Join Jennifer and Gene Yee of Yee Magik to unveil the life and secrets of spiritualist and magician Anna Eva Fay!

Born in 1851, Fay toured internationally as a medium and mentalist and became a household name during the late 19th and early 20th century. Together with her second husband David Pingree, she also became a highly successful philanthropist, collector and entrepreneur, owning multiple quarries and a steamship line. The Fay-Pingree home in Melrose, Massachusetts, Heathman Manor, was visited by Fay’s notable friends such as Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Fay’s great-grandniece Jennifer Yee and Jennifer’s husband Gene will present an interactive lecture on Fay, who is still revered today. Follow the Yees’ decades-long search for lost history and genealogy as they tell how they came to reside at Heathman Manor and carry on Fay’s legacy. Besides broadsides, lithographs and ephemera from Fay’s performances, including one of her earliest-known public photos, audience members might catch a glimpse of a levitating object or a galvanometer with which scientists attempted to divine Fay’s secrets! The performance will also offer a rare peek behind the scenes at spirit cabinets and their roles in art and performance. After a short Q & A, be prepared to witness a rare performance of the cabinet — don’t blink, or you’ll miss something!

The Yees will be available for a meet-and-greet in Morse Alcove after the performance.

About the presenters

Dr. Gene and Mrs. Jennifer Yee perform together as Yee Magik. Jennifer is the great-grandniece of famous spiritualist and magician Anna Eva Fay; she and Gene uphold Fay’s legacy through performance and historical research. The couple has traveled to The Inner Circle of The Official Houdini Séance, various museums and The Magic Castle to perform Fay’s legacy: her trademark Spirit Cabinet. Outside of their magical pursuits, Jennifer is Associate Director of Security at The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Gene is an actor who has appeared in Don’t Look Up, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Hocus Pocus 2, American Fiction and The Holdovers.