Browse Exhibits (1 total)

San Francisco and Spiritualism were born within ten years of each other; both as products and beneficiaries of the century’s historic shifts in culture. Spiritualism was born in 1848 with the Fox Sister’s supernatural experiences in an upstate New York farmhouse. San Francisco consolidated as a city-county in 1856, following the population boom brought on by the California Gold Rush. Spiritualism found its follower base in progressive individuals dedicated to religious freedom, social reform, and scientific inquiry. San Francisco in the 19th century was a melting pot for rapid modernization, rootlessness, and individualist opportunity. Spiritualists have been accounted for in San Francisco as early as 1852.

The first regular Spiritualist lectures came to California in 1864, inaugurated by Emma Hardinge Britten. The first California Spiritualist Association convention in 1896 marked a major transformation for the movement. This was a great shift from the former targeted support of social reform causes and anti-established religion. In the previous decade, suffrage leaders tempered their perceived radical views to gain popular support for women’s right to vote. As the century progressed both the new city and new religion went through highs and lows of disruptive change. Despite public opinion, literature published at the time show conversations regarding theological philosophy, scientific inquiry, and social reform topics among San Francisco Spiritualist were continuing on.

During the last decade of the 19th century, San Francisco Spiritualist’ attention turned towards creating a stronger and more unified Spiritualist religious network. In the formative decades of the movement, Spiritualism had defined itself as rootless, anti-establishment, and radical. As the times changed, so did the needs of the people and of the movement itself. At a time where San Francisco, a city of transplants looking for community, grounded itself on the California coast; Spiritualism the religion also put down roots. The national decline in growth of Spiritualism towards the end of the 19th century did not mean a death of the movement on the West Coast, just a transformation.

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The Spirit of Progress exhibit sheds light on the attitudes and actions of Spiritualists in San Francisco in the second half of the 19th century. This exhibit features three image collections: portraits of San Francisco Spiritualists, Spiritualism in the Press, and images reflecting the changes in San Francisco between 1850-1899.