In the 1920's we began to see the early growth of Spiritualist Churches in Rochester, particularly with Central Spiritualist Church and Divine Inspiration becoming very popular churches even during the golden age of Plymouth Spiritualist Church as the undisputed "International Shrine of Spiritualism."
In this era another smaller church was also existed in Rochester, and lasted about five years. This church was named Progressive Sunflower Spiritualist Church, and also is referred to as Progressive Sunflower Psychic Church.
The modest church was started by Rev. Frank E. Carl, who was described as a "lecturer, medium, healer, and spiritual herb specialist." The church was chartered through the General Assembly of Spiritualists, then the New York State Auxiliary to the National Spiritualist Association.
The church would best be described as a Christian Spiritualist Church; a 1927 Sunday listing announced that three infants were to be baptized the upcoming Tuesday night service, and most of Rev. Frank's sermons and lectures were on biblical subjects, albeit from a Spiritualist perspective.
In a very short letter, Rev. Frank wrote to the Democrat in Chronicle in an "Issues of the Day" column expressing his views regarding prayer and reading of the bible in public schools.
Rev. Frank actually felt that this should be acceptable in public school, explaining that there are some children who cannot afford to go to religious schools or don't attend Sunday schools, and that he felt being familiar with the bible and prayer (of any denomination) would be a positive thing for them.
He also added "I, a Spiritualist Minister, for one would donate a bible or two to the public Schools and I am sure other churches, organizations, and societies would do likewise"
Each Sunday service included a message service as well as a healing service. Message Services offered a few different kinds of mediumship including Trance, Automatic Writing, and also Flower Messages through psychometry.
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Hydesville Spiritualist Camp
The site of the Fox Cabin in Hydesville, NY is considered one of the most important Historical Sites to Spiritualists worldwide.
Home to the Fox Sisters, on March 31 1848 Spiritualists believe that Kate and Maggie Fox ushered in the advent of the Spiritualist movement by demonstrating communication with the spirit world.
Hydesville no longer exists as a village, and is part of the larger township of Acadia, NY just outside of Newark. The site of the Fox Cabin is now known as Hydesville Memorial Park.
The site is actually only about 15 minutes away from another sacred location, Hill Cumorah, where the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith is said to have received the Book of Mormon from an Angel.
While the location does not receive as much attention as Hill Cumorah, the location is considered virtually sacred by Spiritualists, and is visited by many as a site of pilgrimage, particularly on March 31, celebrated as the anniversary of Spiritualism, or Hydesville Day.
The site of the original Fox Cabin is now a visitor center that preserves the original foundation of the home. The original Fox Cabin was moved to Lily Dale and was tragically destroyed in a fire. The property has an interesting history, and I only will be touching on a few points in this post.
Home to the Fox Sisters, on March 31 1848 Spiritualists believe that Kate and Maggie Fox ushered in the advent of the Spiritualist movement by demonstrating communication with the spirit world.
Hydesville no longer exists as a village, and is part of the larger township of Acadia, NY just outside of Newark. The site of the Fox Cabin is now known as Hydesville Memorial Park.
The site is actually only about 15 minutes away from another sacred location, Hill Cumorah, where the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith is said to have received the Book of Mormon from an Angel.
While the location does not receive as much attention as Hill Cumorah, the location is considered virtually sacred by Spiritualists, and is visited by many as a site of pilgrimage, particularly on March 31, celebrated as the anniversary of Spiritualism, or Hydesville Day.
The site of the original Fox Cabin is now a visitor center that preserves the original foundation of the home. The original Fox Cabin was moved to Lily Dale and was tragically destroyed in a fire. The property has an interesting history, and I only will be touching on a few points in this post.
Over the years, pious Spiritualists have proposed numerous ideas to bring more honor and focus to the site. For instance, in 1928 it was proposed that a Spiritualist run College should be built at the location, this however, did not come to pass.
In 1948 the Fox Memorial Society presided over a service to dedicate Hydesville Spiritualist Camp. A barn that was part of the original Hyde Family farm was converted into a 400 seat auditorium. Spiritualists from around the country and the world attended the dedication, with Rev. Helen Gerling of the Psychic Science Temple representing Rochester. The small camp enjoyed several visiting guest speakers, services, and summer events.
Plans were created to turn Hydesville Spiritualist Camp into a central Spiritualist location in the United States. A 146 acre plot was purchased near the site, and plans were made to build "Sunshine Village" which would include a hotel, shrine, and church.
In 1950 the converted-barn auditorium was renovated to act as a meeting house, and contained a cafeteria and had accommodations for at least 50 people.
