Funerals, on the one hand, symbolize a moment of finality as oneâs physicality ceases to exist. On the other hand, they represent continuity through the collective efforts of those who gather to honor the life and legacy of the deceased. Such was the case with the funeral of Mother Leafy Anderson. It was an event in which New Orleanians from diverse social backgrounds gathered to celebrate the multidimensional personhood of Mother Anderson. They came to celebrate her as a woman who blurred lines of distinction between mortality and immortality through both her Mediumship practices and her matriarchal orientation towards marginalized individuals living in New Orleans.
Mother Andersonâs multidimensionality in relation to her popularity has been treated in African American religious studies.1 However, the way in which she used both her Mediumship and matriarchal orientation to promote a particular approach to social injustice has not received the same type of consideration. This chapter acts as a corrective to this in that it seeks to illustrate how Mother Anderson utilized Spiritualism to advance a politico-spiritual mode of activism that addressed the socio-political and spiritual needs of individuals living in New Orleans during the 1920s. The pages that follow, then, capture how Mother Anderson used her church, Eternal Life Christian Spiritualist Church (Eternal Life), to engage in social activism by developing programs that provided economic stability for some marginalized people in New Orleans. This same ecclesiastical space simultaneously functioned as a spiritual refuge, where individuals were instructed on spiritual development or healed through ritual performances that sought to restore their physical, mental, and/or spiritual dimensions back to states of wholeness. In this way, Eternal Life served as an originating point for a blended form of activism, one that intricately conjoined socio-political activism to spiritually orchestrated acts of restoration.
Chicagoan Spiritualism and Mother Leafy Anderson
Mother Andersonâs Spiritualist activities in New Orleans evolved out of the larger context of the Spiritualist Movement in Chicago. In 1870, Emma Hardinge Britten published a massive volume that chronicled the first twenty years of Modern American Spiritualism.2 Here, Spiritualism is defined as the science, philosophy, and religion of continuous life after death, as demonstrated through various forms of spirit communication. The movement, by the time of Brittenâs book, had expanded from its humble beginnings in Hydesville, New York, where Katherine and Margaretta Fox first heard the raps of a disembodied spirit inhabiting their small farm house, to other geographical regions in the United States as well as international countries like Canada and England. While Britten spends a considerable amount of energy recording Spiritualist activities in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Louisiana, she pays little attention to Illinois, a move that marginalizes the vibrant presence of Spiritualism in cities like Chicago.
Rapping mediums could be found in Chicago by 1849, only one year after the Hydesville occurrence. By the late 1850s, Ira B. Eddy had formed a Spiritualist society (later known as the First Society of Spiritualists). Furthermore, public lectures on the subject of Spiritualism were attended by hundreds of interested Chicagoans, and at least fifteen mediums were officially registered in the city. The 1860s and 1870s ushered in a new era of Spiritualist activity in Chicago. In 1865, a group of Spiritualists started The Religio-Philosophical Journal, a weekly newspaper dedicated to spiritual philosophy. It is important to note that this paper was an official member of the Chicago Publisherâs Association. These two decades also saw an increase in public and private displays of spirit demonstrations through mediumistic practices of a growing group of mediums whose expertise ranged from spiritual healings to psychometry. All of these activities would culminate in 1893 when a delegate convention of Spiritualists met in Chicago with the âpurpose of organizing a National Association of permanent character and the selection of a National Executive committee with subcommittees on all important subjects relative to Spiritualism.â3 This body became known as the National Spiritualist Association of America. Chicagoan Spiritualism, by the first two decades of the twentieth century, had undergone another era of expansion in the following ways: (1) the formation of several Spiritualist Churches like Beacon Light Spiritual Church, Christian Progressive Spiritual Church, First Church of Higher Spiritualism, and Universal Spiritual Church; (2) a steady increase in the number of private spiritual circles, small gatherings that convened either in residential parlors or public halls whose purpose involved personal readings and spirit demonstrations; and (3) the presence of approximately five hundred mediums operating in the city of Chicago alone.4
