Newzletter - November, 2002

Thanks to you, and people like you, the Lizzie Borden Virtual Museum and Library has had a record-breaking month of hits. In October alone, the site recorded 458,609 hits! This brings the total number of hits the site has had since it's premiere on August 19, 2001 to 2,223,679!!

Past issues of the Lizzie Borden Newzletter are now archived on the LBVML. Simply click on the link on the first page of the web site and you will be directed to a page that offers info on subscribing and past issues. The current issue of the Lizzie Borden Newzletter is not archived until the next issue is published. You, as subscribers, are the only ones who have access to its contents.

The Lizzie Borden Society Forum is also growing like gangbusters. We now have 112 members. Please stop by and see us sometime. Introduce yourselves and stay for tea!

If you have any questions, comments, contributions, or suggestions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Every month I will conduct a contest, the winner of which will receive a Lizzie-related gift item.

This month's first place wins a "Lizzie Borden: Did She or Didn't She" bumper sticker AND a copy of the newspaper reports of the Bertha Manchester murder case. You remember Bertha don't you? She was murdered by a hatchet-wielding killer while Lizzie was in jail. Great reading and never before published in this compiled format. The document is a PDF file, viewable on any computer system.

Second place wins a "Lizzie Borden: Did She or Didn't She" bumper sticker. Third place wins a set of small pear candles.

Your job is to rewrite this ditty, using the same meter and cadence. The subject matter should relate somehow to the case, but is not limited to the actual crime itself.

Entries must be received by November 28th. Winners will be determined by a committee of three Borden buffs. The winning doggerel will be revealed in next month's Lizzie Borden Newzletter. All other entries will be published in the Writer's Corner of the Lizzie Borden Virtual Museum and Library—so in a sense, everyone who enters WINS!

First place winner receives a "Lizzie Borden: Did She or Didn't She?" bumper sticker AND a copy of the newspaper reports of the Bertha Manchester murder case.

Kathleen Carbone, a contributor to both the Lizzie Borden Society Forum and the Writers Corner of the Lizzie Borden Virtual Museum and Library, is presenting a program on Lizzie Borden for the Brighton Allston Historical Society at the Allston Public Library, outside Boston, on November 13. Anybody in the area at the time should consider attending this event! The program is titled Forty Whacks: Lizzie Borden Through The Looking Glass.

ONLY 2 MORE PERFORMANCES
MISS LIZZIE A. BORDEN INVITES YOU TO TEA
Performances are at the Raw Space at 543 West 42 Street as follows:
Saturday, November 2, 8:30 PM
Sunday, November 3, 4 PM

Miss Lizzie A. Borden Invites You to Tea premiered in Provincetown, MA in 1995 and played for 5 seasons.

The audience is invited to Lizzie's party that she holds annually on the anniversary of the murders of her father and stepmother. During this 75 minute drama, Lizzie reveals the family secrets that might have contributed to the brutal ax murders including her father's penny-pinching habits, her sister Emma's death-bed promise to their real mother, a house with no hallways and bedrooms opening into each other and lots more. Lizzie also talks freely about her love affair with one of the great Shakespearean actresses of the time, Nance O'Neil, and of her great love for animals.

Conn has read and researched and dug and sifted and created a Lizzie Borden with whom we can all identify. Come to Lizzie's party. Listen to her story. Laugh, cry and have fun with her. Lizzie Borden scholars who have seen this play feel that this is one of the most thrilling as well as historically accurate portrayals of the real life events.

See the Lizzie Borden Museum Gift Shop to purchase a copy of Ms. Conn's play!

The Lizzie Borden Quarterly published a look at an aged Alice Russell in the October 2002 issue. It is an amazing candid black and white image of Alice looking up at the camera as she sits on a rocking chair at the home for the aged in 1931.

I have recently added several new pages to the Lizzie Borden Virtual Museum and Library. They include:

8. I CALLED ALL GHOST HUNTERS!

I wanted to add a paranormal section to the Lizzie Borden Virtual Museum and Library, but the only thing is, I did not have an encounter with a ghost during my visit at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast. I head tell that lots of people have had such strange experiences.

I only had one submission, which I will share with you here.

If any of you would like to share your out-of-this-world Lizzie Borden stories, please email me and I will add them to the new addition to the site.

9. LIZZIE BORDEN QUARTERLY

Considered the preeminent journal for Borden scholars, buffs, and armchair detectives, the Lizzie Borden Quarterly has been in publication since January 1993. Publisher: Gabriela Adler, Editor: Maynard F. Bertolet, published by Bristol Community College in Fall River.

