FALL 2009 THE EDGAR ALLAN POE MUSEUM RICHMOND, VA

Poe is circling the globe to meet and inspire fans of all ages. He has made personal appear-ances all over the United States and Russia, where he never fails to draw a crowd. Poe (or Poe Museum President, Dr. Harry Lee Poe, to be specific) capped a year of lectures in the states with a two-week tour of Russia, where he spoke at St. Petersburg State University, Russian National Library, Hertsen State Pedagogical University, the U. S. Consul General’s Palace in St. Petersburg, Mayakovskiy Public Library, Moscow State University, the American Center of the Russian University for the Humanities in Moscow, Gorky Institute of Literature, Moscow State University School of Television, Ural State University in Yekaterinburg, Perm State Pedagogical University, and the Gorky Regional Library in Perm. Exhibitions of Dr. Poe’s collection of Poe memorabilia were held at Memphis Public Library; The University of the South, Sewanee, TN; the Charleston Library Society, Charleston, SC; Baylor University, Waco, TX; and the Russian National Library, St. Petersburg, Russia. Pieces from Poe’s collection were also featured in the Poe Museum’s exhibitions Poe: Face to Face and Ratiocination: Poe the Detective. In October, Dr. Poe spoke at the Third International Poe Conference in Philadelphia, an event sponsored in part by the Poe Museum, which also supplied a gift shop for the event. Additionally, Dr. Poe’s book Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories was nominated for an Agatha Award and won an Edgar Award. It has certainly been a busy year for both Harry and Edgar Poe.

Poe Museum Makes News

During his Bicentennial year, Poe’s face has been seen all over the media, and, as a result, the Poe Museum’s exposure has also in-creased. In June, TIME Magazine’s list of “50 Authentic American Experiences” featured the Poe Museum as the top site for Vir-ginia. The California-based travel website Virtualtourist.com identified the Poe Museum as the top “Must-See Site for Poe Fans” and declared it “a can't-miss attraction for fans of the 19th century writer .” A New York Times review stated, “If you really want to feel the potency of the Poe myth, come to the Poe Museum…” The June 29 episode of Jeopardy featured a “Celebrating Poe’s Bicenten-nial” category of which one of the questions about the Poe Museum was “What is the Unhappy Hour?” During Poe’s bicentennial year, the Poe Museum’s exposure has increased, along with visitation, in spite of the economic downturn. As the year draws to a close, the Poe Museum is committed to continuing to interpret the life and legacy of Poe to inspire and delight audiences of all ages. We look forward to hosting more special exhibitions, to staging more innovative programs, and to expanding our online presence.

The Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia interprets the life and influence of Edgar Allan Poe for the education and enjoyment of a global audience.

Poe Goes on World TourWho is this man?

Find out on Page 2.

POE FOUNDATION TRUSTEES

Dr. Harry Lee Poe President J. Ronald Smith Vice President Dr. Edward D.C. Campbell, Jr. Treasurer John Astin Annemarie Beebe Robert A. Buerlein W. Holt Edmunds Peter Fawn Claire Guthrie Gastanaga Norman George Dr. M. Thomas Inge Dr. Richard Kopley Christopher Kulp Dr. Joseph Kyle Stephan Loewentheil C. Samuel McDonald Rose Marie P. Mitchell Kassie Ann Olgas Marika Rawles Katherine M. Smith Melissa C. Smith Antoinette Smith Suiter Susan Jaffe Tane Benjamin A.P. Warthen Thomas W. Williamson Martha Womack

MUSEUM STAFF

Christopher P. Semtner Curator Kappy Anklam Events and Education Coordinator Keith Kaufelt Visitor Serivices Coordinator Megan Zeoli Collections and Rentals Coordinator

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Poe Museum Collection Grows ________________________________________________

After 87 years, the Poe Museum’s world renowned collection of Ed-gar Allan Poe artifacts and memo-rabilia continues to grow through the generosity of its friends. In recent months, the Museum has received a handsome framed print illustrating “The Raven,” a painting of Poe’s uncle Henry Herring, as well as several books on Poe and translations of Poe from France and Russia. The Poe Museum has also purchased for its reference library a number of recent schol-arly publications on Poe’s life and legacy.

The large print of August Holland’s painting “The Raven” was presented to Poe Museum Curator Chris Semtner by Sandra J. Powell (above), who had displayed the piece in her home for nearly 40 years before deciding to donate it to the Poe Museum, where it is now displayed in the Exhibits Building. August Holland (1928-1998) is primarily known as a maritime artist, but, early in his career, he produced a number of illustrations, some of which were issued as art prints.

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Among the seven people who attended Poe’s funeral in October 1849 was his uncle Henry Herring, who once said he didn’t want to have anything to do with Poe while he was alive and that he wanted less to do with the poet after his death. In fact, four days before Poe’s death, a friend asked Herring to take the poet home to take care of him, but Herring refused—sending Poe to Washington College Hospital instead. After Poe died in that hospital, Herring bought him a “neat mahogany coffin” and helped arrange for Poe’s funeral.

