Wednesday December 5th 2012 | 7 – 8pm | MUN Room ED 4036, Education Building

The alleged murder of fisherman Isaac Mercer by a group of men disguised as mummers in Bay Roberts in 1860 is one of the most notorious episodes in Newfoundland’s history, prompting a legislative ban on mummering that remained in force for over a century.  Folklorist Joy Fraser introduces a remarkable collection of archival discoveries that shed new light on the circumstances surrounding Mercer’s death and the subsequent investigation and legal proceedings.

Joy Fraser is a folklorist and Assistant Professor in the Department of English at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.  She completed her PhD in Folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2011.  For the past several years, she has been researching the relationship between mummering, violence and the law in nineteenth-century Newfoundland.

Presented in partnership with the Department of Folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and co-sponsored by the Folklore Studies Program, Folklore Roundtable, and Department of English at George Mason University.  This event is made possible with the help of MUN’s Distance Education, Learning and Teaching Support division, and GMU’s Collaborative Video Technologies group.