online: www.rihumanities.org email: info@rihumanities.org phone: 401-273-2250
During the 19th century, a movement called "Modern American Spiritualism" swept across the United States, involving hundreds of thousands of people in the attempt to comprehend and make contact with the spirit world. During the movement's greatest popularity, the decades from around 1850 to 1870, three prominent Rhode Island women became involved in Spiritualism: Sarah Helen Whitman, Elizabeth Buffum Chace, and Frances Harriet Whipple Green McDougall. These extraordinary women are known for their other major interests, such as literary accomplishment and reform activities, but Spiritualism also played an important part in each of their lives. In this talk, we look at the various meanings that it assumed for each of them.
Sarah C. O'Dowd, retired professor of psychology at CCRI is an enthusiastic proponent of lifelong learning. Her publications on topics ranging from developmental psychology, educational gerontology, and semiotics have appeared in scholarly journals. Her interest in Rhode Island history led her to publish a book about Frances Harriet Whipple Green McDougall, called Rhode Island Original
Needs: Lighted lectern/water; Books available for sale upon request
Availability: Speaker is unavailable January 15 through March 31