196. Connecticut Body Snatchers: Merchandising the Dead in the 19th Century

Grating the Nutmeg

Have you got your Halloween costume ready? Been on any graveyard tours this month? Well, this story for you! I’d never thought of body snatching as having anything to do with Connecticut but as this episode proves, the disappearance of a young women’s body lead to a New Haven riot. I’ll get the details from Richard Ross author of the new book American Body Snatchers, Merchandising the Dead in 19th Century New England and Washington, DC.

Dick Ross is a retired college librarian and professor emeritius from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Order his new book American Body Snatchers, Merchandising the Dead in New England and Washington, D.C. from Amazon here: American Body Snatchers: Merchandising the Dead in 19th Century New England and Washington, D.C.

Order his book on the Connecticut witch trials here:

Before Salem: Witch Hunting in the Connecticut River Valley, 1647-1663

You can hear more about that topic in GTN #39, parts 1-3, here:

https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/39-witch-hunting-in-connecticut-part-1-the-european-prelude

https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/39-witch-hunting-in-connecticut-part-2-the-connecticut-trials-0

https://gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/39-witch-hunting-in-connecticut-part-3-interview-with-richard-ross-before-salem

--------------------------------------------

Toast the start of conservation work with the team working to stabilize the 18th-century Réveillon wallpaper adorning the Phelps-Hatheway House. Enjoy exclusive access to the expertise of conservators from Studio TKM Associates, who will explain and demonstrate their work caring for the papers. Attendees of this intimate gathering are invited to learn about the house and its residents while imagining the turbulence of the 1790s as two nations attempted to assert their independence—and their identities.

To reserve your spot for the Nov. 3, 2024 event, go to https://ctlandmarks.org/wallpaper/

Proceeds from this event benefit the wallpaper conservation project at the Phelps-Hatheway House & Garden. Learn more here.

-------------------------------------------

We’re almost there! This is our 196th episode. Thanks to our listeners, Grating the Nutmeg is going to hit 200 episodes soon! We love bringing you a new episode every two weeks. In celebration of our 200th episode and to help fund Grating the Nutmeg in 2025, we are holding our first ever Grating the Nutmeg Benefit Online Auction in November. We’ll have special, one of a kind experiences, tickets, museum admissions, behind the scenes tours, and restaurant gift cards. All the information will be on our website in November and links to the auction will be on our social media pages. If you have something to donate, email Kathy Hermes at [e-mail]

To celebrate our 200 episodes, we’re asking listeners to donate $20 a month or $200 annually to help us continue to bring you new episodes every two weeks. It’s easy to set up a monthly donation on the Connecticut Explored website at ctexplored.org Click the donate button at the top and look for the Grating the Nutmeg link. We appreciate it!

Subscribe to get your copy of Connecticut Explored magazine delivered to your mailbox or your inbox-subscribe at ctexplored.org. We’ve got issues coming up on food, celebrations and the environment with places you’ll want to read about and visit.

This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O’Sullivan at https://www.highwattagemedia.com/ Follow GTN on our Facebook, Instagram and Threads pages. Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history.