Illustrated Lecture on the Battle of Gettysburg

On Thursday night, December 23, 1886, an illustrated lecture on the Battle of Gettysburg was presented at Biemiller’s Opera House in Sandusky. 

The guest lecturer was former Civil War officer James T. Long. Mr. Long devoted himself to the study of the Battle of Gettysburg, and he served as a battlefield guide for several years. Mr. Long was the author of the book: Gettysburg: How the Battle was Fought.

 According to an announcement in the Sandusky Local, the presentation on Gettysburg was “the greatest and most life-like ever exhibited and is drawing crowded houses everywhere.” Proceeds from the lecture were for the benefit of the relief fund of the McMeens Post No. 19, Grand Army of the Republic. Admission to the lecture was fifty cents (about $12 in today's money), and admission to the gallery only was twenty-five cents.

Mrs. Jane E. Castle’s Lecture Series at Carnegie Hall

From Monday September 20 to Friday, September 24, 1926, Mrs. Jane E. Castle gave a series of free lectures at Carnegie Hall in the Sandusky Library.

Mrs. Castle was known as the “Wonder Woman” and “The Radiant Psychologist.” Her lectures and demonstrations dealt with “Auto Science,” a system of mind-power, based on the teachings of Dr. Ernest C. Feyrer. She also demonstrated a character analysis of individuals, and read with success the leading characteristics of the participants. Some of the topics of Mrs. Castle’s lectures were: “The Power Within,” “Perfect Health and How to Create it,” “Your Mental Wireless,” and “The Power of Suggestion and Healing.” The Sandusky Star Journal of September 21, 1926, reported that Mrs. Castle was “abounding in vitality and enthusiasm," and "a woman of great magnetic power." One of her main premises was that the subconscious mind within each individual had the ability to stimulate latent power, to produce success in any line. Mrs. Castle also sang several vocal solos, accompanied on the piano by Mrs. Marguerite Palmer. From 1926 through 1929 Mrs. Jane E. Castle gave free lectures throughout the Midwestern United States. She was so well received in Sandusky that she visited the city again in 1927, when she gave lectures at the Women’s Building.

Miss Olive Logan’s Lecture in Sandusky

Miss Olive Logan gave a lecture on “Girls!” on February 25, 1870 at Fisher’s Hall in Sandusky, at the northwest corner of Wayne and Water Streets. The lecture was sponsored by the Van Tine Business College of Sandusky, also known as the Buckeye and Great Western Business College. Olive Logan was the daughter of actor Cornelius Logan. She was an actress, journalist, and author, and she was popular as a lecturer in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Six types of girls were the subject of Miss Logan’s lecture. The November 18, 1869 issue of the New York Times featured a story about Olive Logan’s lecture on “Girls.” Speaking of the Yankee and Western girls, Olive stated: “The Yankee girl has strong opinions, and expresses them too. She has also a keen sense of humor. The Western girl is nothing but the Yankee girl let loose.”  Olive said that her favorite of all girls was the strong-minded girl, who “believes in the power of the ballot.” She concluded her lecture by mentioning her trip to England where she saw women performing vile songs and indecent dances. She encouraged her listeners to have “courage for the right.” Sadly, Olive Logan suffered from mental illness in her later years.  She was almost destitute at the time of her death in 1909 in England.

The building formerly known as Fisher’s Hall is now located at 163-165 East Water Street in Sandusky. Ellie Damm wrote in Treasure by the Bay, that John Fisher built this structure in 1866. The first floor was used as an express office for the railroad, and a theater was located on the second floor. Historical newspaper articles report that Fisher’s Hall was renovated in the 1930’s, and many wrestling matches were held here. Former  Follett House Museum curator and local historian Helen Hansen took the photograph below in 1991.