"A Deathly Pall" with Aaron Henkin, 10/22@ Poe’s Death Site (4th & Final "Nomadic EDGAR ALLAN POE-try" Event)
A Deathly Pall: WYPR radio personality Aaron Henkin’s sumptuous interpretation of Poe’s dark and musing language fits the setting well—after all, everyone only has one chance to die. On October 7, 1849, Poe took his last breath in this building, several days after being plucked from the street and sent via carriage. Poe was highly regarded at the time, celebrated for his short stories and he also established himself as one of America’s best known poets. Henkin will read some of Poe’s more obscure works.
(Rain or shine, meet at noon at the corner of Fayette and Broadway in front of the Church Home Hospital, 100 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231; BYO: umbrella and folding chair if you'd like.) To view an interactive map, visit: http://www.poeinbaltimore.org/
ABOUT THE SITE:
On October 3, 1849, Poe was sent in a carriage to the Washington University Hospital of Baltimore (more widely known under its later incarnations as Church Home or Church Hospital). Some sources note the name of the institution as the Washington College Hospital, but the designation of University was apparently adopted in 1839. City directories from 1847-1848 and 1849-1850 confirm this somewhat more prestigious title. John J. Moran gives the name as both the Washington University Hospital and the Washington College University Hospital.
Originally known as Washington College Hospital, Church Hospital was the site of Edgar Allan Poe’s death from poorly specified causes on October 7, 1849. Initially believed to be drunk, Poe was taken into a wing held for noisy drunkards before it was later determined that he had likely been robbed and beaten or mugged. Previously, physicians had diagnosed Poe with both “a weakness of the heart” and “lesions on the brain.” His attending physician’s notes tell of florid and morbid outbursts from Poe as he came in and out of consciousness in the day leading up to his death. Stories of general creepiness surrounding Church Hospital abound, from bodysnatching the recently buried from nearby grave sites to kidnapping throughout the early 1800s, all in the name of medical research. At some point during its history, local residents repeatedly tried to burn Church Hospital down, likely because of the grim tales of bodysnatching.
To view an interactive map, visit: http://www.poeinbaltimore.org/
ABOUT THE PRESENTER (Poe Baltimore, Inc.)
To learn more about Poe Baltimore, please visit our website at www.poebaltimore.org , and you can also find @poebaltimore on Twitter, Instagram, and on Facebook as “Poe Baltimore” (“search more” for our distinctive black and orange logo to receive news since the “Poe House” and “EAP Society” is not our page.)
ABOUT FREEFALL BALTIMORE:
Free Fall Baltimore is made possible by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and the generous contributions of BGE, The Abell Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, American Trading & Production Corporation (Atapco), The Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation, and the Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Charitable Funds.
To learn more about Poe Baltimore, please visit our website at www.poe.baltimore.org , and you can also find @poebaltimore on Twitter, Instagram, and on Facebook as “Poe Baltimore” (“search more” for our distinctive black and orange logo to receive news since the “Poe House” and “EAP Society” is not our page.)
