcher for cultural heritage organizations. Her scholarship focuses on early New England, particularly the history of magic and witchcraft, and her work on these subjects has appeared in journals, books, blogs, and on radio and television. She holds a PhD in history from the University of New Hampshire with a specialization in the early modern Atlantic world and history of science.