Here is the table of contents from the latest (October 2002) issue:

"Lizzie' s Turncoat Friend" by Michael Martins and Dennis Binette
"Lizzie On Line" by Stefani Koorey
"In Pursuit of the Proceedings" by Sherry Chapman
"A Friendship Destroyed" by Paul Dennis Hoffman
"The Trial Testimony of Alice M. Russell--Part I"
"Patrick H. Doherty -- The Witness Statements -- Concluded"
"The Bibliographic Borden" by Lisa Zawadzki
"Lizbits" by Neilson Caplain
"Princess Maplecroft" by Mary T. Cusack
"Letters to the Editor" by Marilynne K. Roach

To Subscribe to the Lizzie Borden Quarterly, send your name
and address and your check or money order for
U.S.A.: 1 Year $18.00, 2 Years $30.00,
Non U.S.A.: 1 Year $24.00, 2 Years $40.00

Mail To:
Lizzie Borden Quarterly
Dr. Gabriela Schalow Adler - Publisher
Bristol Community College
777 Elsbree Street
Fall River, MA. 02720-7391

10. LIZZIE GIFTS

Here is a list of the newest additions to the Lizzie Borden Gift Shop. Please visit the store at this address for contact information regarding purchasing these items.

Complete Primary Source Documents PLUS important books on the case on CD-ROM: Police Witness Statements (46 pages + full index); Inquest (2 vols.); Preliminary Hearing (5 vols., 460+ pages); Trial Transcript (2 vols., 1,900 + pages). PLUS The Fall River Tragedy (1893) by Edwin H. Porter and The Trial of Lizzie Borden (1937) by Edmund Pearson --- both books are in PDF format and contain all photographs from the original editions. All documents and books are in PDF format for easy viewing on ANY computer or operating system (Mac, PC, Linux). Now you can own all of the important primary sources on one disk! If purchased separately in hard paper format, your total would be at least $250. This copy of the Preliminary Hearing is in CORRECT ORDER. The original is not. Includes an original introductory essay that provides much needed information on the preliminary hearing process and Lizzie's process specifically. The disk includes all four documents, two important books on the case (Porter and Pearson), plus a free bonus of a large collection of photographs related to the case in jpg and gif formats, including images of the primary participants in the murder mystery and photographs of the inside and outside of the murder house, 92 Second St. in Fall River, Mass. $49.95.

The Borden Murders and Their Aftermath, as reported in the New Bedford Evening Standard. One of the foremost and complete newspapers that covered the Borden tragedy of Fall River, Massachusetts, was the New Bedford Evening Standard. Almost all books on the Borden case draw heavily from its pages. Rich in detail, these news reports capture the flavor and atmosphere from the day of the crime to Lizzie’s ultimate acquittal. Now for the first time you can have a digitized transcription of the pages of this vital resource. Arranged by date, these articles if printed out would be over 460 pages in length. This collection does not include the trial coverage itself and is intended as a complement to the primary source documents found at this website. These articles cover the daily side happenings during the period of the trial and the events leading up to it and its decision. Reading these pages is like being transported back in time to 1892-93 Fall River and New Bedford, Mass. Every attempt was made to make an exact duplicate of each daily article. This is a must for any Lizzie Borden buff who wants to read first hand about the excitement and drama surrounding the daily happenings of this extraordinary case. This important document is brought to you in PDF format for easy viewing on ANY computer or operating system (Mac, PC, Linux). The disk includes the extensive transcripts of the New Bedford Evening Standard plus a free bonus of a large collection of photographs related to the case in jpg and gif formats, including images of the primary participants in the murder mystery and photographs of the inside and outside of the murder house, 92 Second St. in Fall River, Mass. $19.95.

Lizzie Borden -- The Murders and Their Aftermath, as reported by the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. A little known upstate New York newspaper, the Democrat & Chronicle in Rochester, NY, devoted extensive coverage to the Borden murders in Fall River, Massachusetts and their aftermath in the years 1892 and 1893. In a series of 28 articles they present the daily happenings and events that were so captivating to the reading audience. The articles were transcribed and digitized using the exact spelling and factual errors to reflect the sense of the reporting of this real life drama and are made available for the very first time in this format. This well written and interesting series of articles is a welcome addition to any collector of material on one of the most horrific unsolved murder cases of all time. This collection is in PDF format for viewing on any computer system. The collection can be read with a free Adobe Acrobat Reader, available for download at Adobe.com. This unique and original collection has never before been offered for sale. Transcribed by Harry Widdows, famed originator of the Lizzie Borden Trial Transcript in Word format. $9.95

Lizzie Borden Screensaver! This specially created screensaver is for the Lizzie Borden buff, true crime reader, armchair detective, or historian. The screensaver contains over forty photographs covering the span of the 1892 Borden tragedy. Photos of Lizzie, the Bordens, the Morses, 92 Second Street, the victims, Fall River, Maplecroft, and the Oak Grove Cemetery graves are included. This unique and brand new item has never before been offered for sale. Created by Harry Widdows, famed originator of the Lizzie Borden Trial Transcript in Word format. This CD makes a great gift and installs in seconds on any PC running Windows. $11.95 includes FREE SHIPPING!

