Case file · High strangeness
Leonora Piper and William James
In 1885 Harvard psychologist William James began sittings with Leonora Piper, a Boston-area trance medium, and declared her his 'white crow', the one case that proved not all mediums were frauds.
1885 CE · 42.41, -71.16 · status: disputed
The account
She was studied for decades by the Society for Psychical Research, including by Richard Hodgson, who came to believe her controls were real spirits.
The sceptical view
Critics attribute her hits to cold reading, muscle reading and 'fishing'; Martin Gardner called her a clever charlatan.