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Foreword
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xi F O R E WO R D Diane Sasson has crafted a riveting biography of Laura HollowayLangford (1843–1930) that is also first-rate religious and intellectual history . Sasson’s masterful account follows this gifted Southern woman who left the devastating circumstances of the defeated South following the Civil War and traveled across the nation and beyond, gradually gaining national and international attention and prominence. This is the tale of Laura Holloway-Langford’s odyssey as a quintessential seeker, and of the excitement, the engagement, and at times the discontent she experienced as she moved through the new spiritual worlds of the late nineteenth century and of the opening decades of the twentieth century. This account of Laura Holloway-Langford’s journey documents her multiple diverse engagements with the religious and social movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Those decades were complex and transitional moments in American spiritual life and history; alternativereligiousmovementsasdiverseasTheosophyandSpiritualism, Buddhism and Shakerism, appeared at times side by side on a national scene that was dominated by a diversity of Christian denominations. Holloway-Langford engaged these outsider groups in her own distinctive manner, providing in many instances critical input that influenced the subsequent paths of these movements in the United States. Similarly,thisbiographytellsofHolloway-Langford’sengagementwith therapidlychangingsocialworldinAmericaduringthedecadesfollowing xii front/backmatter the Civil War—the Victorian era. This is the story of a Southern “lady” and divorcée who successfully embraced a range of roles forbidden at that time, including journalist, feminist, alternative religionist, and social critic.Sheoccupiedaborderlandpositionduringmuchofherprofessional life. Sasson’s account of Holloway-Langford’s accomplishments in these diverse roles is highly instructive with respect to the challenges facing creative women of the era. The sociological implications of her activities and interests were radical in her time. Oneoftheunexpecteddevelopmentsinthisstoryofthetwice-married Holloway-Langford was her extended and deep personal relationships withthemembersofthecelibateNorthFamilyofShakersatMountLebanon , New York, a friendship extending for more than three decades, as documented in various ways including personal correspondence that was exchangedformanyyears.Holloway-LangfordclearlysharedtheShakers’ enthusiasm for spiritism. She was also a financial benefactor of sorts for the community, purchasing a Shaker farm in Upper Canaan, New York, in 1906 at a point when the members of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing—the formal name of the Shakers—were experiencing very difficult times. Both sides of this unusual relationship valued it highly. ButHolloway-Langford’sengagementwiththeShakerswasmerelyone aspect of her manifold religious interests, interests that were expressed in her personal relationships with diverse religious figures; in her insatiable appetite for the various expressions of the occult, the marginal, and Eastern religious traditions; and in her confidence regarding a post-death existence of some sort. This panoply of interests, for example, was responsible for her personal relationships with William Q. Judge and Helena Petrovna Blavatsky of the Theosophical Society, as well as for her extensiveinternationaltraveltoEurope ,whereshemetwithdiversepartieswho shared her concerns and curiosities regarding Buddhism and other Eastern religious traditions. Theosophy, or “divine wisdom,” featured a body of ancient teachings believed to have existed prior to any of the world’s religions,thesourceofallspiritualinsightandknowledge.Thegoalortask ofTheosophistswastorecover,revive,andrepresentthisancientwisdom. In many respects, Holloway-Langford was far ahead of the majority of her contemporaries in the United States in that her religious worldview ForeWord [44.223.36.100] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 13:22 GMT) front/backmatter xiii was not confined principally to the Judeo-Christian tradition. She sought and found spiritual insight from diverse metaphysical and Asian religious sources. In that respect she anticipated spiritual and religious viewpoints that would not be widespread in American culture until the 1960s, and that are increasingly common in the twenty-first century. One other valuable dimension of this study deserves mention and attention ,namely,thepersonalreflectionsprovidedbyDianeSassonregardingheryearsofengagementwiththisresearchproject .Sasson’saccountof the ways that she was drawn into the work for this historical monograph is a revealing look into the ways that highly diverse personal factors influence the choice of topics and the investment of time and thought by professional historians. The result of this effort is a highly readable and insightful work that casts light both on its subject and on the process of historical reconstruction. Catherine L. Albanese Stephen J. Stein ForeWord This page intentionally left blank ...