Description of your institution:
Name of institution: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, The University of Rochester
Mailing address: Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Email address: rarebks@library.rochester.edu
Website: http://www.library.rochester.edu/rbscp
Description of how and when your institution started acquiring archival, library or artifact collections relating to parapsychology:
An example of Spirit Writing from the Isaac and Amy Post Papers
The foundation of our collection relating to parapsychology is the Isaac and Amy Post Papers, which contains spirit writing and correspondence from the Fox sisters, as well as accounts of experiences, most notably from Frederick Douglass. Rochester, NY is considered to be the birthplace of Spiritualism, dating back to the late 1840s. Because aspects of our collections focus on the history of this area, there is a great deal that we have built upon relating to Spiritualism and other religious movements in this community, known widely as the “Burned Over District” – home of the Second Great Awakening. There are also connections between Spiritualism, Abolitionism, and Suffrage that connect directly to the Rochester area.
Your main collections in the field, including the names of prominent creators:
Isaac and Amy Post Papers: https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/finding-aids/D93
- Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers, 1817-1918. D.93.
- Extensive published holdings, including books and newspapers.
Finding aids for your main parapsychology collections:
- Post Family Papers Digitization Project.: https://rbsc.library.rochester.edu/
- Spiritualism broadsides in https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/broadsides/browse
- Extensive collection of Spiritualism newspapers
Published works created using your parapsychology collections, including books, plays, artwork, both non-fiction and fiction:
Rochester Knockings: A Novel of the Fox Sisters. (Open Letter Press, 2015) (Translated from the French)
