MF 123 Spiritualist Church/ Bonita Freeman Witthoft Collection

Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History: MF 123 Spiritualist Church/ Bonita Freeman Witthoft Collection

Number of accessions: 3
Dates when interviews were conducted: 1971 – 1972
Time period covered: 20th century
Principal interviewers: Bonita Freeman Witthoft
Finding aides: brief indexes and full transcripts
Access restrictions: none
Description: This collections consists of a series of interviews and recordings of various meetings and sessions of the Spiritualist Church in Maine and especially at Camp Etna. They were conducted by Bonita Freeman Witthoft in connection with her thesis From the Other Side of Life: Modern Spiritualism in Maine, c.1975. Witthoft was primarily interested in fundamental religious concepts, forms of apprenticeship, acquired patterns of perception and behavior, the discipline of mediums as spokesmen for spirit guides, and on the complex act of delivering messages. Among topics covered are healing, physical versus mental mediumship, projection, trance, controls and guides, and automatism. Relates to From the Other Side of Life: Modern Spiritualism in Maine by Bonita Freeman-Witthoft, c1975.

NA0669 Loretta Fairjeon, Forest Dinsmore, Marjory Flewelling, Elmer Stewart, Frank Libby, Margaret Stevens, Henry Gardiner, interviewed by Bonita Witthoft, 1971 – 1972, Etna, Bangor, and Orono, Maine. Accession includes interviews and recordings of church meetings, healing sessions, etc. in connection with the Spiritualist Church. Text: 75 pp. transcript. Recording: T 0369 – T 0370 4 hours.

NA0673 Henry Hewitt, Pierre Fairjeon, Loretta Fairjeon, Irene Fratello, Rev. Mountain, Lenona Flanders, Gladys Laliberte, Emer Stewart, interviewed by Bonita Witthoft, 1971-1972, Etna, Bangor, and Orono, Maine. Accession includes interviews, recordings of church meetings, and healing session in connection with the Spiritualist Church. Text: 312 pp. transcript with brief index. Recording: T 0376 – T 0382 11.5 hours.

NA0710 Clarence Stewart, Elmer Stewart, Robert Simpson, Louise Hagar, Vera McGregor, Loretta Fairjeon, Helen Morgan, Millie Glover, Zelma Dickerson, Bernice Damon, interviewed by Bonita Witthoft, summer 1972, Etna, Maine. Series of interviews in connection with Witthoft’s dissertation. Interviewees talk about spiritualism at Camp Etna, a Spiritualist Church camp. Text: 437 pp. transcript with brief catalog. Recording: T 0435 – T 0450 16 hours.