The First Ghostbuster Was a Woman

Given the controversy over Paul Feig’s decision to remake Ghostbusters with an all-woman cast, one might be fooled into thinking that female ghostbusters are a shocking... The original lady ghostbuster made her debut in the early 20th century, snuffing out ghosts and goblins in partnership with most famous magician of all time. Harry Houdini was a staunch opponent of the spiritualist movements that soared in popularity after World War I. Enter Rose Mackenberg. Though the exact date of their introduction is unclear, it’s believed that Mackenberg began working for Houdini as early as 1910. Mackenberg quickly became Houdini’s most prolific ghostbuster, often posing as a bereaved wife or mother. Her immensely detailed, mercilessly pragmatic reports earned her a number of enemies in the charlatan-spiritualist and ghost-racketeer community... When Mackenberg died in 1968... She’d become a nationally consulted expert on psychical fraud and even testified in front of the 69th US Congress on an anti-fortune-telling bill. She even wrote a manuscript, entitled So You Want to Attend A Séance?

Source: Sorry, Ghostbusters purists, but the original spirit exterminator was a woman who lived 100 years ago