Congratulations and admiration are due to the Rhine Center for the 85th anniversary of its Parapsychology Laboratory along with Dr. Sally Rhine Feather’s 90th birthday! Our two organizations The Rhine, formerly the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man, and Parapsychology Foundation have long shared a common dedication to the furtherance of the science of parapsychology as was the dream and realization of their founders Dr. J.B. Rhine and Eileen J. Garrett.
Eileen J. Garrett served as a research subject with those famous ESP card guessing Zener cards in intervals from 1932-1938. She convinced PF’s cofounder, the Honorable Frances P. Bolton prior to the creation and funding of PF to set up the McDougall Research Fund at Duke University and subsequently Mrs. Bolton provided support of JB’s early days. Upon the creation of PF in 1951 we assisted with funding and upkeep of his famous parapsychology lab and its workers and research a fact which makes us most proud.
I think evident was JB’s recognition and gratitude for this support when he penned a remembrance of Eileen Garrett for the latest edition of her autobiography “Adventures in the Supernormal” “ So much surges through my mind of what has happened since that morning when Eileen Garrett and her daughter (Eileen Coly) got off the train in Durham that it would fill books; she started many many things, here as elsewhere, with her vigor, her initiative, her restless “creative age” mind, and yes, her generous readiness to help others. How many there are who could say, as I do, ‘She helped me get my start!’ She and I had what were for me great moments together. There will be eloquent words from others about her; we will all appreciate them too, but the personal sort of partnership Eileen Garrett and I had seemed to me somewhat unique, and it has meant a great deal to me and always will.”
JB or “the Boss” as Garrett affectionately referred to him shared a unique relationship…a complicated one, that one might say “blew “hot and cold” as they at times butted heads with differing opinions and visions for the work. But at the base of their relationship was admiration and fondness with the realization that they shared a commitment to parapsychological research. Much less complicated was the relationship my mother and I inherited with him and Dr. Louisa Rhine and in my case with their daughter Sally.
Certainly, professionally, our two organizations ran and continue to run in parallel but personally our relationship with Sally deepened over the years. Our warmth and appreciation for each other and our individual travails working literally a lifetime continuing our organizations along with the love of our complex forebears and the organizations they founded is evident in a filmed interview held at the Rhine on December 8th 2016. Taken again from “Adventures in the Supernormal” Sally shared “Although I heard my father, J.B. Rhine, speak about his dear friend Eileen Garrett many times in my early years, my first clear memory of her was at our house on January 28, 1946. I remember the date distinctly because this was my 16th birthday. Eileen must have arrived with her entourage to visit JB at the Duke Parapsychology Lab and been invited home for the family dinner that marked the occasion. Now 55 years later I can still visualize the colorful exotic outfit and dramatic mannerisms of this elegant perfumed lady from New York City. But the real reason that this evening was so engrained in my early memory was that Eileen Garrett in her magnanimity presented me, a shy teenager, with a remarkable gift—a heavy silver charm bracelet totally full of charms. This was a gift beyond belief for me at this time, as witness to the fact that I kept this bracelet with me my entire life, until only last Christmas finally passing it along to my daughter.” And now from sweet sixteen we are so happy to wish Sally congratulations and love for her milestone 90th birthday!
This banner year…one of many over the years …will see the Rhine hosting the combined conventions of the Parapsychological Association and the Society for Scientific Exploration. The three day conference entitled “2020 Vision” will address the past, the present, and lay a foundation for the future of research which will run June 16-19, 2020 in Durham, North Carolina.
A well deserved exciting year to come!