Elizabeth O'Hare
From Kook Science
| Elizabeth O'Hare | |
|---|---|
| Alias(es) | Elizabeth the Transcriber |
| Affiliations | Universal Church of the Spirit, Inc. |
| Spouse(s) | Peter O'Hare |
Elizabeth O'Hare, also known as Elizabeth the Transcriber, was a Czech-born Spiritualist medium who claimed to be in contact with the Special Elected Spirit Band, "the only Astral Band of Spirits Manifesting on Earth," which included the likes of Aristotle (384-322 BC), Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), and Alfred W. McCann (1879-1931).
From 1936 through 1937, O'Hare engaged in a public feud with Joseph Dunninger, mentalist debunker, and published a pamphlet attacking him on the behalf of the spirit of Doyle, the conflict coming to a head after she was accused in a legal complaint of disorderly conduct stemming from her pamphleteering and parading at 42nd St. and Broadway in New York City in spring 1937 while wearing a placard that read alternately: This is a challenge of Conan Doyle, the Spirit, vs. Joseph Dunninger, the Liar or Is Joseph Dunninger the Debunker and Ghost-Breaker Really a Ghost-Breaker or Is He Ghost-Broken? The case was dismissed after O'Hare was warned by the judge that parading required a permit; during the proceedings, O'Hare claimed to be accompanied by her attorney, Abraham Lincoln.
Selected Bibliography
- O'Hare, Elizabeth (1933), Information and Conversation from the Astral Plane
- O'Hare, Elizabeth (1935), Universal Knowledge, the Road Home, by Aristotle the Moralist, through the Instrumentality of Elizabeth the Transcriber, New York: Universal Church of the Spirit, Inc.
- O'Hare, Elizabeth (1937), Letters to Various People, including Joseph Dunninger, from "Arthur Conan Doyle"
Press Coverage
- "Debunker Assured Of Meeting Ghost", Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY): 12, 8 Sep. 1936, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/52693857/
- "Shakespeare Soused Still, Says Medium; Bard of Avon Has Been Lit Up Ever Since He Reached Astral Plane, Declared Woman Conducting Seance", Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY): 11, 9 Sep. 1936, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/52694318/
- "GHOSTS PLAN SIT-DOWN TO 'PUNISH' DUNNINGER - At Least That Is Threat of Mrs. Elizabeth O'Hare, Who Says Magician Insulted Spirit Of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at Recent Seance", Morning News (Wilmington, DE): 20, 5 Apr. 1937, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/160331852, "Joseph Dunninger, noted stage magician and spook chaser, tonight was accused of being unfair to organized ghosts and was threatened with a sit-down strike of some of the most notable shades from the other world unless he mends his ways. The threat was issued by Mrs. Elizabeth O'Hare, pastor of the Universal Church of the Spirit, who charged in a 39-page bill of particulars that Dunninger had insulted the ghost of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle[...] The ghostly ultimatum also hinted that if Dunninger tried any funny work at the next seance with Doyle's alleged ghost, he will be transfixed by a 'disabling cosmic ray.'"
- "Lecture Psychic for Picketing Dunninger", Daily News (New York City, NY): 58, 6 May 1937, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/421280935/, "Elizabeth the Transcriber, protege of that old-timer, Aristotle — whose guiding spirit enabled her to perform a literary miracle — won something of a victory for spiritualism yesterday over Joseph Dunninger, head man of the nation's psychic skeptics."
- "Lincoln's 'Spirit' Scores in Court", Times Dispatch (Richmond, VA): 4, 6 May 1937, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/615451936/, "Flushed with triumph, the medium disclosed her belief that Abraham Lincoln will 'soon be reincarnated and become attorney of the whole United States.' At the same time, she said, 'Rain-in-the-Face,' the one-time Indian 'bad man,' will be reincarnated and become President of the United States. The departed red-skin, she said, is now attending an 'Astral College,' where he has been studying since 1915."