Do spirits return, and can we communicate with the dead? Baltimore's Spiritualists thought so, but magicians worked to disprove them. Join Julie Saylor of Enoch Pratt Free Library as she discusses spirit mediums, the Spiritualist origins of the Ouija Board, and Baltimore's group of amateur magicians, the Demons Club. This is the first in a series of six lectures, Beyond the Veil: Making Sense of the Spirit World.

Priestess and conjurewoman Toya Smith will trace the everyday cultural aspects of African Americans, exploring how those aspects are influenced by traditional African cultures brought over by ancestors. This is the second in a series of six lectures, Beyond the Veil: Making Sense of the Spirit World.

In this talk, public historian and curator Orilonise Yarborough will analyze the concept of sankofa, time jumping and time collapse through the use of oral history and archival research, positing that Black concepts of time have never been linear. This is the third in a series of six lectures, Beyond the Veil: Making Sense of the Spirit World.

This presentation by Hess Love starts with the origins of Hoodoo during the era of chattel slavery, highlighting its significance as a means of protection, empowerment, and survival for marginalized communities. This is the fourth in a series of six lectures, Beyond the Veil: Making Sense of the Spirit World.

In this illustrated presentation, Shannon Taggart will share stories and pictures from twenty years of photographing mediumship, explaining how two decades of investigation developed into the award-winning book Séance. This is the fifth in a series of six lectures, Beyond the Veil: Making Sense of the Spirit World.

Mediumship and the intimate practices of the spirit circle drew in some of the nineteenth-century's most prominent abolitionists in America. This talk explores the beliefs, language and community practices that fused an interracial circle of spiritualists at 36 Sophia Street, the home of Isaac and Amy Post in Rochester, NY. This is the sixth in a series of six lectures, Beyond the Veil: Making Sense of the Spirit World.