Providence native, Sarah Helen Whitman, was already a respected 19th-century poet, essayist and critic, when her brief courtship with Edgar Allan Poe — occasionally conducted in the stacks of the Providence Athenaeum — brought her name to a much wider audience. Now we learn from the new exhibit at the Athenaeum — Spiritualism, Illusion and the Beyond — that she was also an enthusiastic participant in the then-new spiritualism movement. This cultural phenomenom, in which the living seek communication with the dead through mediums, had swept the country in the latter part of the century. This absorbing little exhibit includes books and old photographs, including a somewhat baffling photograph of Whitman with a scarf completely covering her head — I’m sure the mediums came up with some logical reason why this was necessary.
From the exhibit we learn that in September of 1850, she attended the first séance held in Providence (during which no spirits were contacted). And that as a spiritualist, Whitman hosted séances at her home — a few blocks down Benefit Street — and that, “She remained a steadfast spiritualist through her death in 1878.”
Happily, we also learn that by the 1880s, the practice was being exposed as a fraud, although centuries later, gullible and grief-stricken victims continue to be exploited in this way.
The Whitman exhibit is on the bottom floor and will remain up through December 22.
Also of interest to Poe fans: The “Poe at the Athenaeum Halloween Tour” takes place on Thursday, October 31st. Two tours will be given at 11am and 2pm. Members $5/ Non-members $15. Registration is required.
Library hours: Closed Monday/ Tuesday thru Saturday: 10am-6pm/ Sunday: 11am-5pm.
The Providence Athenaeum, 251 Benefit Street, (directions)
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The Whitman House where Poe is said to have first spotted Whitman tending her rose garden.
“In spite of their relationship’s unhappy conclusion, Whitman continued to advocate for Poe’s work both nationally and abroad throughout her life.” (Prov Athenaeum)
I had never seen this photograph of Whitman before.