Sunday in Fall River and it is still all about Lizzie and Salem

Aren’t you glad the Fall River Herald is finally taking a stand on this important story? Since it is unsigned, one can assume it the the stance of the paper itself and its editor.

I’m not sure that publishing Lizzie’s Johnnycake and Meatloaf recipes, which happened this week in the Fall River Herald, is not an attempt to somehow profit from the crimes, albeit in a very small way. Nor is the haunted house moniker that the murder site has embraced helping serve the story of Lizzie Borden. Making money off of Lizzie Borden’s back has been going on since the very day of the murders in 1892, when newspaper reporters from the Fall River papers traipsed through the crime scene and published their sensationalized stories. Many of the facts from the very first published article got the story wrong. The reporters depended more on local gossip and innuendo than providing a factual reporting of the events. Selling newspapers was the bottom line. And any great big story was sure to increase readership. And it worked. Not only for Fall River papers, but the Boston Post and Globe and the New York Sun, who sent rather renowned journalists to New Bedford to cover the Borden trial first hand.

Just Friday, I got a call from a Boston television station wanting a quote on the controversy. I expressed my opinion and she then asked if I knew anyone who was totally against it. I had to think about it and suggested the owner of the B&B, who had expressed that sentiment on the evening news the night before. I was told no, not someone connected to the story, someone who wasn’t in the business of Lizzie. I said I didn’t. She didn’t want my quote. She was looking for the “story,” the controversy. And if I wasn’t rabidly against it, she was interested. So she was looking for a problem. Not truly presenting the facts. See . . . . times never change.

Likening this story to OJ’s only goes so far. Yes, they both had “dream team” lawyers, and both were hailed as the trial of the century. Yes, they both were acquitted, and yes, the victims in both cases were slaughtered brutally. But that’s about it. OJ was a celebrity before the crimes, and continues to find himself in legal/criminal matters to this day.

OJ wrote an odd book about if I did it then I did it this way and for this reason. Lizzie remained mute. OJ has a criminal drug record, Lizzie did not. OJ moved to Florida, Lizzie stayed in Fall River. Lizzie was not one to crave attention. OJ seems to thrive on it. OJ was civilly sued and found responsible for the deaths, while there was no further legal action against Lizzie.

There will always be something unseemly about making money from a double murder. That I get. However, those that sincerely own a piece of the history that is Lizzie have been doing so for years. Having some guy in Salem attempt to cut himself a piece of the pie isn’t any worse in that regard.

OUR VIEW: Stolen identity, 08-03-08
The Herald News
“Come one, come all to the SouthCoast’s newest tribute to terror — The Wicked Witch Museum: The true story of the Salem Witch Trials. Factory of Terror, Asylum of Horror, Wicked Witch Museum. Fall River — Massachusetts’ Home of Halloween.”

Think some feathers might be ruffled among the locals if such an advertisement appeared in The Salem News?

Well, now Salem knows how Fall River feels.

The city of Salem has turned the darkest point in that region’s history into a cottage industry, basing a large part of its economy on tourists drawn to the area (though not the actual site) of the infamous persecution in 1692 of more than 100 innocent people — at least 20 of whom were executed — believed by superstitious leaders to be bewitched by evil demons. Residents can’t help but identify with the city’s history … it’s what most people know Salem for.

Now, one entrepreneur is importing the identity of another Massachusetts city, also well-known for a dark period in its past. Salem businessman Leonard Pickel is set to open on Monday “The True Story of Lizzie Borden,” a museum exploring the 1892 ax murders that took the lives of Fall River residents Andrew and Abby Borden. Pickel has gotten his share of hate-mail from angry Fall Riverites who feel he is trying to steal Fall River’s infamous Lizzie, who was accused but ultimately acquitted of the murders. Still, most believe Lizzie did indeed wield the ax. Tellingly, no one else was ever arrested.
While Pickel claims his intent is not to steal Lizzie away from Fall River but to honor her memory in a fact-based museum, he blithely adds, “We’re going to do more for Lizzie Borden than has been done in a hundred years.”

If that means profiteering on a tragic moment in history the way Salem has with its witch trials, he’s right. But while Fall River may not have capitalized on the murders with a kitschy, disrespectful spectacle, it has certainly paid tribute to the Borden family and explored in depth “the true story.”
And it has done so in a tasteful manner, or as tasteful as possible given the subject matter. The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast — the actual site of the murders — certainly profits from guests drawn to the reputed haunted house. But the former Borden home presents Lizzie’s story as a history lesson without the tacky neon signs, fake mist and spooky soundtracks of so many of Salem’s witch “museums.” The local Historical Society houses actual memorabilia, including Abby Borden’s hairpiece and the bed covering stained by Borden blood that terrible day.

The Borden story — and particularly Lizzie — is local lore and part of the city’s identity. Most people know Fall River as the former textile capital of the world and the home of the girl in the dark nursery rhyme. So it is understandable that Fall Riverites are somewhat protective of Lizzie the way St. Joseph, Mo., residents are of Jesse James and London residents may be of Jack the Ripper. While it may seem odd to identify with such notorious characters — would Los Angeles erect a monument to O.J. Simpson? — the passage of time tends to ease hard feelings and soften the assailants’ images. At the very least, they give the locales some notoriety and historical significance.

Hopefully, Pickel will be true to his word and his museum will be an accurate representation of an historic event. Who knows … there may even be some cross-promotion opportunities with the bed and breakfast, opening the Fall River attraction to a new audience. But if it’s just another tacky tourist trap, may Pickle be forever haunted by the ghost of Lizzie Borden.