Fundraisers were conducted to build homes on the piece of land, for those wishing to invest in and reside in Hydesville Spiritualist Camp. Unfortunately Hydesville Spiritualist Camp as a permanent assembly did not come to fruition.
Fundraisers were conducted to build homes on the piece of land, for those wishing to invest in and reside in Hydesville Spiritualist Camp. Unfortunately Hydesville Spiritualist Camp as a permanent assembly did not come to fruition.
Hydesville is currently undergoing something of a revival today, largely in part to The Journey Within North, a Spiritualist Church chartered with the Spiritualist National Union (UK), located near Hydesville Memorial Park. The community has purchased the old Hydesville School House, and has been repairing the structure with plans to create a Healing Temple.
Sunday, June 7, 2020
Segregation in Spiritualist Churches: Part II
In the early 1930s the topic of segregation was brought up again during the National Spiritualist Association convention, however, this time the proposal actually received more support from the delegates to the convention than it had in the 1920s. The proposal called for complete segregation in all Spiritualist Churches chartered with the NSA, including churches in states without mandatory segregation laws. The resolution passed.
The General Assembly of Spiritualists, which was chartered as the New York State Auxiliary since the late 1800s, responded to this proposal by issuing a statement condemning these policies as being immoral and against the very foundation of Spiritualist principles, and motioned to disaffiliate with the National Association, and to incorporate as their own independent association.
The General Assembly of Spiritualists had a particularly unique legal advantage at the time, New York State had officially recognized the General Assembly in 1914 as legal Spiritualist denomination, independent from the National Association. This allowed them to offer charters, open churches (even outside New York State), ordain ministers, and conduct business completely independently of the National Association.
This separation from the NSA, caused most New York Spiritualists to sever ties with the National Association and become full members in the newly independent General Assembly. In Rochester most Spiritualist Churches at the time remained with the General Assembly.
Plymouth Spiritualist Church however was largely divided on the issue: one faction wishing to remain with the General Assembly, and another faction wishing to recharter with the National Association. After a complicated legal battle the church rechartered with the National Association, causing a large portion of the membership to leave Plymouth in order to remain in the General Assembly, and in protest over the policy of segregation.
A first hand account of these events was recorded by Arthur Ford in his autobiography, Nothing So Strange. Arthur Ford was a very famous Medium and Lecturer, and was also a member of the General Assembly of Spiritualist Churches:
"Only once have I come to issue with the Spiritualists' national organization and that was over a matter that would never be raised in these days.
Many years ago an opinionated gentlemen with marked racial bias got himself into a position of national leadership and used such authority as he had, augmented by the pressure of like-minded friends, to move against the membership of Negros.
Along with other leaders of the New York State delegation, I made a strong stand for an interracial fellowship.
The altercation was taken to a national meeting and for a time we lost, but before long popular sentiment supported us and the question was settled once and for all. Not many denominations came to this stand as quickly and unequivocally. Today the Spiritualist movement is both interracial and international."
As Ford summarized the policy of segregation was so massively unpopular that it was actually overturned fairly quickly. Now, as back then Spiritualist Churches are more known for their openness and inclusiveness.
However, despite the reversal of the segregation policy, the General Assembly and the National Association have been separate ever since.
The separation between the two denominations also allowed the spirituality of the two organizations to change over time. In Rochester, this created a community of Spiritualists and Spiritualist Churches that express their approaches to Spiritualism in different and unique ways.
The General Assembly of Spiritualists, which was chartered as the New York State Auxiliary since the late 1800s, responded to this proposal by issuing a statement condemning these policies as being immoral and against the very foundation of Spiritualist principles, and motioned to disaffiliate with the National Association, and to incorporate as their own independent association.
The General Assembly of Spiritualists had a particularly unique legal advantage at the time, New York State had officially recognized the General Assembly in 1914 as legal Spiritualist denomination, independent from the National Association. This allowed them to offer charters, open churches (even outside New York State), ordain ministers, and conduct business completely independently of the National Association.
This separation from the NSA, caused most New York Spiritualists to sever ties with the National Association and become full members in the newly independent General Assembly. In Rochester most Spiritualist Churches at the time remained with the General Assembly.
Plymouth Spiritualist Church however was largely divided on the issue: one faction wishing to remain with the General Assembly, and another faction wishing to recharter with the National Association. After a complicated legal battle the church rechartered with the National Association, causing a large portion of the membership to leave Plymouth in order to remain in the General Assembly, and in protest over the policy of segregation.
A first hand account of these events was recorded by Arthur Ford in his autobiography, Nothing So Strange. Arthur Ford was a very famous Medium and Lecturer, and was also a member of the General Assembly of Spiritualist Churches:
"Only once have I come to issue with the Spiritualists' national organization and that was over a matter that would never be raised in these days.
