The Fox Sisters and the Hydesville Rappings

Record summary

Margaret and Kate Fox became associated with alleged communicating rappings in their family home at Hydesville, an event often treated as a foundational episode in modern Spiritualism. The lead matters because it connects vernacular séance practices, public demonstration, mediumship, and later organized spiritualist movements in North America. The sisters later made contradictory statements, including an 1888 confession that the sounds were produced fraudulently, although subsequent retractions and debates complicated reception. Researchers can compare newspaper reports, autobiographical accounts, spiritualist defenses, and skeptical investigations.