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Joan Rivers often joked that her New York apartment was haunted by a ghost she called “Mrs. Spencer.” It’s a story that’s been repeated for years, usually as a quirky aside in Rivers’ life, but rarely examined any further. In this episode of Citegeist, we dig into the origins of the haunting and ask: who was Mrs. Spencer?
Using property records, census data, newspapers, and archival sources, this episode traces the history of Joan’s apartment and the women who lived there before her. What begins as a celebrity ghost story quickly turns into an archival investigation and an examination of how easily real people can slip into legend. As always, the goal isn’t to debunk for debunking’s sake... it’s to uncover the hidden truths of history and bring them to light.
Sources:
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