Many years ago an opinionated gentlemen with marked racial bias got himself into a position of national leadership and used such authority as he had, augmented by the pressure of like-minded friends, to move against the membership of Negros.
Along with other leaders of the New York State delegation, I made a strong stand for an interracial fellowship.
The altercation was taken to a national meeting and for a time we lost, but before long popular sentiment supported us and the question was settled once and for all. Not many denominations came to this stand as quickly and unequivocally. Today the Spiritualist movement is both interracial and international."
As Ford summarized the policy of segregation was so massively unpopular that it was actually overturned fairly quickly. Now, as back then Spiritualist Churches are more known for their openness and inclusiveness.
However, despite the reversal of the segregation policy, the General Assembly and the National Association have been separate ever since.
The separation between the two denominations also allowed the spirituality of the two organizations to change over time. In Rochester, this created a community of Spiritualists and Spiritualist Churches that express their approaches to Spiritualism in different and unique ways.
Segregation in Spiritualist Churches: Part I
During my research something I noticed was a fairly constant reoccurring reference in several of the texts stating something along the lines of "the NSAC expelled African-American members in the 1920s (or 1930s)"
This was always very matter of factually stated in almost all the texts and articles dealing with African-American Spiritualism. I also noticed that any time this was cited, the chain of references tended to not go back to actual academic works, or even primary sources, but to journalistic writings that seemed to be paraphrasing an anecdote they were told from an oral tradition.
I also discovered that when I brought up this topic to Spiritualists involved with Spiritualist Churches most were completely unaware of this ever happening. Most were completely surprised such a thing would have ever happened and some individuals outright told me that I was wrong.
Most Spiritualists tend to pride themselves on the progressive nature and forwardness of their movement, and for fairly good reason, most of the early Spiritualists were some of the biggest supporters of Abolitionism and Equal Rights movements in American History.
The key note there is early Spiritualists. Virtually all of the great early Spiritualists were zealously dedicated to reform movements and racial equality. This early period of Spiritualism is the most well documented and discussed, so it's what most Spiritualists are most familiar with. However, I've found that the further away the timeline moves from the era of the Fox Sisters and Progressive Reform, the more it becomes fragmented and under documented.
It has taken me several years worth of research to piece together a coherent narrative about the story of segregation in Spiritualists Churches. As I suspected, it did occur, however, it is a fairly complex chain of events that actually spanned over two decades with two main events occurring: one in the 1920s, and another in the 1930s. This piece will focus on the 1920s, and the next will cover what happened a decade later.
In the period of time after World War I the United States saw a wave of racist policies sweep through the country: political, social, economic, and also religious, this included, and effected, Spiritualist Churches.
During a National Convention of the National Spiritualist Association (now known as the NSAC), a motion was proposed by a faction of Pro-Segregationist delegates that the National Spiritualist Association should adopt an official policy of full racial segregation, and vote to disaffiliate African-American members.
Many of the delegates were opposed to the idea, particularly delegates from from New York State, including the Rev. John White, "the Father of Harlem Spiritualists," and William H. Burr, the President of the General Assembly of Spiritualists (which was then the New York State Auxiliary of the National Spiritualist Association)
After days of heated debate the convention voted to create an auxiliary for African-American Spiritualists, which would continue to be chartered through National Association, thus allowing members to retain their membership with the National Association.
This organization was named the National Colored Spiritualist Association of Churches, and Rev. John White was elected as president of the Association.
Some African-American Spiritualists, such as Rev. John White, seemed to feel that this choice was useful in that it allowed African-American Spiritualists independence in governing their affairs, while still remaining connected to the larger community of Spiritualists in the United States, with access to resources, education, and all benefits of membership, while avoiding the extremes of segregation found in most other churches at the time.
On a local level I've only managed to find a reference to one church in Rochester that was chartered through the National Colored Spiritualist Association, named Good Will Spiritualist Church, which was located on Clarissa street. Unfortunately very little information has been preserved about this church beyond the fact that it existed.
The decision to form the NCSA was not without dissent. Many African-American Spiritualists that were members of the National Spiritualist Association at the time felt that the formation of the NCSA was ignoring the fundamental problem of the immorality of segregation, and was a concession to those Spiritualists that favored segregationist policies, going against the longstanding tradition within Spiritualism to stand for the equality of all people.
Several delegates actually withdrew from the convention in protest. Many African-Americans decided to leave the National Organization to form their own independent Assemblies. It was in this era that there was a flourishing of African-American run independent Spiritualist Churches and organizations that can trace their history to these early dissenters.
