Lectures on Tap - Burned Clothes, a Severed Head & the Crime of the Century
About this Event
📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email
🧠 Lecture: "Burned Clothes, a Severed Head & the Crime of the Century"
🎤 Speaker: Professor Dan Breen
Join us for a gripping evening as Professor Dan Breen revisits one of the most sensational murders in American history: the 1892 killings of Andrew and Abby Borden in Fall River, Massachusetts. Branded a “fiendish atrocity” in its time, the crime shocked the nation and quickly focused suspicion on Andrew’s 32-year-old daughter, Lizzie.
Professor Breen will unpack the tangled facts of that fateful August day, from the discovery of the bodies to the burned dress that helped fuel public fascination. He’ll explore why much of fashionable Fall River refused to believe Lizzie capable of such violence, and how prosecutors built a case that culminated in one of the nineteenth century’s most closely watched trials.
Even after Lizzie’s acquittal, the questions have never stopped. What really happened in the Borden home? If Lizzie was guilty, what could have driven her to it—and how did the jury ultimately decide to let her go?
Professor Dan Breen teaches in the Legal Studies department at Brandeis University, where he has taught since 1998. His book on the public monuments of Boston is scheduled for publication in Fall 2027.
Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌
Agenda
6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.
6:55 PM – Host introduction
7:00 PM – Lecture begins
7:45 PM – Audience Q&A
8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round
8:30 PM – Wrap up.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 39.19
