Learn about the uncanny world of 19th-century American Spiritualism in this special event in the historic Hayes Home. More than an occult parlor game, this was a new religion which channeled the voices of the dead, linked the present with the past and conjured new worldly and otherworldly futures.

This program will cover everything from the Fox sisters, often credited with creating the first major wave of Spiritualism in America to the Morris Pratt Institute, the first school dedicated to teaching Spiritualism in America, located in Whitewater.

Dave Desimone, director of Black Point Estate and Gardens in Wisconsin, leads this unique event. Dave has a bachelor’s degree in history from Youngstown State University and a master’s degree in public history from Kent State University. Desimone worked for the Ohio History Connection, Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, and the Cleveland Botanical Garden before moving to Wisconsin in 2013.

Space is limited, and advance tickets are required. Tickets are available online at rbhayes.org and are $50 per person for nonmembers and $45 for Hayes Presidential Library & Museums members. Note: This program will cover spiritualism and ritualism of the 19th Century, but there will not be any actual séance or attempts to conjure any spirits. It is purely a historical program.