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Saturday 21 October 2023

Blavatsky and the top 20 American Theosophists

 Central Railroad Station in Rochester, NY designed by Claude Bragdon
Since the US is having a Pluto return over the next few years, I thought it opportune to propose the following compilation as a reflection on the not inconsiderable socio-cultural impact of theosophy on America. This is not so much a list of active participating members, but a rather a list of relatively famous, influential ones. 
 
1- Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815 – 1902)
Major early US feminist, her Woman's Bible is full of theosophical notions.
 
2- Abner Doubleday (1819 – 1893)
He is the very model of a modern major general... Was into transcendentalism and was a major early theosophist in the days of Blavatsky and Olcott. There is a statue of him west of Gettysburg on Reynolds Avenue.historicalspaghetti.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-my
3- Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826 – 1898)
Important feminist, advocate for abolition and Native American rights. spent time among the Iroquois & received the name- "she who holds the sky" - upon her initiation into the Wolf Clan, admitted into Iroquois Council of Matrons  
4- William James (1842–1910)
Philosopher, pragmatism, psychologist, & 1st educator to offer a psychology course in US A Theosophical Discipline: Revisiting the History of Religious Studies JĀJ Storm. ( JAAR ), Vol. 89, 4, Dec 2021
https://www.academia.edu/102895353/A_Theosophical_Discipline_Revisiting_the_History_of_Religious_Studies
 
5- Thomas Edison (1847 – 1931)
Thomas Edison (1847 – 1931) Madame Blavatsky Tracking Down Tinfoil Phonograph #158 Allen Koenigsberg The Antique Phonograph JUNE 2014 27-30 The TS bought a phonograph, Blavatsky was recorded, recording damaged, phonograph lost academia.edu/82205911/Ediso
6- Albert Spalding (1849 – 1915)
Pitcher, manager, & executive in the early years of professional baseball, & co-founder of A.G. Spalding sporting goods company Major figure in making good baseball gloves & balls & developing baseball into a major sport.
7- L. Frank Baum (1856 – 1919)
American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, part of a series. 1939 adaptation of the first Oz book became a landmark of 20th-century cinema
8- Claude Bragdon (1866 – 1946) 
Architect, writer, & stage designer based in Rochester & New York City-remarkable books on sacred geometry, multi-talented.
Frank Loyd Wright possibly had some theosophical influence as well 
 
9- Charles Johnston (1867 – 1931) 
Irish writer, journalist, theosophist, naturalist, and Sanskrit scholar, married to the niece of Madame Blavatsky and was involved in the development of the Theosophical Society in the United States as of 1900.  First person to translate all the major Upanishads. 
 
10- Walter Y. Evans-Wentz (1878 – 1965)
The Comparative Study of Religion A Common Core of Theosophy in Celtic Myth, Yoga, and Tibetan Buddhism Jens Schlieter Occult Roots of Religious Studies 2021 
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110664270-007/html?lang=en
 
11- Talbot Mundy (1879 – 1940) 
English writer of adventure fiction, US in 1909, joined TS 1923 compared with Haggard & Kipling, he adopted an anti-colonialist stance & positive interest in Asian religion & philosophy 
 
12- William Grant Still (1895-1978) 
Dean of African American Composers influenced by Theosophy via music therapist Evelyn Benham-Bull (1897-1983) but was more of a spiritualist. Symphony No.5 program notes here some seem to show Theosophical influence. More research needed.
 
13- Dane Rudhyar (1895 – 1985)
Astrologer, composer, painter New York City, 1916, association with Theosophy, began when asked to compose music in LA,1920. Married Marla Contento, secretary to independent Theosophist Will Levington Comfort, introduced him to Marc Edmund Jones 

14- Thornton Wilder (1897 –  1975) 
Playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and for the plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth — and a U.S. National Book Award for the novel The Eighth DayIn his last novel, The Eighth Day (1967), one of his characters gives quite a lengthy dissertation on reincarnation.
The Novelists and the Ancient Wisdom Philip Harris 1999
 
15- Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901–1953) 
Composer & folk music specialist. step-mother of Pete Seeger. 1924, began private piano lessons with Djane Lavoie-Herz, sparked Crawford's interest in theosophy & Scriabin, met Dane Rudhyar & Henry Cowell 
Toast 6 Nov 2019 

16- Judith Tyberg (1902–1980) 
Sanskrit scholar and orientalist. Founder and guiding spirit of the East-West Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California.  
 
17- Alonzo G. Decker Jr. (1908 –  2002)
A theosophist for all your power tool needs. Businessperson and engineer who served as the chairman of the board of Black & Decker. He is known for developing power tools for use in the home, including the first cordless electric drill, which helped create the do it yourself market. Throughout his life he was an active philanthropist. Served as trustee for Theosophical Society in America.
 
18- Alan Hovhaness (1911 – 2000) 
American-Armenian composer,one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, wonderful synthesis of east-west styles Spent time with composer Henry Cowell & theosophist colony of Halcyon in California
theosophyproject.blogspot.com/2023/01/alan-h 
 
19- Jackson Pollock (1912 – 1956) 
The bad boy of the group...compelling artist. Studied with Phillip Guston and Thomas Hart Benton. Through Frederic John de St. Vrain Schwankovsky—introduced to Theosophy, attended Krishnamurti’s camp-meetings at Ojai 
The Mysterious Rituals Of Jackson Pollock's Abstraction Ahmed Kheder
https://www.khederpaintings.com/post/the-mysterious-rituals-of-jackson-pollock-abstraction
 
20- Ian Stevenson (1918 –2007) 
Psychiatrist, founder & director of the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine 
Theosophy & the Dissenting Western Imagination Dara Tatray Literature & Aesthetics Vol 21 N 1 June 2011 theosophicalsociety.org.au/articles/theos

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