I went to the grand opening of The True Story of Lizzie Borden today in Salem, MA. The day was spectacular, with the prettiest weather I could wish for. Unfortunately, the drive to Salem was a real pain, so my advice to you is that if you are coming from the South, do not follow Google’s map directions. Those take you right through the middle of Boston. Remember to travel around the city—and save yourself a lot of time.

The museum is very well arranged—you enter and move from space to space, unaccompanied. It is nice to take your time and meander, spending more time where you wish without being a part of a group.

The spaces make sense too. You start out in the Fall River area, learning about the history of the time and place with words and images. Sprinkled throughout the exhibit are period furniture pieces and antiques that go to make the place rather cozy and warm.

After the Fall River area, you learn about the family, including Bridget Sullivan. Lots of enlarged images and text adorn the walls, with some period clothing also decorating the space.

I don’t want to give away the farm, but from here on out, the exhibit gives a lot of bang for the buck. There are newly made exhibits that uniquely show the location where the murders took place, both the neighborhood of Second Street and the inside of the house at 92 itself. I was oohing and ahhing about a remarkable diorama. And then from there, well, from there you are in the murder rooms. Without gore, without sensationalizing the crimes, without blood or wax figures, The True Story of Lizzie Borden encapsulates the crimes in a very visual way. Neat, neat, neat.

The courtroom is really cool, as you get a very good sense of the legal world and the case here. It was here that those amazing new skulls are located. I wish they were for sale, because they are primo!

After you go through the court, you are taken to Maplecroft and life after the case. Then forward to the deaths of Emma and Lizzie. Some optical illusions here pleased me very much and it was a super way to end the tour. There is even a huge display on the way about the Lizzie Borden B&B/Museum, which offers information on how to contact them for tours and lodging. It fits right in with the story, and I think will prod people to visit Fall River, if they didn’t know, for instance, that the house where the murders took place is open to the public.

As with all of the Fall River Lizzie Borden businesses (Lizzie Borden B&B/Museum and the Fall River Historical Society), there is a gift shop where you can purchase all sorts of apparel, glassware, keychains, pens, and some amazing real life skulls that would make a great addition to any Halloween house.

All in all, this was a really well done show —my only suggestion would be to add some sound in some “rooms” if possible, perhaps voices talking some of the signage so that you don’t have to read so much, and a little interactivity would be sweet.

Owner Leonard Pickel told me that the exhibit is in a state of constant flux and will be changing and evolving over time. I am looking forward to returning around Halloween when the leaves are changing. I think it would be a great time to visit!

Oh, and don’t forget to take some time to visit other historical sites up this way. Salem is just a few exits away from Concord, Lexington, Danvers, and other amazing and lovely communities. History is all around you in Massachusetts. A new adventure is around every corner!

Not only does Salem beat Fall River in a Google Fight, but OJ Simpson trounces Lizzie Borden!

link.

Same story, different papers/venues.

And this from LaCrosse, Wisconsin:

Brad’s Desk 8/22

August 22, 2008 by Brad

Lizzie Borden Took An Ax…And Helped Our City’s Sales Tax

THERE’S A FIGHT IN MASSACHUSETTS OVER WHO GETS TO CAPITALIZE ON A NOTORIOUS MURDER CASE.
MORE THAN A CENTURY AFTER LIZZIE BORDEN’S PARENTS WERE KILLED WITH A HATCHET, YOU HAVE THE STRANGE SPECTACLE OF TWO BUSINESSES IN MASSACHUSETTS FIGHTING OVER WHO GETS TO USE HER NAME TO ATTRACT VISITORS. LIZZIE WAS SORT OF THE O-J SIMPSON OF HER TIME. SHE WAS ACQUITTED OF MURDERING HER PARENTS, BUT THERE’S STILL THAT LITTLE POEM ABOUT THE AX AND ’40 WHACKS.’ THE MURDERS HAPPENED IN FALL RIVER, AND THE MAYOR THERE SAYS THE CASE IS ONE OF HIS TOWN’S TOP TOURIST ATTRACTIONS. IF YOUR TOWN BASES ITS TOURISM INDUSTRY ON A GRISLY DOUBLE MURDER, YOU NEED HELP. BUT THEN THERE’S SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, WHICH CAPITALIZES ON ITS DUBIOUS REPUTATION AS A TOWN THAT HELD WITCH TRIALS. AND IT’S SALEM WHICH IS FIGHTING WITH FALL RIVER OVER WHO GETS TO CLAIM LIZZIE BORDEN AS A FAVORITE DAUGHTER. SHEESH.

THE HOUSE WHERE THE MURDERS OCCURRED IS NOW THE ‘LIZZIE BORDEN BED AND BREAKFAST’…AND THAT BUSINESS IS SUING TO STOP A MUSEUM IN SALEM FROM USING THE BORDEN NAME. THE STAFF AT THE B-AND-B HAS BEEN TOLD NOT TO COMMENT TO THE MEDIA ABOUT THIS. NICE. THE OWNER OF THE MUSEUM IN SALEM CLAIMS HIS BUSINESS WILL HELP BOTH COMMUNITIES. I’M NOT TAKING SIDES ON HOW THIS TURNS OUT, BUT IS THIS GOING TO START A TREND OF MAKING MONEY OFF REAL-LIFE CRIME? WHEN I WAS A KID, MY FAMILY STAYED ONCE IN DEADWOOD, SOUTH DAKOTA…BEST KNOWN AT THE TIME AS THE TOWN WHERE WILD BILL HICKOK WAS SHOT WHILE PLAYING POKER. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF ED GEIN’S HOMETOWN IN CENTRAL WISCONSIN OPENED A ‘BATES MOTEL’? THE GEIN CASE INSPIRED THE MOVIE ‘PSYCHO.’ COME TO THINK OF IT…HAS ANYBODY BOOKED TRIPS TO JONESTOWN LATELY?