A reader recently asked our KCQ team if “Spiritualism” was ever popular in Kansas City. Well, reader, the short answer is yes — not only did the movement gain followers here, it also caused a scandal that made national news. After the Civil War, the spiritualism movement spiked in KC and across the U.S. the popularity of seances and clairvoyants soared, and one Missouri medium, John Harvey Mott, became successful enough to attract national attention. He was a “materializing” medium – rather than simply interpreting knocks, he conjured visible apparitions that conversed with his customers. Newspaper accounts in the 1870s described a hallway curtain or, later, a cabinet with an opening. Mott sat behind the partition, and his customers formed a circle and would sing. The lights were dimmed, the curtain or cabinet was opened, and the faces of dead friends and relatives seemed to appear. The supernatural nature of Mott’s talents might be questionable, but his ability to deliver a spectac...