September 18, 1992

Kenneth C. Cramer, Archivist
Baker Library,
Dartmouth College Hanover, NH 03755

Dear Mr. Cramer:

Thank you for making my recent trip to Dartmouth so rewarding, and for sharing with me the records of your illustrious war hero, Richard Hall.

As I mentioned to you Richard Hall is perhaps more famous in another circle than he is as a Dartmouth alumnus. He has recently been identified as "Stephen," the psychic communicator of Our Unseen Guest [by Darby and Joan, 1920, Harper & Brothers; 1943, Borden Publishing Company], a World War I book widely read in the early 1920's. He was also a contributing communicator in the psychic work carried on by the Western author Stewart Edward White and his wife. Under this pseudonym he is known and honored wherever these books are read.

You may wonder why after so many years his identity has only now been established. The story starts with the extraordinary secrecy surrounding the authorship of Our Unseen Guest. Even close family frequently did not know who it was that had written it. Eventually however it came to be known that the authors were a well-known newspaper couple, Emmet and Ruth Finley, who desired to be spared the notoriety that such a book can bring. It was for a similar reason that the Finleys concealed the identity of Richard Hall, referring to him only by his famous pseudonym.

The Finleys are long since deceased and their papers have passed into the hands of descendants. Two of us, not descendants but instead long-time admirers of "Stephen," are hoping to have these papers donated to a university library. The "two of us" are myself, a retired computer programmer, and E.W. Dykes of Canton, Ohio, a retired architect. Going over these papers in late August of this year, Mr.. Dykes was able to confirm the identity of "Stephen" as the Richard Hall of Dartmouth, an account of whose death forms a chapter in the book Friends of France [Houghton Mifflin, 1916].

Despite its unusual origin, Our Unseen Guest is of interest chiefly because of its philosophical and theological content. It came at a time when the combined onslaught of Darwinian evolution and the scientific materialism flowing from Newton's Scholium had left organized Christianity in disarray. In this context, "Stephen" managed a restatement of Christianity in Twentieth Century terms. His synthesis embraced and extended evolution, and leapfrogged both the Scholium and the relativity and quantum theory that have displaced the Scholium In scientific circles. This thought was subsequently extended by the work of the Whites, documented in numerous books under Stewart Edward White's authorship, and culminating in the very popular The Unobstructed-Universe, (E.P. Dutton, 1940)

I suppose a note is necessary at this point explaining how these books came to be written. Richard Hall was killed by a German shell in the very early hours of Christmas, day, 1915. Roughly a year later, on December 7, 1916, he began the dictation for Our Unseen Guest. The "receiving station" was Ruth Finley, an uncommonly gifted and dedicated medium. Much later, In April, 1939, Stewart Edward White's wife, Betty, died. Six months later she began the dictation for The Unobstructed Universe. Once again the medium was Ruth Finley

The philosophy of these and their companion books constitutes a coherent whole. It speaks to the condition of a World at war. The philosophy itself is the work of many, and by its high quality evidently prepared by an illustrious if anonymous crew. Not the least of its delights is the insight it provides into the role played by Richard Hall's new companions in the World Wars of this century.

For Richard Hall when he died was promptly recruited into a team heroic beyond his earlier imagining. Their intense preoccupation was with the two world wars, the second of which they considered a crisis of eternity.

Nor was it a bystander's interest. They fought! And though they do not wish to de-emphasize the importance of our own contribution, they say that on-balance, the worst of the fighting -- the fiercest -- occurred not here with us but rather there, with the forces marshalled by Richard Hall's new companions. Heroic times, heroic deeds. The exploits of Richard Hall as Stephen far outshine the accomplishments that made him a Dartmouth hero.

So why the interest in Richard Hall at so late a date? Because his version of Christianity is quite simply the best there is. Pity it had to come in the heat of war. Now, not then, is when it is most urgently needed; now, with the issues already decided for which this century will be remembered, and the human race finally free to define the upcoming world culture. As a building block for such a culture, there has never been the equal of "Stephen's" philosophy.

So I would say that Dartmouth ought to honor Richard Hall not as the dead war hero but as the living Stephen. It can do this by finishing the work he so ably started.' I give below a sampling of the work left to be done.

1. Reconstruct the theology of "Stephen". The main points of such a theology to be sure are clear enough in Our Unseen Guest. But a formal theology is needed, one that can be discussed in the world's seminaries, and take its rightful place in human thought.

2. Reconstruct the philosophy back of "Stephen's" theology. This task constitutes an archaeological "dig" fraught with high adventure. The context is as follows. The philosophy of Our Unseen Guest is obviously a popularized version of a formal philosophy of the sort associated with leaders of thought and taught in universities. In order to place Our Unseen Guest in perspective, it is first necessary to reconstruct the formal philosophy that lies back of it. With that done it will be possible to compare it with philosophical systems developed prior to their deaths by leading academicians.

Of considerable interest in this regard is the work of Alfred North Whitehead. There are many points in common between Our Unseen Guest and Whitehead --- so many, in fact, that they suggest a common source. Task: using the tools of literary criticism, determine if indeed Our Unseen Guest and Whitehead's philosophy come from a common source.,

If this proves to be the case, what is that common source? Is it from here or from there? It is the latter possibility that puts the spice in the stew,.

Let me explain. In the Stephen/Stewart Edward White tradition, it is a given that most artistic and intellectual creativity occurs among "Stephen's" associates. What we do here is to tap into these schools of thought to accomplish the meager additions within our power. This said, one wonders what the Stephenish counterpart was of Whitehead's work. Was it the same source popularized by Richard Hall in Our Unseen Guest?

There is an outside possibility that such research could accomplish a result long sought in psychic circles by providing a surrogate for the repeatable experiment. That is to say, if Whitehead can be demonstrated to have tapped Stephen's sources, it would be a demonstration that would make repeatable experiments beside the point. While he was alive Whitehead wrote that such things should await further evidence. Did he leave such evidence behind?

A long shot, but still . . .

Meanwhile I hope you will allow me to join Dartmouth in honoring its twice heroic war hero, Richard Hall. I looked in vain in the Baker Library archives for his epitaph, dictated by him for the dedication of Our Unseen Guest. May I respectfully request that you place this epitaph, written personally by him, in Richard Hall's files?

It is for that wider service that Richard Hall gave his life, and to which he now summons us.

cc. E.W. Dykes