Although Herring wanted little to do with Poe, his portrait will now be surrounded by Poe artifacts and memora-bilia. The fine oil portrait (above) of Herring was a gift of his descendant Mrs. Antoinette Suiter (right), who also gave the Poe Museum her ancestor Edmund Morton Smith’s Book of Common Prayer. Suiter is a longtime friend of the Poe Museum, and we are grateful to her for her years of generous support.

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This Man Paid for Poe’s Funeral

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Need to Expand Your Own Poe Collection?

Find all the best Poe shirts, dolls, toys, magnets, books,

and DVDs at your home for Poe Bicen-tennial Memorabilia www.poemuseum.org.

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Gris Grimly Visits Poe Museum _____________________________________________

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Joining the ranks of notable visual interpreters of Poe’s works, alongside Gustave Dore and Harry Clarke, is ac-claimed illustrator Gris Grimly who recently released his second illustrated edition of Poe’s works, Poe’s Tales of Death and Dementia. Grimly chose the Poe Museum as the site of the East Coast book launch for his highly an-ticipated follow-up to his 2004 volume Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Madness. Fans visiting from up and down the coast took advantage of this opportunity to meet Grimly, to see his original artwork, and to hear him speak. He also produced a limited edition poster advertis-ing the event and presented the Poe Museum with a signed copy. Grimly was so taken with the photo in our gift shop of Vincent Price posing with the Poe Museum’s stuffed raven that he adopted Price’s pose in the above picture.

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Zombie Cheerleaders Invade Museum ___________________________________

Nobody does Halloween like the Master of Psychological Horror, so the Poe Museum put on a Hal-loween Unhappy Hour worthy of Poe. In addition to a recreation of a Victorian séance, the evening also featured a Poe Look-alike Contest, live music, and the pre-miere of the Poe-inspired film Darkness There by Jacob Dodd.

In order to facilitate the Poe Look-alike Contest, all atten-dees were given Poe mustaches to wear during the event. The win-ners of the Poe Look-alike Contest (above) received copies of the new computer game Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspir-acy donated to the Museum for this purpose by Mumbo Jumbo Games. The highlight of the evening was a performance by a troupe of zombie cheer-leaders (right) from Fuqua School in Farmville, Virginia. Their ghastly decomposing corpses danced to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” while the crowd watched in horror.

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How Many Funerals Can One Man Have? ________________________________

Poe’s Bicentennial year also marked the 160th anniver-sary of the author’s death, so this Octo-ber the Poe uni-verse honored Mr. Poe by giving him the funeral he de-served, again. As you will recall, the Poe Museum in Richmond staged a recreation of Poe’s

funeral two years ago, and this year, the City of Baltimore drew crowds and headlines with an enlarged version of the program, bringing Poe’s total number of funerals to 5 (1849, 1875, 2007, and two in 2009). Since the Poe Museum had already held a Poe fu-neral, we decided to perform an interpretation of Poe’s final days, set in a recreation of his hospital room. Afterwards, Edgar (above left), Eliza (above right), and Virginia Poe met at the Poe Shrine for a military-style memorial led by Poe Museum member Dr. Bob Hufford.

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Poe’s first published story, Metzenger-stein, is a gothic tale of a haunted cas-tle. Two of his most popular tales, “Morella” and “Ligeia,” also feature mysterious spirits that live beyond the grave to enforce their wills on the liv-ing, so it is only natural that people fascinated by the things that go bump in the night would also take an interest in Poe. Local ghost tour operators Haunts of Richmond have long sup-ported the Poe Museum by providing actors and neighborhood walking tours during many of its special events. Over the past few months, Haunts of Rich-mond has offered nightly walking tours that begin and end at the Poe Museum. During these popular tours, the guide points out area buildings that are re-puted to be haunted. In addition to sharing a portion of the ticket sales with the Poe Museum, Haunts of Rich-mond recently made a donation to the museum from the proceeds of last summer’s Poe-themed stage play, A Midsummer Night’s Scream. For more information about Haunts of Rich-mond, visit their website at haunt-sofrichmond.com.

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Poe Gets Haunted ____________

Edgar Poe was orphaned at the age of two and taken in by a kind Richmond lady, Fran-ces Keeling Valentine Allan, who had herself been orphaned and adopted by the Valentine family. In honor of Poe and of all orphans and foster children, the Poe Museum staff adopted two angels to help the Richmond City Foster Care youth have a festive holiday season.

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It’s Still Poe’s Bicentennial

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Just when you thought Poe’s bicenten-nial year was over, the Poe Museum decides to finish the year with a bang. On January 16, 2010 from midnight until 11:59 P.M., the Poe Museum will be bringing the international celebra-tion of Poe’s 200th birthday to a close by throwing a 24-hour birthday bash for his 201st birthday. The fun-filled day will include a ghost hunt, a candle-lit walking tour, and the opening of new exhibit, Poe Goes to the Movies. Be sure not to miss our “Poe Show-down” in which two Poe impersona-tors will read four poems and let the audience decide who will be crowned the Poe champion. Check poemu-seum.org or call 888-21-EAPOE for more information.

