Women of Controversy: Pearl Curran

Womanica

Wonder Media Network and iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture, Education, History

4.3 • 920 Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2024

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Pearl Curran (1883-1937) was an author. She claimed to serve as the medium for “Patience Worth,” a spirit she first contacted via a ouija board. The phenomenon spawned great public interest and later backlash, as a range of psychologists, journalists, and general readers speculated about Patience and Pearl. As Pearl’s commercial success as an author dwindled, she supported herself with traveling ouija board demonstrations.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey y'all. I'm Ashanti Golar, host of the Brown Girl's Guide to Politics.
0:05.2	The BGG is the one-stop shop for women of color who want to talk and shape the world of politics.
0:13.0	This season, we're getting deep into the details of Project 2025.
0:18.7	In 900-plus pages, it's proposing dramatic conservative changes to education,
0:24.3	health care, and foreign affairs. But underpinning it all is an entirely new vision for how
0:31.1	the government operates. And that could change everything. Thank you so much to our friends
0:37.3	at Way to Win for supporting us
0:39.1	and making this season possible. Listen to the Brown Girls Guide to Politics wherever you get your
0:45.0	podcast. Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica. This month we're talking
0:57.6	about women who found themselves at the center of controversy, whether deserved or not.
1:02.8	Today, she brought a whole new meaning to the term ghostwriter. As the medium for patience,
1:09.3	a spirit from another century, she shared stories that garnered
1:12.6	literary fame, fandom, and the interest of more than a few psychoanalysts.
1:17.6	Let's see what you think of Pearl Curran.
1:23.6	Pearl Curran was born Pearl Pollard in Mound City, Illinois in 1883.
1:32.3	Pearl's father, George, worked for a railroad company, so her family moved around a lot.
1:38.3	This upset Pearl's mother, Mary.
1:40.3	She eventually broke down over the constant moves, and Pearl, then four years old, moved in with her grandmother in St. Louis, Missouri.
1:48.9	Pearl was a deeply creative child, telling stories to entertain her friends and family, and she was a gifted singer and piano player.
1:57.1	Her family wasn't wealthy, but they still supported Pearl's burgeoning talents with music and
2:01.3	voice lessons. When she was 13 years old, though, the chaos of her childhood, moving,
2:07.6	her mother's breakdown and being sent to live with her grandma, caught up with Little Pearl.
	...

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