This was a huge debate while I was doing a work placement at Belgrave Hall
in Leicester.  I have also worked at two other historic sites, with
'sightings'.

The Museum services marketing team at Leicester and some senior staff saw it
as a wonderful way to promote the museum and had radio broadcasts from the
Hall with psychics, included it in headlines on the Museum Service website
for years, it was reported on news reports as far away as Greece and I even
think that Jeopardy sent winners there as a prize during a Halloween episode
(this happened so fast, and unexpectedly, that I am not really sure if this
last one really happened or if the Ghost of the Charlotte Ellis was sending
me a sign).

The on-site staff were a little more divided on the promotion of the
"sightings".  Some of them, had been the ones to report them, others felt
they distracted from the experience and that it only attracted ghost
chasers.

Personally I am quite divided on the issue (I really have to get off the
fence on some of these topics).  On one side, it is a nice way to get
peoples attention to their history.  I have found that people seem to pay
more attention to the details of people lives and the social history of the
time when there is a ghost story involved.  I will also state, that if this
'hook' is used it should not be credited to a singular sighting.
If anyone has the opportunity to go on the ghost tour in Kingston Ontario, I
highly recommend it for entertainment value alone.  But they do state at the
beginning of the tour, that all sights that are discussed on the tour were
documented by two individuals, at two different times.
On the other hand, there are too many people who visit an historic site with
'sightings' involved that and once this is mentioned, the educational
content of the tour deteriorates rapidly.

It certainly has its followers and does attract an audience.  Sometimes this
increase in attendance carries for years.  "Ghost tours" and "Spirit Walks"
are extremely popular at historic sites in Southern Ontario.  Many
attracting thousands of visitors per week at sites that don't see that
attendance in a month.

So in a nutshell, to answer your questions Indigo Nights, yes many
facilities do promote their sightings, I have really hated working late at
night alone at two of them (I didn't one to be one of the 'sane' ones that
did encounter a ghost), and no, I really don't think think that a site
should promote a sighting as their primary historic content.  It distracts
visitors from your objective of preserving, interpreting and collecting
history.

Clark Bernat
Managing Director
Niagara Historical Museum
43 Castlereagh Street
Niagara-on-the-Lake  Ontario
905-468-3912

----- Original Message -----
From: "Indigo Nights" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2002 5:54 AM
Subject: Ghosts & Spirits: How Do You Handle Them?


> I've been watching a rather fascinating piece on the
> History Channel about phantasms in historic places.
> It was really quite intriguing to see the staff of the
> facilities acknowledge having seem these chimera and
> what they did as a result.
>
> Does your facility have these types of "hauntings,"
> and how do you handle them?
>
> Do you work alone late at night?
>
> Do you perpetuate the stories as part of the history
> of the museum?
>
> Do you have commemorations or allow psychics to come
> in and try to communicate with the "afterliving"?
>
> Have you chronicled the stories?
>
> Has your facility been profiled on such a tv show or
> movie?
>
>
>
> =====
> Indigo Nights
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Looking for a job?  Try:
> http://victorian.fortunecity.com/stanmer/414
>
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