Spiritualism in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans: The Life and Times of Henry Louis Rey

Modern American Spiritualism blossomed in the 1850s and continued as a viable faith into the 1870s. Because of its diversity and openness to new cultures and religions, New Orleans provided fertile ground to nurture Spiritualism, and many s ance circles flourished in the Creole Faubourgs of Trem and Marigny as well as the American sector of the city. Melissa Daggett focuses on Le Cercle Harmonique, the francophone s ance circle of Henry Louis Rey (1831-1894), a Creole of color who was a key civil rights activist, author, and Civil War and Reconstruction leader. His life has so far remained largely in the shadows of New Orleans history, partly due to a language barrier. Spiritualism in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans focuses on the turbulent years between the late antebellum period and the end of Reconstruction. Translating and interpreting numerous primary sources and one of the only surviving registers of s ance proceedings, Daggett has opened a window into a fascinating life as wel