Mina Stinson was born in 1888 in Ontario, Canada. She moved to Boston at the age of 17 where, after an unsuccessful first marriage, she met Dr. LeRoi Godard Crandon, a well-known surgeon. They married in in 1918 and she became well established in the Boston social scene.
Dr. Crandon became interested in Spiritualism and psychic research in 1923 and invited friends to his home to try a table tilting séance. The table began to move, slightly at first, but then more violently. Wanting to know which guest possessed the psychic talent needed to cause the action, Dr. Crandon instructed the guests to remove their hands from the table, one by one. He discovered that the medium was his own wife.
A few months later, Mina discovered that Walter Stinson, her brother who was killed in a train crash in 1911, was communicating to her from the Spirit World. Soon, Walter was able to speak directly through Mina, often using colorful language.
Mina’s talent developed rapidly. She levitated tables and created other forms of physical phenomenon. Attendance at her séances became by invitation only and she soon attracted the attention of researchers.
The first formal investigation conducted by a committee from Harvard, was arranged by Professor William McDougal, head of Harvard’s Department of Psychology. After five months of observations the committee decided that a ‘majority’ of the telekinetic phenomena was fraudulently produced but they gave no opinion on the trance communication.
Refusing to accept the committee’s conclusions, Dr. Crandon took Mina to Europe for more tests. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle declared her be a very powerful medium.
In 1922, the Scientific American offered $2,500 to anyone who could provide conclusive evidence of physical paranormal phenomena. The judging committee was to include Harry Houdini, but he wasn’t notified when the investigation began in January 1924. When he learned about the trials three months later, the committee was about to declare Crandon genuine.
Houdini was furious. He traveled to Boston and discovered the committee was staying at Crandon’s home. He felt this had compromised their objectivity. Houdini constructed a cabinet with steel bolts and padlocks and defied her to produce any paranormal phenomena. The cabinet was small and hot, but Crandon agree to sit inside. No physical effects were produced.
During one test, the cabinet was opened and a collapsible ruler was discovered on the floor. Houdini accused her of using the ruler with her mouth to try to produce physical phenomena. Harry Houdini took credit for exposing her as a fraud. Walter accused Houdini of planting the ruler in the cabinet to frame her.
Everyone thought that was the end of the story until William Lindsay Gresham published a book which included an account given by Jim Collins, Houdini’s assistant. Collins admitted that he had planted the ruler in the cabinet to discredit Crandon.
Despite the failure with Houdini, Crandon continued to produce psychic breezes, raps, trance, trance writings, independent voice communication, apportations, paraffin gloves and fingerprints. She was probably the most tested medium of the 1920’s, examined by Dr. Joseph Rhine and the American Society for Psychical Research. Each concluded that the physical manifestations were fraudulently produced. She was never able to prove conclusively that she was a real medium.