Presenter(s): Erin Sandvold—English
Faculty Mentor(s): Heidi Kaufman
Session 3: Pens & Clicks are Mightier than the Sword
Crime has permeated society and stimulated generations with stories of mystery, grotesque motives, and gruesome scenes . Crimes from over a hundred years ago still draw our interest as we seek to find answers to the basic question we ask at any tragedy: why? While our modern perspectives have given us tremendous insight into the minds of various criminals and murderers, I wish to explore how journalists of the early twentieth century and contemporary podcasts present these cases to the general public . Murder and storytelling about murder have always been present in society, but the early twentieth century featured these stories on the pages of newspapers with blazing headlines on the front pages . These sensationalized headlines continue to inform researchers and storytellers as they remake true crime stories for new audiences . My project will focus on two murderesses: Belle Gunness (1859-1908) and Amy Archer-Gilligan (1873-1962) . On the surface, these women appeared to live ordinary and productive lives . Yet, in distinct ways, they both pushed against the societal norms of domestic femininity to become sensational figures in the American press . My discussion of these case studies will focus on the role of gender in the legends about their crimes . While I will begin with newspapers published immediately following the discovery of their criminal acts, discussions will extend to later versions of storytelling about these women . Hence, I will subsequently consider the ways that later versions of these legends respond to shifting gender constructions over time .