Psychical Research Archive Letters And Documents Relating To The American Society For Psychical Research And Key Investigators Into Psychic Medium

(AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH). Originally founded in 1885, the Society is dedicated to the study of psychics and other paranormal phenomena. In 1889, it attached itself to Englands Society for Psychical Research. It merged with the American Institute for Scientific Research, another psychic research organization, in 1907. The Society still exists today.RICHARD HODGSON (1855-1905). Hodgson was an Australian-born psychical researcher who was the secretary and treasurer of the American Branch of the Society for Psychical Research. He investigated psychic mediums in the Unites States, England, and India and debunked several of them. JAMES HYSLOP (truncated) (1854-1920). Hyslop was an American psychical researcher, psychologist, and Columbia University Professor. He founded the American Institute for Scientific Research in 1904 and became the secretary-treasurer of the new organization formed when his Institute absorbed the American Branch of the Society for Psychical Research in 1907.Archive. Approximately 151 pieces. 1887-1919 (majority 1887-1905). Various places. An archive of letters and documents relating to the American Branch of the Society for Psychical Research. The majority of items were written by or sent to the Societys Secretary-Treasurer Richard Hodgson. There are 47 items signed Richard Hodgson or R Hodgson. Dating between the beginning of Hodgsons association with the American Society in 1887 and his death in 1905, they are mostly on American Society for Psychical Research or American Branch of the Society for Psychical Research letterhead. In these letters, Hodgson conducted routine Society business, such as tracking down members dues and pledges. He also tried to verify stories or incidents of supposedly-psychical origin by tracking down and questioning witnesses: My attention has been drawn to the account of some remarkable experiences which you are said to have had recently at Rock Creek, a place near which is said to be haunted. We shall be very grateful if you can kindly give me any information concerning the matter. The earlier letters tended to be general inquiries, while the later ones asked specific questions: Did you relate your vision to any person before receiving news of the death of Mrs. Fiske? If so a statement from such person would be very valuable. Were you aware of Mrs. Fiskes illness? Was it of short duration?. Although recipients sometimes elaborated in handwritten replies in the margins or verso, details of the events under discussion rarely appear in these letters. Hodgsons last letter in the archive, dated the month before his death, includes a brief mention of Leonora Piper, the psychic Hodgson had become fixated on after starting to believe that her work proved the existence of an afterlife. On November 1, 1905, he wrote My sittings with Mrs. Piper begin next week but crossed out this line in purple ink.There are 31 other letters and documents signed by Society members who were sending dues and contribution pledges to the Society. Signatories include many doctors (like Rufus Osgood Mason, Dr. Beatrice Hinkle, and Charles Sedgwick Minot), high-ranking members of the military, writers (such as Lilian Whiting, Henry Mills Alden, and Alan Dale), a surprising number of clergymen (such as openminded preacher Benjamin Fay Mills), as well as other prominent Americans (such as politician Noble B. Judah, Jr. and attorney Orville Peckham). There are 35 letters to Hodgson about all sorts of Society business, such as new members and resignation, periodical orders, and potential psychics to study. For example, there is a message about a woman writing a book under spirit control and a letter from a father wishing to speak with Hodgson about his dead son: you became cognizant of some remarkable events connected with the sudden death of my son, aged 19, and you communicated to me through the Hoyts, a wish to discuss those events with me when I could bear it. The letters to and from Hodgson, as well as those discussed below, mention a wide variety of names and events related to mediums and paranormal phenomena. They also evidence how many prominent American men and women, including scientists, politicians, and churchmen, were willing to believe in the possibility of psychic powers enough to join the Society.There are 14 letters, dated 1907-1919, to James Hyslop as Secretary-Treasurer of the Society, by this point called the Institute of Scientific Research. He succeeded Hodgson in this role, and letters between the two men are included in Hodgsons correspondence mentioned above. Playwright Augustus Thomas (1857-1934) wrote to Hyslop about his play, The Witching Hour, which involved psychical subject matter: I am writing you at the suggestion of Mr. Washburn who has seen a new play we are doing at the Garrick and who believes that the psychical side of it would interest you. For my own part, I should feel most complimented and distinctly benefitted too if the play had your private and personal approval. A pair of letters mention Elsa Barkers book Letters from a Living Dead Man, which was supposedly the result of a dead man psychically writing through her. Three letters were written by actress Beatrice Mansfield (1868-1940), who consulted mediums in an attempt to contact her deceased actor-manager husband, Richard Mansfield: ...I have your letter in regard to the sittings, and quite understand about itI can readily understand how much better it would be to have the sittings always held at the same place..14 other letters relate to the Society in various ways, such as a 1914 letter from Augustus Thomas to Society research assistant Gertrude Tubby concerning benefits by plays with psychical subjects for the benefit of the Institute of Scientific Research and a January 12, 1906 letter written by author and philosopher Miles Menander Dawson to the Society just after Hodgsons death: I am very glad indeed to learn that his work is to be continued, not merely by further investigations but also by the publication of the documentary material which he left behind him. The archive also includes a set of 10 clipped signatures and other letter clippings relating to Society members, including three Hodgson signatures. Contents of the archive are mostly in good to very good condition with a variety of faults. A few pieces are in fair condition. This archive provides a fascinating look into the turn-of-the-century craze for psychic mediums, the desire to scientifically understand it, and the mainstream or even prominent social position of some of its enthusiasts. (Inventory #: 5674)