Edmund Pearson The Trial of Lizzie Borden and Edwin Porter The Fall River Tragedy, on CD-ROM. Pearson, Edmund. The Trial of Lizzie Borden. New York: Doubleday, 1937. Important work that includes great quantities of trial testimony, not generally found elsewhere, but criticized for his one-sided approach which favored Lizzie as the killer. Porter, Edwin H. The Fall River Tragedy. Fall River, MA: George R. H. Buffinton, Press of J. D. Munroe, 1893. Porter's book is the first major work in the field of Borden studies. Includes many rare photographs. Both books are complete and are in PDF format for easy viewing on ANY computer (Mac, PC, Linux). The disk includes both books (and all photos from the original editions) plus a free bonus of a large collection of photographs related to the case in jpg and gif formats, including images of the primary participants in the murder mystery, and photographs of the inside and outside of the murder house, 92 Second St. in Fall River, Mass. $19.95

Lizzie Borden Bumper Sticker! Now for the first time you can own a "Lizzie Borden -- Did She or Didn't She?" bumper sticker. These high quality bumper stickers are made from the finest synthetic (polypropylene or polyester) materials. The color pigments are heat-fused onto the material. This makes the image resistant to weather, carwashes, etc. The stickers are flexible and easy to apply. Our bumper stickers are the standard 3" by 10" in size. The sticker is black and white (see image). Please note that the word "COPY" does not appear on the finished bumper sticker, it is used for advertisement purposes only. $4.95 each or 2 for $9.00, shipping is only 45 cents! .

The Preliminary Hearing. 481 pages, 5 volumes. August 25 - September 1, 1892. Available for the first time in .pdf format on a CD-ROM. Searchable and complete. With introductory essay by Harry Widdows and Stefani Koorey. This copy does not require a word processing program to view as this disk's contents are in PDF format. In addition, this copy of the Preliminary Hearing is in CORRECT ORDER. The original is not. And finally, this copy of the Preliminary Hearing includes an original introductory essay that provides much needed information on the preliminary hearing process and Lizzie's process specifically. The disk includes the Preliminary Hearing plus a free bonus of a large collection of photographs related to the case in jpg and gif formats, including images of the primary participants in the murder mystery and photographs of the inside and outside of the murder house, 92 Second St. in Fall River, Mass. $19.95

The Murder of Bertha Manchester, 1893, articles of the crime from the Evening Standard, New Bedford, Mass., May 31 to June 13, 1893, on CD-ROM. Says Lizzie Borden scholar, K. Koorey, "The pitiful saga of the Bertha Manchester murder was an important addendum to the legend of the Borden Case. The murder was committed in similar style, with similar weapon, in daylight, upon an innocent woman. It’s splash upon the headlines May 31, 1893, just days before the beginning of the trial of Lizzie Borden for the hatchet murder of her father and step –mother, may have influenced a jury pool that was about to be chosen to serve in the 'Trial of the Century.'" Volume contains thirteen articles and several newspaper images. Also includes an original Introduction and Epilogue by K. Koorey. This collection is in PDF format for viewing on any computer system. The collection can be read with a free Adobe Acrobat Reader, available for download at Adobe.com. This unique and original collection has never before been offered for sale. Transcribed by Harry Widdows, famed originator of the Lizzie Borden Trial Transcript in Word format. $7.95.

Lost Lesbian Lives contains three one-woman plays written by actress and playwright Marjorie Conn. It includes The Honeymoon Years of Eleanor Roosevelt & Lorena Hickok, Miss Lizzie A. Borden Invites You to Tea, Thar She Blows! Disguised as a Boy She Went A'whaling. These works and others represent Marj's unwavering commitment to recording and restoring the lives of lesbians, lives which have been all too often erased from history. The plays in this book focus on three very different women: Lorena Hickok, an early female reporter and the lover of Eleanor Roosevelt. Lizzie Borden, the subject of the 19th Century Trial of the Century, who was also the lover of a famous actress. Isabella Chase, a fictional character patterned after the real women who disguised themselves as men and served on whaling and other ships in the mid-19th Century. Each of them encompasses a part of the North American lesbian experience, and thus is a part of our history. All 3 plays are one-woman plays and have enjoyed productions in Provincetown, MA and New York City. Excellent monologue material for women (and men in drag) of all ages. Excellent reading material. All 3 characters have in common their love for animals. 10% of the proceeds for this book is being donated to Greyhound Rescue Organizations. Lost Lesbian Lives is a captivating read by itself, and the perfect companion for those fortunate enough to see Marj perform one or all of these great plays. Happy Reading! $17, includes shipping. $17.00

If you are like me, you are in constant search for great clip art to use in emails, letters, notes, cards, web sites, and on computer desktops. I have found several very nice sites that offer free Victorian clip art and postcards. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.