Lizzie Borden as portrayed by Leslie Goddard (Mayhem, Mystery, Murder: Living History Nights)

It is time for Mayhem, Mystery, and Murder!

Join suspected murderess Lizzie Borden on Saturday, August 12, 2023 at 7:00 PM in the library's Riverside Room as she recounts her life story. Learn about her life with her sister, father and step-mother; the ghastly murder that occurred; her subsequent arrest, trial, and acquittal; and her life in Fall River in the years afterward.

Musical entertainment will be provided from 6:15 - 6:45 PM. Leslie Goddard's living history portrayal of Borden will begin at 7:00 PM. A Q & A session will follow the performance. Questions can first be asked to Goddard as Borden, and then Goddard as herself.

Refreshments will be available for a donation from 6:00 - 6:45 PM and after the Q & A session.

If at all possible, attendees are asked to park in the gravel lot directly across from the library on Spruce Street.

What is "Living History Nights"? Performances that bring history to life. Each night a scholar/living historian will assume the role of a notable historical figure and perform a monologue based on the life of that individual. This will be followed by an audience Q & A session with questions addressed to both the character and the scholar/living historian.

This event, presented by the Gallipolis Chautauqua Committee, is suitable for all ages and is free and open to the public.

Lizzie Borden (1860-1927): Born in Fall River, Massachusetts. Lizzie Borden was the daughter of well-to-do businessman Andrew Borden and his first wife, Sarah. A parsimonious man, Andrew Borden elected to not live in the affluent area of the town, The Hill, but close to his businesses in the industrial part of town. He also did not believe in luxuries for his family such as indoor plumbing and electricity. 

At the age of three, Lizzie's mother died and her father subsequently married Abby Gray. Lizzie and her older sister, Emma, were not fond of their step-mother and both felt that she had married their father for his wealth and status. They both worried that they would not be given their share of the inheritance from their father's property. In 1892, at the ages of 32 and 41, Lizzie and her sister still lived at home and Lizzie, in particular, resented the fact that, due to her father's frugality, they could not live on The Hill with those whom she considered of her own social class. Tension over these issues steadily grew worse and there were many arguments between the women and their father.

On the morning of August 4, 1892, Abby went upstairs to straighten up the guest room, used by the girls' maternal uncle the night before, while Mr. Borden left the house to conduct his business. He returned a short while later and decided to take a short nap in the living room. According to Lizzie, sometime around 11:15 AM, she discovered her father dead on the couch from multiple hatchet wounds. Abby was subsequently discovered upstairs, killed from 14 blows to her head.

Suspected fairly soon after the murders due to her contradictory and strange testimony, Lizzie was arrested and jailed. Due to the horrific nature of the crime, her arrest and subsequent trial made national headlines and Lizzie became a media sensation. At her trial in June 1893, Lizzie was acquitted of the murders, as the prosecution only had circumstantial evidence to submit to the court. The all-male jury also acquitted as it was thought that a well-bred Christian female could not possible have committed such a crime.

After the trial, Lizzie and her sister inherited a substantial sum from their father's estate (around 9 million dollars today) and Lizzie was finally able to buy the mansion on The Hill that she always wanted. She was able to hire servants, purchase expensive furnishings, and travel in style. Despite her acquittal, Lizzie was ostracized by Fall River society, most of whom considered her to be guilty. 

Lizzie lived on The Hill in Fall River until her death in June of 1927. Her sister Emma (who had moved from Fall River) died a few days after Lizzie. At her death, Lizzie was worth what would be over 5 million dollars today. Her money was left to the Fall River Animal Rescue League, a trust for perpetual care for her father's grave, as well as select friends and family members. (Biographical information courtesy of britannia.com and biography.com)

Even today the question remains -- Did she? Or didn't she?

Leslie Goddard is an award-winning historian, author, actress and lecturer who has been presenting on topics in American history and women's history for twenty years. She holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. from Northwestern University as well as a master's degree in both museum studies and in theater. A former museum director, she currently works full-time as a public speaker and author.

Ms. Goddard is known nationally for her work in bringing women's history alive. Her portrayals include television personality and cook Julia Child; aviator Amelia Earhart; entrepreneur and fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer; first ladies Eleanor Roosevelt, Lady Bird Johnson, and Jackie Kennedy; film star Bette Davis; novelist Louisa May Alcott; Titanic survivor Violet Jessop; environmental writer Rachel Carson, and modern artist Georgia O'Keeffe.

Ms. Goddard performed as a Road Scholar with the Illinois Humanities Council and has served on the board of directors of the Illinois State Historical Society, the Illinois Association of Museums, and the Civil War Round Table of Chicago. Ms. Goddard lives in Illinois with her husband and their two black pugs.