Mondo Lizzie Borden

A very recent publication contains a few pages about the Borden Murders: Life: The Most Notorious Crimes in American History: Fifty Fascinating Cases from the Files - in Pictures by the editors of Life Magazine.

I am most excited by this book because it mentions The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies in the text! Also of note is that the photo of the handleless hatchet on the page before the Table of Contents in the book is an unattributed photo taken by me.

The book contains many great images of important cases, and is divided into the following categories: Politics, Passion, Profit, and Pointless Mayhem. Guess where they placed the Borden case? I don’t think of the case as “Pointless Mayhem”—several people profited from the crimes. But I guess since it is officially unsolved, the editors decided there was no reasonable motive to help place it in some proper pigeonhole.

Today the Daily Hampshire Gazette ran a piece by Kristin Pepini about Mount Holyoke and the Borden case.

You might remember that the August issue of The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies included brand new research on where Emma Borden went during her “away years” in the 1860s. It turned out that Emma went to Wheaton College in Norton. This fact was discovered by Kristin Pepe and she graciously shared that information on The Lizzie Borden Society Forum.

Here is the article:

Shelley Dziedzic made an amazing find recently—Lizzie Borden’s 1890 passport application!

You can read all about her discovery in the New Research section of The Lizzie Borden Virtual Museum and Library.

I guess this is the year for new finds. We now know where Emma Borden went to school for a year and a half in the 1860s; we have a new portrait of Andrew Borden; and now Lizzie’s passport application. What more could the year bring? KEWL!

DiscoveryTimes cable network will be showing Lizzie Borden Had an Axe tonight, Monday, November 26, at 8PM and 11PM EST. This is the latest documentary on the case, made for the Discovery Channel a few years ago in 2004. In it you will see Detective Tom Lange (of OJ Simpson fame) and professor of criminology Tom Mauriello spray Luminol around the murder house on 92 Second Street, looking for blood evidence. They do find some blood evidence on the ceiling under the sitting room where Andrew was murdered, which is very interesting, but in the same section of the show they claim that the luminol test also shows blood evidence around a bowl in the chimney (after how many people lived there since the murders in 1892??) that may or may not be original to the house when the Bordens owned it. My favorite part continues to be the dollhouse reconstruction of the crime, and I think this part works well to show in 3-D just how the crimes were committed.

The site for the show is still online and shows photos from the production.

In the interest of fair reporting, I appeared in the documentary as an expert on the case and assisted the production as a consultant. If you look real close at my neck in the shots of me you might see the welts that I had from a reaction to an antibiotic I was taking at the time. The turtleneck sweater almost covered up the marks!

I am happy to announce that today the Fall River Herald News has done a rather lengthy piece on The Hatchet’s discovery of the previously unknown Andrew Borden portrait (see below for other blog entries on this remarkable image). The story on how it was found can be read in this issue of The Hatchet.

It really was a stroke of good luck and keen eyes. I guess I have always been on the lookout for all things Borden, and when I saw the image I was excited and skeptical. It wasn’t until I had other Borden scholars take a gander and they likewise considered this Andrew that I approached the Fall River Historical Society for authentication.

Thanks go to Deborah Allard for the great article and to Michael Brimbau for sending me the image of the article above and buying me lots of copies of today’s paper!

Read the article in the FR Herald News in its entirety here.

Dear Readers of Mondo Lizzie,

Recently, I was granted the good fortune of uncovering a previously unseen Andrew Borden portrait. I was amazed that it had gone undiscovered for over 150 years!

The story of how and where the portrait was found will be the feature article in the next issue of The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies. You can purchase a copy of the magazine as either an online download or a print copy through LuLu.com.

The next issue, with Andrew on the cover, will be published simultaneously online and on LuLu.com on Monday, November 5th, 2007.

Download the Press Release here.

Cheers,
Stefani Koorey, Ph.D.

Here is a peek at the new Andrew Jackson Borden portrait.

Take a gander at the new look of the Lizzie Borden B&B website. I think it is much improved over the last one. I hate web sites and blogs that have music on them that turn on just by clicking on them.

This site was designed by Richard Behrens, filmmaker, author, and web designer. Here is a sample of his work: Cy Walter.com. Richard’s film company is Garden Bay Films. Richard is also a member of the Lizzie Borden Society Forum.

I also did some design work for the site, contributing the banner and a few other special do dodads.

Be sure to keep returning for new content.

The print version of the August 2007 issue of The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies is now available for sale through LuLu.com.

This issue is 120 pages in length, almost double our usual issue size. In addition, it presents new information regarding Emma Borden’s years at Wheaton Female Seminary (her lost years), including photos of the Seminary when she was there and her account book and grades!

We also are pleased to present fantastic pieces by Fall River historians Neilson Caplain, Bill Goncalo, and Michael Brimbau. There is a wonderful photographic essay on Luther’s Four Corners Museum and Lizzie’s chairs, a highly informative piece about crime in Fall River in 1892, and a thought provoking essay by Melissa Allen. Regular contributors Douglas Walters, Denise Noe, Eugene Hosey, and Sherry Chapman also grace our pages with remarkable contributions.

All in all a jam-packed issue sure to delight and satisfy!