Getting Married?

Make your wedding a poetic experience by holding your

ceremony in the Poe Museum’s Enchanted Gar-

den. Visit www.poemuseum.org, call 888-21-EAPOE, or email

Megan Zeoli at megan@poemuseum.org for

more information.

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Poe Helps Orphans __________________

Above: Poe’s wife Virginia (left) joins Poe Museum Collections Coordinator Megan Zeoli and member Bob Hufford for Poe’s memorial service.

Above left: Abigail Larson greets visitors to her exhibit of Poe-inspired artwork at the Poe Museum. Above right: Sid drives the horse-drawn hearse at the Poe Memorial Service.

Above: Movie poster from the upcoming exhibit Poe Goes to the Movies.

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The Poe Foundation’s new fiscal year began in July, and we look forward to a great re-

sponse to our Winter 2009 appeal. Below are the donors since the beginning of July. We

anticipate the list will have already grown by the time you receive this newsletter.

Arts and Cultural Funding Consortium

Corporate and Foundation Donors A&E Reprographics Altria The Arts and Cultural Funding Consortium of Richmond, Chesterfield, Hanover, and Henrico EMC Corporation Hampton Hotels Harper Collins Publishing Eleanor R. Morse Trust Mumbo Jumbo Games Quick Pulse Productions

Individual Donros Travis Burgess Charlene Campbell Edward D.C. Campbell, Jr. Gregory P. Dunsky Peter Fawn Norman S. George Sheldon Gottlieb Robert C. Hufford Deborah Inlow Natalie Larson Christine Matthews Rose Marie P. Mitchell Richard Nieman W. Taylor Reveley, III Katherine M. Smith Mrs. Thomas B. Suiter, Jr Raymond P. Toczek Michael J. Vascsinec Carole M. Weinstein (In Honor of J. Ronald Smith) John Parker Wright

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Thanks to Our Donors ___________________

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Poe Museum Events in 2010 _______________________________

January 16, 2010 Midnight-11:59 P.M. Poe’s 24-Hour Birthday Bash Poe’s Bicentennial isn’t over yet. Finish out the year by celebrating Poe’s 201st birthday with a day of events and activities for the entire family. January 16, 2010 Exhibit Poe Goes to the Movies opens at the Poe Museum. This exhibit will feature selections from the Museum’s collection of Poe movie posters and memorabilia. April 22, 2010 April Unhappy Hour: “To One in Paradise” Celebrate National Poetry Month at the Poe Museum with a special Un-happy Hour honoring the poem that inspired the Poe Museum’s garden. May 27, 2010 May Unhappy Hour: “The Balloon Hoax” Unwind after work in the Enchanted Garden. June 24, 2010 June Unhappy Hour: “The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether” Listen to live music, see the Museum, and get a drink at our cash bar. July 22, 2010 July Unhappy Hour: “Hop-Frog” Poe’s strange tale of dark humor and abject horror will set the mood for this month’s event. August 26, 2010 August Unhappy Hour: “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” This month’s event will leave you mesmerized. September 23, 2010 September Unhappy Hour: Poe Film Festival This month’s Unhappy Hour will feature a movie screening in the garden. October 7, 2010 Poe Memorial Service Join us as we observe the anniversary of Poe’s death in the Poe Shrine. October 24, 2010 Poe’s Pumpkin Patch Bring the kids for a day of fun and games to help your children grow up weird. October 28, 2010 October Unhappy Hour: “The Fall of the House of Usher” Celebrate Halloween as only the Poe Museum can.

Visit Poemuseum.org or call 888-21-EAPOE for more details.

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Help Support the Poe Museum

______________________________________________ Each year our members support the Museum because they believe that great literature still matters and that Poe should receive the recognition he deserves as one of the world’s greatest authors. We at the Poe Museum are forever grateful for all the help our members have given us over the course of the past eighty-seven years. For those of you who are not mem-bers or who are considering renewing a membership, these are the current membership and contributor levels:

Membership Categories Student/Teacher…$15

Individual…$25 Dual (or spousal)…$35

Family…$50 Contributor Levels

Raven Society ($100-$249) Black Cat Society ($250-$499)

Dupin Society ($500-$999) Gold Bug Society ($1,000-$4,900)

Israfel Society ($5,000-$9,999) Eldorado Society ($10,000 or more)

Each membership level has its own benefits. For more details, please con-

tact Keith Kaufelt at 804-648-5523 or keith@poemuseum.org.

Contact us: Phone: 804-648-5523

Fax: 804-648-8729 Toll-Free: 888-21-EAPOE

Email: info@poemuseum.org Website: www.poemuseum.org

Above: Which one is the real Poe? Below: Artist Dwight MacPherson (right) and his wife Rebecca visit Chris Semtner at the Poe Museum. Above: Poe makes a scene at a luncheon.

Below: Kappy Anklam leads a tour.