it's very nice to be here at the pratt library surrounded by pictures of edgar alan poe and books about poe. baltimore in many ways has a feel a lot like new orleans, an old port city with traditions and quirky and sometimes spooky history. i always kind of feel at home in baltimore just as i feel at home in new orleans. where i lived for ten years. introduce you to this case that has kind of disappeared from the american memory. but for the summer of 1870 captivated the nation. newspaper readers across the country. try to explain it to you so that you can see what i saw as i stumbled across it. i began writing -- i found this story while i was doing much more traditional legal history. i was researching the famous slaughterhouse cases, the first case where the supreme court interpreted the 14th amendment. i was reading every single day of the new orleans newspapers in 1870. suddenly, there's this story about a white baby being abducted by two african-american women. the rumor begins to circulate that the baby has been abducted for use as a voodoo sacrifice. i was like, holy smokes, cou

it's very nice to be here at the pratt library surrounded by pictures of edgar alan poe and books about poe. baltimore in many ways has a feel a lot like new orleans, an old port city with traditions and quirky and sometimes spooky history. i always kind of feel at home in baltimore just as i feel at home in new orleans. where i lived for ten years. what i want to do tonight is introduce you to this case that has kind of disappeared from the american memory. but for the summer of 1870 captivated the nation. newspaper readers across the country. try to explain it to you so that you can see what i saw as i stumbled across it. i began writing -- i found this story while i was doing much more traditional legal history. i was researching the famous slaughterhouse cases, the first case where the supreme court interpreted the 14th amendment. i was reading every single day of the new orleans newspapers in 1870. suddenly, there's this story about a white baby being abducted by two african-american women. the rumor begins to circulate that the baby has been abducted for use as a voodoo sacrifice.

it's very nice to be here at the pratt library surrounded by pictures of edgar alan poe and