The Digital Archive for the Lizzie Borden / Fall River case study is intended to provide students with access to primary and related secondary sources relevant to Lizzie Borden's axe murder trials and to life in Fall River, Massachusetts and in the United States during the nineteenth century.

Our archive has been compiled to support undergraduate courses designed around the case and late nineteenth century US history (see Undergraduate Explorations). Because the project promotes historical investigation using traditional as well as online resources, these sources are not intended to serve as stand-alone testimonies to the historical past. Instead, they should serve as starting points for historical investigation and discussion of such issues as . . .

. . . societal expectations of women in the late nineteenth century

. . . class conflicts in industrial America

. . . the justice system and media coverage

. . . the development of leisure and consumer culture

Enjoy!