Mondo Lizzie Borden

According to the Emery University Violence Studies Newsletter, Fall 1999, a then new book was announced that appears to include an essay on Lizzie Borden. Says the newsletter:

While helping to organize the Violence Studies Program two years ago, Professor Michael Bellesiles discovered that there was no general history of American violence. Encouraged by New York University Press, Bellesiles brought together twenty original essays in the volume Lethal Imagination: Violence and Brutality in American History, which has just been published.

This book includes articles by: Emory Professors Catherine Ross Nickerson, English and ILA, on Lizzy Borden; Professor Mary Odem, History, on the cultural and social contexts of rape; Dr. Arthur Kellermann, Director of the Center for Injury Control, on the impact of gun ownership; and Uche Egemonye, a student in the Law School, on African American women and

yes, the quote just ends. This is how it is in the newsletter.

Anyhow, I ordered the book and will report back regarding Dr. Nickerson’s article. By the by, Nickerson’s essay was reviewed by Lisa Zawadzki in the October 1999 Lizzie Borden Quarterly. It pays to reread those gems every once in a while. You never know what you will re-discover!

Here is a complete list of the book’s contents:

Lethal imagination : violence and brutality in American history (Michael A. Bellesiles, ed.; 1999). Includes Introduction / Michael A. Bellesiles — Kieft’s War and the cultures of violence in colonial America / Evan Haefeli — “Shee would bump his mouldy britch”: authority, masculinity, and the harried husbands of New Haven Colony, 1638-1670 / Ann M. Little — Colonial and Revolutionary era slave patrols of Virginia / Sally E. Hadden — The social origins of dueling in Virginia / Bruce C. Baird — Women of domestic violence in nineteenth-century North Carolina / Laura F. Edwards — Complicity and deceit: Lewis Cheney’s plot and its bloody consequences / Junius P. Rodriguez — Good men and notorious rogues: vigilantism in Massac County, Illinois, 1846-1850 / Nicole Etcheson — Armed and “more or less dangerous”: women and violence in American frontier literature, 1820-1860 / Laura McCall — Seduced, betrayed, and revenged: the murder trial of Mary Harris / Lee Chambers-Schiller — To live and die in Dodge City: body counts, law and order, and the case of Kansas v. Gill / Robert R. Dykstra — Word and deed: the language of lynching, 1820-1953 / Christopher Waldrep — “The deftness of her sex”: innocence, guilt, and gender in the trial of Lizzie Borden / Catherine Ross Nickerson — Treat her like a lady: judicial paternalism and the justification for assaults against Black women, 1865-1910 / Uche Egemonye — “The Negro would be more than an angel to withstand such treatment”: African- American homicide in Chicago, 1875-1910 / Jeffrey S. Adler — Homosociality and the legal sanction of male heterosexual aggression in the early twentieth century / John C. Pettegrew — “The unspeakable Mrs. Gunness”: the deviant woman in early-twentieth-century America / Paula K. Hinton — Cultural representations and social contexts of rape in the early twentieth century / Mary E. Odem –Violence by design: contraceptive technology and the invasion of the female body / Andrea Tone — The Monroe Rifle Club: finding justice in an “ungodly and social jungle called Dixie” / Craig S. Pascoe — Armed and dangerous: guns in American homes / Arthur L. Kellermann and Philip J. Cook.

Eldridge Publishing offers a book of monologues for “teen actors” called 1400 Boxes of Jello and Other Monologues. The book is by Daniel S. Kehde, and presumably, he wrote the pieces included. Here is the description of the content:

These 21 monologues for teen actors are wise, witty and full of twists and surprises. Each opens a unique window on either a familiar fairy tale character, an unusual historical figure, or a present-day youngster. There’s Snow White’s teenage daughter who’s shocked to discover that her mom lived with dwarfs and worked as a maid! Or Lizzy Borden confessing her crimes to her last victims, knowing they will never tell. Or the high school girl whose breakup with her boyfriend leads to tragedy. There’s also the narrator of the title monologue who can’t understand why the victim of a hilarious prank is so upset. This collection of young voices makes for a fun, thought-provoking, and emotionally satisfying experience. #2211 Resource Book - $14.95

I think I need to read this one and report back. Sounds like he has Lizzie as a serial killer!

The Camden County College, in New Jersey, is offering a large selection of tuition-free Professional Development workshops for teachers and community members. Of note is the offering for the Blackwood Campus: “Murders That Changed the Course of History.”

MURDERS THAT CHANGED THE COURSE OF HISTORY
This workshop will exam infamous acts of violence and the significant impact these dastardly deeds have had on the course of history.
DATES: TUESDAYS, MAY 16, MAY 23, MAY 30, JUNE 6, JUNE 13
TIME: 6 TO 8:30 P.M.
LOCATION: ADAM 008 (BLACKWOOD CAMPUS)
COURSE NUMBER: IDY – 209-58
MURDER OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN (MAY 16) Probably no single event in 19th century America had so profound an impact on the course of history as the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Participants will learn how this single act of violence helped changed American history forever.
JACK THE RIPPER MURDERS (MAY 23) Beginning in August 1888, a series of murders took place in the Whitechapel section of London that sent shock waves through the city. Participants will learn how the unsolved murders of five women spawned a reform movement in Britain that dramatically changed the nature of British society.
LIZZY BORDEN MURDER CASE (MAY 30) The gruesome axe murders of Andrew and Abby Borden in 1892 and the trial of their daughter, Lizzy, generated national publicity, and raised important social and legal issues.
ASSASSINATIONS OF RASPUTIN & THE RUSSIAN ROYAL FAMILY (JUNE 6) Few events had a greater impact on the history of the world than the murders of Rasputin and the Romanov family. Their deaths affected the outcome of World War I and directly contributed to the rise of Communism in Russia.
LINDBERGH KIDNAPPING (JUNE 13) The trial of the alleged kidnapper of Charles Lindbergh’s son was as famous as that of Lizzy Borden. The “Crime of the Century” as it was called, and the subsequent behavior of Lindbergh influenced American attitudes toward entrance into World War II and affected the laws related to kidnapping.

I see this a lot: spelling Lizzie as “Lizzy”–happens on eBay all the time. Makes searching for her especially complicated! But it does sound like it was a cool course! And it must be a big draw as this is the second year they have offered it.

If you want to see what else they are offering, here is the complete PDF of the summer workshops, including registration form.

From the New York Times, December 19, 1902: