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.