Perhaps one of the best known examples of an early independent African-American Spiritualist Association was the Eternal Life Christian Spiritualist Churches founded by Mother Leafy Anderson, a Spiritualist Medium, Teacher, and Preacher who spread her mission of Spiritualism throughout the United States, from Chicago to New Orleans.
Many of the Churches started by Leafy Anderson, and other independent African-American Spiritualist movements, would eventually branch off into a new movement known as the Spiritual Church Movement.
There is little documentation on the history of the National Colored Spiritualist Association of Churches, but references of it persisted into the 1980's. Most Churches affiliated with the Association appear to have become independent Spiritualist Churches, or were phased back into the greater denomination of the National Spiritualist Association of Churches.
This was always very matter of factually stated in almost all the texts and articles dealing with African-American Spiritualism. I also noticed that any time this was cited, the chain of references tended to not go back to actual academic works, or even primary sources, but to journalistic writings that seemed to be paraphrasing an anecdote they were told from an oral tradition.
I also discovered that when I brought up this topic to Spiritualists involved with Spiritualist Churches most were completely unaware of this ever happening. Most were completely surprised such a thing would have ever happened and some individuals outright told me that I was wrong.
Most Spiritualists tend to pride themselves on the progressive nature and forwardness of their movement, and for fairly good reason, most of the early Spiritualists were some of the biggest supporters of Abolitionism and Equal Rights movements in American History.
The key note there is early Spiritualists. Virtually all of the great early Spiritualists were zealously dedicated to reform movements and racial equality. This early period of Spiritualism is the most well documented and discussed, so it's what most Spiritualists are most familiar with. However, I've found that the further away the timeline moves from the era of the Fox Sisters and Progressive Reform, the more it becomes fragmented and under documented.
It has taken me several years worth of research to piece together a coherent narrative about the story of segregation in Spiritualists Churches. As I suspected, it did occur, however, it is a fairly complex chain of events that actually spanned over two decades with two main events occurring: one in the 1920s, and another in the 1930s. This piece will focus on the 1920s, and the next will cover what happened a decade later.
In the period of time after World War I the United States saw a wave of racist policies sweep through the country: political, social, economic, and also religious, this included, and effected, Spiritualist Churches.
During a National Convention of the National Spiritualist Association (now known as the NSAC), a motion was proposed by a faction of Pro-Segregationist delegates that the National Spiritualist Association should adopt an official policy of full racial segregation, and vote to disaffiliate African-American members.
Many of the delegates were opposed to the idea, particularly delegates from from New York State, including the Rev. John White, "the Father of Harlem Spiritualists," and William H. Burr, the President of the General Assembly of Spiritualists (which was then the New York State Auxiliary of the National Spiritualist Association)
After days of heated debate the convention voted to create an auxiliary for African-American Spiritualists, which would continue to be chartered through National Association, thus allowing members to retain their membership with the National Association.
This organization was named the National Colored Spiritualist Association of Churches, and Rev. John White was elected as president of the Association.
Some African-American Spiritualists, such as Rev. John White, seemed to feel that this choice was useful in that it allowed African-American Spiritualists independence in governing their affairs, while still remaining connected to the larger community of Spiritualists in the United States, with access to resources, education, and all benefits of membership, while avoiding the extremes of segregation found in most other churches at the time.
On a local level I've only managed to find a reference to one church in Rochester that was chartered through the National Colored Spiritualist Association, named Good Will Spiritualist Church, which was located on Clarissa street. Unfortunately very little information has been preserved about this church beyond the fact that it existed.
The decision to form the NCSA was not without dissent. Many African-American Spiritualists that were members of the National Spiritualist Association at the time felt that the formation of the NCSA was ignoring the fundamental problem of the immorality of segregation, and was a concession to those Spiritualists that favored segregationist policies, going against the longstanding tradition within Spiritualism to stand for the equality of all people.
Several delegates actually withdrew from the convention in protest. Many African-Americans decided to leave the National Organization to form their own independent Assemblies. It was in this era that there was a flourishing of African-American run independent Spiritualist Churches and organizations that can trace their history to these early dissenters.
Perhaps one of the best known examples of an early independent African-American Spiritualist Association was the Eternal Life Christian Spiritualist Churches founded by Mother Leafy Anderson, a Spiritualist Medium, Teacher, and Preacher who spread her mission of Spiritualism throughout the United States, from Chicago to New Orleans.
Many of the Churches started by Leafy Anderson, and other independent African-American Spiritualist movements, would eventually branch off into a new movement known as the Spiritual Church Movement.
There is little documentation on the history of the National Colored Spiritualist Association of Churches, but references of it persisted into the 1980's. Most Churches affiliated with the Association appear to have become independent Spiritualist Churches, or were phased back into the greater denomination of the National Spiritualist Association of Churches.
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