Spirits in the Material World of Arkansas

Spiritualism has a long history in Arkansas, intertwined with the profound impacts of the Civil War and subsequent societal changes. Originating as a belief system that suggests the dead can communicate with the living, spiritualism gained traction in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century.

The devastation of the Civil War—with Arkansas losing over 10,000 residents in the fighting—created a landscape ripe for spiritualist practices. The war’s brutal toll, coupled with the chaotic circumstances surrounding the deaths of soldiers, left many bereaved families struggling to find closure. In an era when accurate information about the fate of loved ones was scarce, spiritualism offered a way to reconnect with the deceased, providing a semblance of comfort and understanding.

In Little Rock, early instances of spiritualist gatherings appeared in the 1870s. As early as 1872, the Arkansas Gazette reported on the spiritualist practices of a psychic named Miss Clara Robertson. In March 1877, the first documented visit of a medium to Arkansas was noted, when Colonel and Mrs. Eldridge conducted séances at a local hotel. In 1882, they returned for another séance where a reported “notable number of spirits attended,” including that of Archibald Yell.

Their demonstrations garnered attention from prominent citizens, many of whom were left convinced by the authenticity of the experiences. Despite some skepticism from the media, these events established a foothold for spiritualism in the state. The movement was notably led by women, who often acted as mediums, creating spaces for spiritual exploration in a male-dominated society.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, widespread interest in spiritualism had waned. But in the late 1910s, a resurgence of the movement in Arkansas coincided with the end of World War I and the influenza pandemic of 1918, which left many grappling with profound loss. The availability of tools like the Ouija board allowed individuals to seek communication with the dead without a medium. This period saw influential proponents such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle advocating for spiritualism, linking it to the shared grief experienced by those who lost loved ones during the war.

The Stringfellow family, originally from Texas, settled in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in the early 1900s. Their son Leslie had died in 1886, when they were still living in Texas, after a sudden illness. Leslie’s death prompted Henry and Alice Stringfellow to explore spiritualism in hopes of reconnecting with him. Despite their initial skepticism toward the messages received during séances, they began using a planchette for spirit writing, which led to a reported 4,000 messages from Leslie over the next fifteen years. In 1897, they adopted a girl named Mabel, later renamed Lessie at the supposed urging of Leslie through spirit writing, who would eventually marry and bring the family to Arkansas.

Lessie Stringfellow Read became a prominent journalist and, alongside her mother, sought to publish Leslie’s letters to promote spiritualism. Their correspondence with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle played a significant role in their efforts. (Several of his letters are included in the eventually published work accessible in the Research Room of CALS Roberts Library.) After publishing Leslie’s Letters to His Mother in 1926, the family maintained their spiritualist practices, hosting séances into the 1960s while remaining active Episcopalians, viewing spiritualism as a way to connect with the divine.

The spiritualist movement did face criticism, notably from figures like Harry Houdini. At the time, photography was relatively new and expensive, and “spirit photographers” super-imposed images of the dead on top of photographs to make it seem as if spirits were in the frame. Mary Todd Lincoln famously embraced spiritualism and had a photo taken with the supposed spirit of Lincoln in the late nineteenth century. In his campaign against spiritualism, Houdini recreated the Lincoln Spirit Portrait to show how spirit photography was faked.

(On a related note, a portrait photographer’s hardest challenge can be persuading people to sit or stand still. That was even more true in the old days when camera shutter speeds were slower and the slightest twitch blurred the picture. The problem was compounded with babies, who are notoriously difficult to persuade to sit still. One trick old-time photographers used when they were asked to make baby portraits was hiding the baby’s mother in the photograph. Hidden Mother photographs from those earlier times have recently gathered attention, with some studios even creating shows featuring the Hidden Mother, or “Ghost Mother,” theme. Like many other repositories of old photographs, the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Roberts Library likely has dozens of Hidden Mother photographs scattered among its collections. See this post for more examples, and peruse our online collection of digitized items to do your own “ghost” hunting.)

While many denounced spiritualism as exploitative, it also reflected societal shifts. The presence of women as mediums and practitioners offered a counter-narrative to the prevailing norms of their time, allowing them to carve out roles for themselves in both spiritual and public life. Spiritualism became a means of agency, especially as women gained the right to vote.

In contemporary times, spiritualism has found new expressions through online platforms, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a significant increase in interest and participation in spiritualist practices. The movement has attempted to move more toward evidence-based work, hoping to prove that there is an afterlife in which spirits can communicate with the living.

Come visit us at the CALS Roberts Library’s Research Room to explore more spiritualist history through historical newspapers and archival material.

By Danielle Afsordeh, community outreach archivist at the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies/Roberts Library

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