A historical trajectory of the Spiritualist Movement from the late 1840s through the 1920s can be pieced together using books on the history of Chicago, secular newspapers, and Spiritualist journals. This narrative, while it captures the Spiritualist activities of men and women of European descent, fails to include the participation of African Americans, particularly women, in the Spiritualist Movement of Chicago.5 Little is known about the participation of African Africans in Chicagoan Spiritualism prior to 1900.6 However, this would change in the latter part of the first decade of the twentieth century. The Chicago Defender, an African American Chicago newspaper started in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott, began to run stories about Spiritualism. This coverage included publishing details about sĂ©ances. One article in particular discussed an investigation conducted by scientists from Columbia University of a famous medium named Paladino.7 Other articles provide information about spirit communication. For instance, one reporter describes a communication he received while sitting in a sĂ©ance as one characterized by both ânew-fangled spellingâ and the sophistication of the discipleship of âArtemus Ward.â8 These articles are important to consider because they highlight the growing interest in Spiritualism by an African American readership. Additionally, they draw attention to, particularly with the second example, the presence of African American mediums in Chicago. African American mediums like Mrs. Delia Hopkins âMotherâ Hedgepath, by 1910, were ârecognized as authorities of Spiritualismâ and were respected by âpeople from every walk of life.â9 By 1913, Spiritualism was becoming such a hot topic among African Americans in Chicago that sermons could be heard in African American non-spiritual churches like Wayman Chapel A.M.E. Church and Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church that addressed specific discourses of Spiritualism.10 Reverend H. E. Street of the latter ecclesiastical body summed up Spiritualism in one word, ânonsense.â11 He, along with many other faith community leaders, maintained that Spiritualismâs tenet of communicating with the dead was simply a hoax, created and propagated by mediums to make money. In addition to sermons that addressed Spiritualism, articles published in the Chicago Defender admonished African Americans to stay clear of this religion, for as one of the authors stated, âOur people are superstitious enough without dabbing in that [Spiritualism]; the practical side of life will mean much more to us just at present.â12 Despite this warning, interest in Spiritualism continued to grow among African Americans, many of whom would go on to establish Spiritualist Churches in the city.
In 1915, the first African American Spiritualist Church was formed in Chicago. The Spiritualist Church of Redemption of Souls, under the leadership of Reverend Mattie Thurman, held two Sunday services at 2953 Croveland Avenue. These services were relocated to Johnsonâs Hall (located at 3518 State Street) due to the growing number of attendees. Reverend Thurman maintained that this growth was due to the result of Spiritualismâs âmagnetic attraction,â a religion, which, in her words, âfills an aching void that other denominations seem powerless to reach.â For Spiritualism, she continued, âbrings home to both saint and sinner unmistakable evidences of the return of loved ones.â13 Services at Reverend Thurmanâs church began with lectures on Spiritualism. The titles of these lectures included, but were not limited to, âSpiritual Demonstration,â âSpirit Return,â âBuilding on Spiritualism,â âWisdom of Spirits,â and âSpiritualism as the Future Religion.â Each service ended with demonstrations of spirit communication. Mrs. Julia Johnson, who was recognized as the official medium of the church, gave readings to select individuals in the audience. A medium of independent voice, Mrs. Johnson was thought to receive communication by way of a spirit taking control of her voice box, so that the voice heard was that of the spirit not hers. Besides Mrs. Johnson, other African American mediums were allowed to give readings in the Spiritualist Church of Redemption of Souls. One such medium was Mother Leafy Anderson. A Chicago Defender article briefly described her activity during an evening service at the church. It reads, âMrs. Thurman, the minister, assisted by Mrs. Anderson [Mother Anderson] and other mediums, gave important and interesting tests, leaving no doubt in the minds of the large audience present as to the truthfulness of spirit return.â14 This excerpt is important to briefly unpack for at least two reasons. First, it confirms the presence of multiple African American mediums operating in Chicago. While these mediums had their own residentially based enterprises, they collaboratively worked to promote the validity of both the survival of oneâs spirit after death and the ability of said spirit to communicate with those in the temporal dimension. Second, the quote provides concrete evidence of Mother Andersonâs involvement with Spiritualism in Chicago.
Prior to 1920, Mother Anderson, like many other mediums in the city, held meetings in her private residential space. For as one spiritualist stated, âThere were so many Spiritualists in Chicago that they donât have no big churches, [instead they] hold meetings in the house.â15 Documentation concerning these residential spiritualist meetings is scarce. Thus, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact date when Mother Anderson started her first church, Eternal Life Christian Spiritualist Church, in Chicago because most of her early activity occurred in her home. What is known is that Mother Anderson had officially established her church by the time she began taking scouting trips to New Orleans in 1919. In a Works Progress Administration (WPA) interview, a woman by the name of Mary Johnson discussed Mother Andersonâs travel between Chicago and New Orleans.16 She confirmed that Mother Anderson had formed her first church in Chicago called the Eternal Life Christian Spiritualist Church. Johnson also maintained that Mother Anderson was a bit hesitant about staring a church in New Orleans because people had warned her about the possibility of police harassment. During this time, Ordinance 13347 was still operative in New Orleans. This city law âprohibited fortunetelling, predicting future events, and the...
