Columbus Hall
1
Michael Higgins, Margaret Sanger's
father, invited Robert G. Ingersoll to
speak in Corning, New York. We believe
that this is the hall Higgins tried to
rent, unsuccessfully, from a Catholic
priest.
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Michael Higgins, Margaret Sanger's
father, invited Robert G. Ingersoll to
speak in Corning, New York. We believe
that this is the hall Higgins tried to
rent, unsuccessfully, from a Catholic
priest.
| Type: | Unmarked Location | Involved: | Sanger, Margaret; Ingersoll, Robert Green |
| Location: | State Street and W 2nd St, Corning, NY | Cause: | Birth Control / Sex Radicalism; Freethought / Atheism / Secular Humanism |
Michael Higgins, Margaret Sanger's nonreligious father, invited agnostic orator Robert G. Ingersoll to speak in Corning, New York. According to Sanger's autobiography, her father had arranged to rent a hall that was owned by a Catholic priest; when Ingersoll arrived, Higgins found that the hall had been padlocked so that Ingersoll's speech could not proceed. But Ingersoll and Higgins would not be deterred by this setback. They led an attentive crowd into the woods just outside of town, and Ingersoll delivered his lecture outdoors. Based on available records, we believe the hall involved in this story is most likely Columbus Hall. If you have any other information about this event, please contact us.