Seen on Archive.org – Who knew one-way communication would be desirable?

For more than 30 years the Shortwave radio spectrum has been used by the worlds intelligence agencies to transmit secret messages. These messages are transmitted by hundreds of “Numbers Stations”.

Here is a SAMPLE MP3:
Download audio file (tcp_d1_01_the_swedish_rhapsody_irdial.mp3)

Shortwave Numbers Stations are a perfect method of anonymous, one way communication. Spies located anywhere in the world can be communicated to by their masters via small, locally available, and unmodified Shortwave receivers.

The encryption system used by Numbers Stations, known as a “one time pad” is unbreakable. Combine this with the fact that it is almost impossible to track down the message recipients once they are inserted into the enemy country, it becomes clear just how powerful the Numbers Station system is.

A great LINK to info on the park from Google Answers

A Brief history of Washington Square Park:
In 1797 the Common Council acquired the land for use as a Potter’s Field or common burial ground. The field was also used for public executions, giving rise to the tale of the Hangman’s Elm which stands in the northwest corner of the park.

The site was used as the Washington Military Parade Ground in 1826, and became a public park in 1827. Following this designation, a number of wealthy and prominent families, escaping the disease and congestion of downtown Manhattan, moved into the area and built the distinguished Greek Revival mansions that still line the square’s north side.

Notable events in 1797:
Mary Shelley is Born.
John Adams succeeds George Washington as President of the US
The storyline of the video game, Castlevania, takes place in 1797.

A few resources and links for library research in NYC

http://www.bobcat.nyu.edu/WebZ/html/bookmarkfull.html?sessionid=01-45522-612105667

http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/collections.html

http://www.nyhistory.org

https://www.nyhistory.org/web/

We believe sound is a medium for mediums.

Electronic voice phenomena (EVP) is the practice of using radios, tape recorders or other electronic audio devices in an attempt to pick up communications from ghosts or spirits. – source Wikipedia

This is channeling in the most literal sense – looking for spirits on actual radio channels.

Here is an EXAMPLE:
Download audio file (01_-_Breakthrough_Side_1.mp3)

Our project simulates EVP in Washington Square Park, and will actually attempt to source sources.

We picked Washington Square because it was once the site of hangings, and gruesome deaths. It became a potter’s field, or the site of a burial ground for paupers. The hangings occurred on an elm tree on the northwest corner of the park. According to Stonewall by David Carter, “Perhaps the city chose the tree because of its proximity to the paupers’ graves, which allowed the city authorities to dispatch its least valued citizens without bothering to haul the bodies away.”

If you walk on Washington Sq. North and Macdougal, you will see the tree. There is a plaque on the tree. There are still over 15,000 bodies buried in Washington Square park. The parks division removed the branch where the hangings supposedly took place.

There is a monument in this park that resembles a tombstone. J.Q.A. Ward’s bust of steel manufacturer Alexander Lyman Holley (1890) is located in the west side of the park. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Lyman_Holley

CREATIVE TIME did an exhibit on techno-mysticism (thank to xin croft for the link) called STRANGE POWERS. You can read about the piece Vital Psigns in the NYTimes review of the show

RESEARCH on Wash Sq. Park:
The property was once a marsh fed by Minetta Brook. It was located near a Native American village known as Sapokanikan or “Tobacco Field.” In 1797, in the midst of a yellow fever epidemic, the Common Council purchased 90 lots for a new potter’s field, or public burial ground. The field was also used for public executions, giving rise to the tale of the 350 year old Hangman’s Elm [3] (http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/image/56061976/medium) which stands in the northwest corner of the park. The cemetery was eventually closed in 1823 and designated as a public park. To this day, the remains of more than 20,000 bodies rest under Washington Square.

1640: What is now Greenwich Village, NY, is known to Native Americans as (var.) Sapponckanican– “tobacco fields,” or “land where the tobacco grows.” Washington Square Park was essentially marshland, fed by the Minetta Creek.

In 1629, Niewu Amsterdam’s Gov. Wouter Van Twiller appropriated a farm belonging to the Dutch West India Company in the Bossen Bouwery (“Farm in the woods”) area of Manhattan island, and began growing tobacco. The first Dutch references to the Indians’ name for the area appear around 1640. As the city developed, both sides of what is now Christopher St. were lined with tobacco farms.

this is a MAP OF THE WEST VILLAGE that’s very old, but still interesting…

THIS article is very informative and contains lots of history tidbits.

People claim to have seen ghosts at locations throughout New York City
Check this ABOUT article for some more info about haunted spots.