Online subscription price is only $20 per year (4 issues a year). PLUS: Subscribers get a special discount on the print issue not offered to the general public.

If you are a subscriber, you can purchase the print copy through our print-on-demand partner, LuLu.com by logging into The Hatchet and purchasing through the subscriber area. That is the only link to the discounted print copies.

Non-subscribers can purchase color or B&W copies directly through the LuLu.com site.

Cheers,
Stefani Koorey
Editor and Publisher
The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies

The Fall River Herald News ran a lovely piece today advertising my talk on Wednesday, August 15. Here is a copy. How kewl!

There was this in today’s SouthCoastToday.com:

‘Lizzie Borden in Cyberspace’: The Friends of the Fall River Public Library present Prof. Stefani Korrey of Valencia Community College, Orlando, Fla., 6:30 p.m. Aug. 15 in the meeting room of the Main Library. Free. Refreshments served. Paula C. Cullen, (508) 324-2700. 104 N. Main St., Fall River.

And in the Providence Journal as well!

At the library: The Friends of the Fall River Public Library will hold “Lizzie Borden in Cyberspace,” a program by Prof. Stefani Koorey, of Valencia Community College, Orlando, Fla., in Fall River Public Library’s main library meeting room, 104 North Main St., tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.

With all this great publicity, I am sure the meeting room will fill up. Come early and stay late!

See you all at the Library!

The August 2007 issue of The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies has been placed ONLINE.

This issue is JAM packed with interesting articles—and I really mean jam packed! The new issue runs a whopping 120 pages!

And it includes news, information, and images not published elsewhere on the newly discovered Emma Borden’s years at Wheaton Seminary School. Lizzie Borden Society Forum member and Borden historian Shelley Dziedzic and I spent two days doing research at Wheaton and found some really wonderful things you won’t want to miss.

Plus we have some fabulous pieces on Fall River History by Neilson Caplain, Bill Goncalo, and Michael Brimbau. Other pieces are included by Borden historians and forum members— Kat Koorey, Harry Widdows, Sherry Chapman, Richard Behrens, Denise Noe, Douglas Walters, and Melissa Allen.

Not a subscriber? It only costs $20 for a year’s worth of issues of The Hatchet, and you have access to that entire year’s issues no matter when you subscribe during that calendar year. So if you join us today, you can download all previous issues of 2007 immediately. Remember, there is one more issue to go this year!

Sound interesting? You can read more details about the August issue and subscribe here.

Subscribers, you can download your copy immediately and/or view a slideshow of the magazine here.

Happy reading!

Stefani Koorey
Editor and Publisher
The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies

Len Rebello, author of Lizzie Borden Past and Present, Borden historian Shelley Dziedzic and I went to Wheaton College today and conducted a lot of research on Emma Borden’s time there as a Seminary Student in the mid 1800s. The library staff was stupendous in finding all the info we could possibly need!

An extensive article on Wheaton and Emma’s time there is soon to be published in the next issue of The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies. The Online journal will be full of brand new information, photos, and all sorts of amazing things about the quiet and lesser known Borden sister.

This is the second trip for me and Shelley to Wheaton, and we were honored to have Len Rebello join us to absorb all the new information.

The photo above is Len, Shelley and myself. Behind us is a painting of the lovely Caroline Cutler Plimpton Metcalf, Emma’s principal during her stay there, and probably her English grammar instructor as well. The painting is by William Page, an internationally respected artist and one of the leading exponents of figure painting among the American Romantics.

This is just a photo of me and Len Rebello. One great guy!

Yours truly will be speaking in Fall River at the Fall River Public Library on Wednesday, August 15, 2007, at 6:30 PM. I am the invited speaker of the Friends of the Library. The topic of my talk will be “Lizzie Borden in Cyberspace.”

The event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and no reservations are accepted, so please mark your calendars now! The address is 104 North Main Street, Fall River, MA 02720. For directions please visit the Library’s site here.

For information on becoming a Friend of the Library, please visit the Friend’s site here.

The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies is announcing a call for submissions of works of fiction, poetry, art and short stories for a special edition of the magazine to be published in April 2007.

Visit The Hatchet to read about our compensation rates, how to subscribe or order back copies of the journal.

Hot off the presses is this new and improved Lizzie Borden Doorhanger.

4-color double sided Lizzie Borden door hanger, perfect for any room in your house. There is a different message on each side. Side A reads: “Lizzie Borden’s Room Enter at your own risk!”; Side B reads: “Lizzie Borden: Please knock and axe me if you can enter!”

Die-cut opening for doorknob not shown but is on the final product.

Original artwork decorates this distinctive and unique item. Aqueous Semi-Gloss Coating on both sides .

You can order yours for only $3.95 each here.

We are ADDING a section to The Hatchet next issue tentatively titled “Word 4word” that will offer 200-300 word reviews of all media related to Lizzie, Victorian America, Fall River, and True Crime (yes, I am branching out). I will pay $5 per review but cannot send you the book or video to work with. I can, however, provide a list of books, magazine articles, and films that I would like to see reviewed soon. But I am totally open to items you might find along the way as well—-so just shoot the title by me for approval so we don’t have any duplication. The deadline for reviews will be the same as the deadlines above. Email me at hatchetonline (at) cfl.rr.com to submit reviews or request a list of things to write about.