Let the spirit move you at History Center’s October Coffee Talk
While it is true Americans are less likely now than ever before to identify with an organized religion, a recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that the belief in spirits is widespread. More than 80% of U.S. adults believe in a soul or spirit, convinced that there is something spiritual beyond the natural world … even if it is invisible.
This offers an interesting backdrop to the upcoming presentation by Michael J. Murschel. An Elgin clergyman and private-practice spiritual director, Murschel will present “Messengers of the Unseen: Mary Todd Lincoln and the Spiritualists” at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, at the Des Plaines History Center, 781 Pearson St. He will be accompanied by his wife, Cate.
Spiritualism, or the belief in spirit communications through mediums, was a huge movement in the 19th century.
“The movement gained a large following, which ranged from political leaders, advocates of reform, religious leaders, and a mass of typical Americans who sought to connect with a world which they once believed that was out of reach,” wrote Eastern Michigan University graduate student Daniel Bowlin in his 2019 master’s thesis on the topic. “People all around the country flocked to mediums and séances to see the multiple attractions which spiritualism provided. Within the séance room, a medium could summon up any spirit who they thought would bring the most revelation to their participants.”
Murschel noted that during this “Great Awakening” there was a “a lot going on religion-wise.” And the Civil War only fueled the fire.
“It really filled the need for people to have a final goodbye to a loved one who had perished on a battlefield hundreds of miles away and whose body might never be returned,” Murschel said.
Combined with mourning customs borrowed from Victorian England it quickly caught the attention of such movers and shakers as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, Alan Pinkerton, Gen. George Farnsworth and Myra Bradwell, the first female attorney in Illinois.
Murschel, 73, grew up in South Dakota and hails from a family of Volga Germans who immigrated from Ukraine and the Crimea in the 1880s. After earning a bachelor’s degree in radio/TV script writing, and a minor in medieval and classical studies from Northwestern University, he attended the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago where he received a master’s degree in pastoral care and theology. He embraced Catholicism five years ago, but Murschel is “fluent in 50 plus religious traditions.”
In his profession it helps to be versatile.
“I like to connect the dots with all of this,” Murschel said. “There are so many things that people have written about Mary Todd Lincoln, but it’s about connecting those dots that tie into people like Alan Pinkerton. That is what I love about history: How the dots connect all of us, how the past affects who we are.”
Limited seating remains. Call (847) 391-5399 or email contact@desplaineshistory.org to check on availability. Village Bank & Trust helps defray the cost of monthly Coffee Talks, but donations supporting this free event are appreciated.