December 14, 2009
8:00pm
Observatory
Brooklyn, NY
Constance Kent and the Great Crime of 1860
On December 14th, 2009, at Observatory Wendy Walker will give a talk, “Constance Kent and the Great Crime of 1860,” and will sign copies of her book Blue Fire.
In this talk Wendy Walker will show slides of the images she collected in the course of her research, including many that do not appear in the book, and will discuss the three phases of Constance Kent’s life: [...] the murder in 1860 and her confession of 1865; her twenty years in prison creating mosaics for church floors; and her sixty years in Australia as a nurse and social activist. The talk will also touch on the issue of “false confessions,” and the importance of this incident in the history of forensic medicine, of Scotland Yard, and of two literary genres, the true-crime book and the “sensation novel.” Wilkie Collins (The Moonstone) and Charles Dickens (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) were just the two best known of the authors to borrow aspects of the case.
Enter down the alley off Nevins Street and through Proteus Gowanus, second door on the left, under the golden arm. Nearest subway stops: F/G at Carroll Street (walk north on Smith to Union, then turn right and go three blocks east, across the canal); or M/R to Union Street (walk west two blocks from Fourth to Nevins). Admission $5. Doors open at 7, so come early and visit the Blue Fire exhibit in the Proteus Gowanus gallery and take a look at the book, Blue Fire. This talk is a Morbid Anatomy event presented in conjunction with Proteus Gowanus and Proteotypes.