A Presentation by Historian Michael J. Maddigan

Monday, November 18, 2019, at 7 p.m.
Methodist Meeting House, 495 Main Street, Wareham

In 1877 Victorian-era Spiritualists who believed in communication with the dead held a camp meeting on the shore of Onset Bay in Wareham. The community that they founded there soon emerged as one of America’s leading centers of Spiritualism. Subsequently buffeted by a series of scandals that exposed several of its mediums as frauds and facing an influx of tourists intent upon recreation rather than religious revelation, Onset saw Spiritualist influence collapse just after two decades.

Join historian Michael J. Maddigan in a fascinating exploration of this charming village’s unique origins and the rapid rise and controversial decline of Spiritualism at Onset, “the Spiritualists’ Summer Home by the Sea.” Monday, November 18, 2019, 7 p.m. at the Methodist Meeting House, 495 Main St., Wareham, MA 02571.

Mike has been engaged in research, writing and historic preservation for over thirty years. He is the author of several previous books on New England regional history including two popular histories of Onset. A native of Massachusetts, he is the founder of Recollecting Nemasket, a small publishing press devoted to the history of southeastern Massachusetts. A graduate of Stonehill College, he holds a master of arts degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. When not tramping about the White Mountains and writing local history, he makes his home in a renovated 1863 woolen mill. To learn more about Mike’s work, visit www.recollectingnemasket.com.

Refreshments will be served after the program.  Admission: Members are free, non members $2.00.  For more information call 508-295-8578.