"Perverted Spiritualistic Forces": John Humphrey Noyes versus William Hepworth Dixon in the Victorian Press

Beginning in the 1830s, Oneida Community founder John Humphrey Noyes successfully used the press to spread word of his religious and social innovations, and OC serial publications shaped the community's public image well into the 1860s. However, when English journalist William Hepworth Dixon published a scathing, demeaning account of the OC, it marked a turning point for Noyes. The result? A very public print war, conducted in newspapers and pamphlets, that troubled Noyes for years to come. This illustrated lecture recounts the fascinating story of media manipulation, reputation management, and a transatlantic scandal which titillated the Victorian imagination on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. About the Speaker Christian Goodwillie is director and curator of special collections at the Burke Library of Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.

$10 Members, $15 General Admission