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Snake Handling

In this Aug. 22, 1944 photo, members of the Pentecostal Church of God, a faith healing sect, surround a woman who has "Got the Spirit" as a man holds a snake above her head in Evarts, Ky. Although a Kentucky statute passed in 1940 prohibits the handling of snakes in connection with religious services, this sect revived the ritual after the recent death of a native of the region who was bitten by rattlesnake.

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Uploaded on April 19, 2017
Taken on August 22, 1944