Banner of Light
Banner of Light was a long-running American spiritualist newspaper published weekly from 1857 to 1906 and monthly in 1907.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Banner of Light was an American spiritualist journal that became one of the most durable, widely circulated, and influential periodicals associated with nineteenth-century Spiritualism. It began publication in Boston on 11 April 1857, initially following the model of a general literary and news publication while also reporting on séances conducted through the mediumship of Jennie H. “Fanny” Conant. The paper grew out of The Life, a local newsletter started by William Berry in 1856 to publicize Conant’s séances. In its early form, Banner of Light was an eight-page weekly newspaper containing fiction, social and political news, poetry, scientific and agricultural material, practical advice, and departments aimed at women and children. Reader response quickly encouraged the publishers to make Spiritualism a much more prominent part of the publication. The journal’s defining feature was its message department, initially associated with Conant and later with other mediums. Messages presented as communications from deceased people were printed for living relatives and accompanied, when available, by letters from readers who claimed to recognize the identities or circumstances described. Banner of Light also promoted public séances in a dedicated room, where free sessions were held several times a week. This combination of printed testimony, public demonstrations, and movement news helped make the paper a central institution within American Spiritualism. The publication covered Spiritualist meetings, lectures, debates, controversies, books, and developments across the United States. It printed lecture transcripts, essays on Spiritualist philosophy and reform, correspondence from readers, notices concerning the movements of mediums and lecturers, and extensive book reviews. It also serialized fiction, including Cora Wilburn’s Cosella Wayne, a pioneering Jewish feminist novel published in 1860. The paper’s contributors and employees included many prominent figures in the Spiritualist movement, while its pages also carried sermons by figures such as Henry Ward Beecher and material on broader social and religious reform. Although Banner of Light claimed a national readership and at times advertised subscriber figures ranging from 15,000 to 30,000, contemporary discussion and later historical analysis indicate that these claims were overstated. The newspaper remained financially vulnerable, and by the early 1890s The Progressive Thinker of Chicago had surpassed it in subscriber numbers. Its editorial policy generally avoided attacking mediums, including practitioners whose claims were regarded by critics as fraudulent, and it did not take a firm stand against radical or free-love currents within Spiritualism. The paper was published in Boston for most of its existence, with a short New York period in 1859. In 1866 it established a Western Department in Cincinnati intended to improve coverage of Midwestern Spiritualist activity, although the resulting national reporting remained incomplete. The final weekly newspaper issue was dated 18 August 1906. The title then shifted to a larger monthly format: volume 100, number 1 appeared in January 1907 as a 54-page issue, but it was also the last known issue. Banner of Light is now chiefly significant as a primary source for the history of American Spiritualism, nineteenth-century religious journalism, mediumship, reform debates, and the formation of a national movement through print.
History
Banner of Light emerged from the expanding print culture of American Spiritualism in the 1850s. William Berry had launched The Life in 1856 as a local newsletter promoting séances conducted by Jennie H. “Fanny” Conant. The following year, Banner of Light succeeded that newsletter and broadened its ambitions. Its first issue was published in Boston on 11 April 1857 in an eight-page, forty-column newspaper format. The original editorial concept was wider than Spiritualism: the paper promised stories, sketches, historical material, adventure writing, domestic departments, agricultural information, science, inventions, art, poetry, and political and social news. A section called The Messenger reported on Conant’s séances. By the third issue, the publishers said that reader interest had persuaded them to expand the journal’s Spiritualist content. The title increasingly presented itself as an exponent of nineteenth-century “spiritual philosophy.” Its most distinctive recurring feature became the Message Department, later associated with names including The Messenger and The Message Page. Through the mediumship of Conant, and later other mediums, the paper printed brief communications said to come from deceased people to relatives and friends. Banner of Light also made its Boston spirit room available for free séances several times a week. The paper emphasized testimonials from readers who believed they had recognized the people and circumstances described in the messages, while generally not publishing material that failed to receive such authentication. Conant served as the regular medium for the publication’s message work during its first eighteen years. Jennie S. Rudd followed for three years, and Mary Theresa Longley subsequently held the role for fourteen years. The message feature proved commercially and institutionally important: it gave readers an ongoing reason to engage with the newspaper and became a model copied by other Spiritualist journals. At the same time, the paper provided a broader communications infrastructure for a geographically dispersed movement. It published reports on meetings and lectures, tracked the travels of mediums and speakers, printed correspondence about internal controversies, reviewed books, and reproduced lectures and sermons. Its coverage sought to connect local Spiritualist activity into a national conversation. The journal’s editorial and commercial organization changed over time. It was associated with Isaac Rich and Luther Colby as publishers, later operating under L. Colby & Company. Colby edited the paper from 1857 until 1894. The subsequent editors were John W. Day, Harrison D. Barrett, J. J. Morse, and Irving F. Symonds, whose tenure extended to the final issue. Boston remained