Historical Reenactment Society

For our first Halloween episode, we wanted to do something REALLY scary.  Enter the Northern Dispensary, an abandoned health clinic from the 19th Century that still stands in Greenwich Village.  Among the Dispensary’s patients was one Edgar Allen Poe, who came there to have dental work done among other things.  We take a look at what literature’s most melancholy poet was like as a dental patient in this month’s very spooky episode.

A special announcement from Society founder Scott McCarrey.

The year is 1913, the date June 29.  At the Gettysburg National Park in Adams County, Pennsylvania, a group of men are reuniting, many of whom have not seen each other in five decades.  The Great Reunion of 1913, as it came to be known, was the largest Civil War reunion ever assembled.  Veterans from 46 of the 48 states attended for five days of speeches, memorials, fireworks... and catching up with old friends and enemies. It was like the biggest Independence Day Barbecue ever, except that all of the attendees had tried to kill each other. Starring: Brendan Titley as Henry, Kevin Crouch as Jeremiah, Kara Durrett as Clementine, and Sam Hicks as Phineas Cooper.

The year is 1947, the date June 15.   The town of Spokane, Washington is celebrating their 37th annual Father’s Day... unfortunately, it’s yet to catch on anywhere else.  It wasn’t until after World War II, when manufacturers of ties, pipes, and other men’s gifts desperately needed a way to get the ball rolling that anyone actually paid attention to the holiday honoring the household patriarch.  That leaves 50 years in between of confusion, befuddlement, and false starts in suburban neighborhoods all across America. Starring: Sam Hicks, Laura Gragtmans, Ashley Lowe, Kara Durrett, Kevin Crouch, & Stacia Marie Newcomb.

The year is 1692, the date June 2.  It has been a pretty rough six months in the town of Salem, Massachusetts.  Bridget Bishop stands accused of bewitching five women.  People come out in droves to testify to all kinds of weird stuff they’ve seen her doing around town.  And for the most part, it’s just that... kind of weird stuff done by a kind of weird lady.  Oh, Bridget Bishop was also fairly open about her sexual prowess.  That may have had something to do with it.  Spoiler Alert, she would become the first person executed for being a witch, and set off one of the darkest periods in American history. Starring: Kara Durrett, Monique Moses, Ashley Lowe, Kevin Crouch, & Michael Kane

The year is 1861, the date May 20.  The American Civil War has been underway for a little over a month.  In Norfolk, Virginia union and confederate forces have just fought to a draw at the Battle of Sewell’s Point.  At this stage both sides of the war are busy trying to sway undecided border states, and of those states Kentucky is undoubtedly one of the most important.  Abraham Lincoln, a native Kentuckian himself declared, “I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky.”  Kentucky for it’s part... didn’t really know what to do.

May 7, 1824.  At the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna, Ludwig van Beethoven premiered his 9th Symphony, widely considered to be among Beethoven’s finest symphonies, if not one of the finest pieces of music ever written.   It is as influential as it is impressive.  Yet when it premiered, the symphony and its composer had their detractors. The Historical Reenactment Society is a fortnightly podcast giving you a glimpse into the past through the marvels of the modern age.  Each episode, we scour the week in history to find the most fascinating stories never told.  Then, using the magic of podcasting technology, we take you back in time to hear how it probably happened.