Murphy-Lydy, Mary (ca. 1870-?)
Murphy-Lydy, Mary (ca. 1870-?)
American materialization and trumpet medium, who practiced for many years in Chesterfield Camp, Indiana. She was engaged for a year by the Indiana Psychic Research Society at Indianapolis, toured the United States, and attained prominence in 1931 in England by platform demonstration of direct voice. Her chief controls were "Dr. Green" and "Sunflower."
Impressive accounts of her phenomena were published in the press, but British writer on psychic phenomena H. Dennis Bradley considered her performances highly suspicious. In his book, … And After (1931) he described sittings with the medium whom he roundly condemned as "deliberately fraudulent." He also stigmatized her public appearances, stating, "There was no semblance whatever of spirituality during the medium's proceedings. The effect produced was merely the boredom of a material and dreary exhibition." The main charge was that in a private sitting the author actually heard the medium speak into the trumpet.