the principal base, although the publication was produced in New York for a short period in 1859. A Western Department was established in Cincinnati in 1866 to improve reporting from the Midwest. Despite its national reputation, the department did not provide complete coverage of Spiritualist activity outside the East. Banner of Light became the best-known and most widely read of the many Spiritualist journals that appeared during the second half of the nineteenth century. It claimed a national circulation and advertised subscriber numbers as high as 15,000 to 30,000, but those figures were considered inflated. The paper was financially precarious throughout much of its life, and The Progressive Thinker of Chicago had overtaken it in subscribers by the early 1890s. Its editorial approach was also permissive. The paper generally refrained from criticizing even mediums whose practices attracted accusations of fraud, and it did not oppose the free-love or radical Spiritualist currents represented within parts of the movement. The publication’s cultural scope extended beyond séance reporting. It printed reform-oriented fiction and serialized works, including Cora Wilburn’s Cosella Wayne in 1860, a pioneering Jewish feminist novel. It also carried essays on Spiritualism and reform, book criticism, religious material, and sermons by prominent ministers such as Henry Ward Beecher. These contents make the title useful not only for studying mediumship but also for examining nineteenth-century religious journalism, reform politics, gender and literary culture, and the development of national print networks. The final weekly newspaper issue was volume 99, number 26, dated 18 August 1906. An announcement in that issue said that the publication would continue monthly and appealed for subscriptions. Volume 100, number 1 appeared in January 1907 as a 54-page monthly, but no further issue is identified in the reference material. Banner of Light therefore ended after roughly half a century of publication. Its surviving pages remain an important documentary record of American Spiritualism and of the ways a religious movement used periodical publishing to build authority, community, and a national audience.
- 1907
Final monthly issue
[1]Volume 100, number 1 appears in January as a 54-page monthly and becomes the final issue.
- 1906
Weekly newspaper format ends
[1]The last weekly newspaper issue is volume 99, number 26, dated 18 August 1906.
- 1894
Luther Colby’s editorial tenure ends
[1]After editing the paper from its launch, Luther Colby leaves the editorial role.
- 1866
Western Department opens in Cincinnati
[1]A Cincinnati department is established to report on Spiritualist activity in the Midwest.
- 1860
Cosella Wayne is serialized
[1]The journal publishes Cora Wilburn’s reform-oriented novel Cosella Wayne, described as a pioneering Jewish feminist novel.
- 1859
Temporary publication in New York
[1]The paper is published from New York for a short period before returning to its long-term Boston base.
- 1857
First issue of Banner of Light
[1]The title begins weekly publication in Boston on 11 April in an eight-page newspaper format.
- 1857
Spiritualism becomes the central editorial focus
[1]Following reader response to the first issues, the paper expands its coverage of Spiritualism beyond the original séance page.
- 1856
The Life is established as a predecessor newsletter
[1]William Berry starts The Life to publicize the séances of Jennie H. “Fanny” Conant, creating the immediate publishing predecessor to Banner of Light.
Products and positioning
A national newspaper and movement platform for nineteenth-century American Spiritualism, combining religious and séance material with general literary content, reform writing, news, reviews, and reader correspondence.
Newspaper · 1857
Banner of Light weekly newspaper
The principal product from 1857 through August 1906 was an eight-page weekly newspaper with forty columns. It combined Spiritualist reporting with general literary, social, political, scientific, agricultural, artistic, and domestic material. Its national orientation made it a recurring source of news and correspondence for readers involved in the American Spiritualist movement.
Spiritualist feature · 1857
The Message Department
This recurring section printed brief communications presented as messages from deceased people to living relatives and friends. It developed from the paper’s early reporting on Fanny Conant’s séances and later involved other mediums. Reader letters asserting that messages were authentic were used to reinforce the feature’s credibility and public appeal.
Periodical · 1907
Banner of Light monthly journal
After the final weekly issue in August 1906, Banner of Light was reconfigured as a monthly publication. The first monthly issue, appearing in January 1907, contained 54 pages. The new format was intended to retain the title through a subscription appeal, but the January issue proved to be the final one.
Brand decisions
1906
Conversion from weekly newspaper to monthly formatStrategyBackground
After decades of weekly publication and continuing financial fragility, the title ended its newspaper-format run.
Action taken
The publishers announced that Banner of Light would continue as a monthly and solicited subscriptions.
Aftermath
A 54-page monthly appeared in January 1907, but it was the final issue and the publication ceased.
1866
Creation of a Western DepartmentStrategyBackground
The Boston-based paper sought to cover Spiritualist activity beyond its eastern home market.
Action taken
Banner of Light established a Western Department in Cincinnati to report on the Midwest.
Aftermath
The department expanded the paper’s intended national reach, although coverage of distant activity remained incomplete.
1857
Shift toward a dedicated Spiritualist editorial identityStrategyBackground
The first issue presented Banner of Light as a broad literary and news newspaper with some Spiritualist material. Reader response led the publishers to increase the amount of coverage devoted to Spiritualism.
Action taken
The paper expanded Spiritualist content and adopted the positioning of an exponent of nineteenth-century spiritual philosophy.
Aftermath
The change helped establish the publication as a major movement journal and made its séance and message coverage central to the title.
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