The Parapsychology Foundation was founded by Eileen J. Garrett and the Hon. Frances P. Bolton in 1951 to encourage and support impartial scientific inquiry into such psychical aspects of human nature as telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis. Eileen J. Garrett was noted for her psychic abilities. A participant in some of the groundbreaking experiments of the 1920s and 1930s, she understood that psychical research was ignored by a large segment of the academic community. She knew that practical aid for scholars and scientists working in this area, now known as parapsychology, would not be available from most universities nor from other foundations. The best scientists might thus be lost to parapsychology because of a lack of essential resources. (To download a copy of an article about the history of the Foundation during its first fifty years, click here.)
The Parapsychology Foundation, as envisioned by Eileen J. Garrett, would provide a worldwide forum for the support of scientific exploration of psychic phenomena. Scientists and scholars from many disciplines could now bring to the laboratory, the classroom, and the public at large new concepts of psychic functioning in life. It all began, fittingly, as a dream — or rather, to be more precise, as hypnogogic revelation. Garrett, in her 1968 autobiography, Many Voices, vividly recalled the circumstances:
“On the periphery of sleep,” she wrote, “I heard a voice telling me that I must get well and build an ‘edifice’ that would honor the subject to which I had devoted my life (parapsychology). I awoke with a feeling of deep conviction that I must begin to build a new structure containing the best elements of my own work.”
She conceived of this vision, “as falling into three distinct areas. First, I envisaged the necessity of finding resources that could provide grants to those who sought after a wider horizon in reading. Second, this would involve a library and public relations setup to answer the demands for literature and eventual study for those who might be ready to work in a parapsychological atmosphere. Finally, there would be the need to bring scholars together from different countries for discussion, as well as the need to keep contacts alive if eventual advancement of the theoretical discussion were to result in action.”
The first of these would logically be the hardest — finding funds — but luck or good fortune — clairvoyance? — call it what you will — was with Garrett. She was already, herself, by this time, internationally-renowned and respected. Her unique position and her experience within the parapsychological community put her in extremely good stead. However, the achievement (of establishing — and, most importantly, maintaining — the Foundation); the realization of the dream, was not — and could not have been — simply hers alone.
It was another extraordinary woman, the Honorable Frances P. Bolton, who generously supplied the funds and who, in a solid, practical way, allowed for the Foundation’s creation and continued existence. Mrs. Bolton, in her own way, every bit as visionary and far-sighted as Garrett, alongside a smorgasbord of other interests, possessed a life-long interest in the subject of parapsychology. She’d already — even prior to the establishment of the Foundation — made significant contributions to the field. It was she, for example, who’d been responsible for setting up the McDougall Research Fund at Duke University, during William McDougall’s lifetime. (McDougall was one of the founding figures of parapsychology). She’d also continued her support of his successor, Dr. J. B. Rhine, helping him during the early days — and indeed, throughout his career — assisting with funds for the upkeep of his famous Parapsychology Laboratory.
Garrett and Bolton — the Clairvoyant and the Congresswoman (Bolton served with distinction as United States Congresswoman from Ohio for 28 years) — both, singularly, were formidable. Together, they proved to be an unbeatable duo.
True to Garrett’s vision, PF has supported academicians and researchers in psychical research. Since its inception in 1951, PF has funded hundreds of research projects, individuals and organizations the world over. Recipient institutions, to name just a few, include: University of Edinburgh, Scotland; Syracuse University, New York; Tel Aviv University, Israel; Stanford Research Institute, California; The Institut Métapsychique, France; Rhine Research Center, North Carolina; Madras Christian College, India; University of California at Santa Barbara and other UC campuses; University of Witwatersrand, South Africa; Institut für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene in Freiburg, Germany; and John F. Kennedy University, California.
It is a long way from the combative early years (the formal acceptance of parapsychology by the AAAS — American Association for the Advancement of Science — was in 1969) but still there is a long way to go. Parapsychology Foundation, which celebrated its 65th anniversary in 2016, has been taking time to take stock of its remarkable achievements and make plans for the future. Who knows what lies ahead? Who knows what important discoveries are yet to be made about the potential of the human mind. The mystery, however, is part of the quest; the uncertainty, part of the excitement. As Allan Angoff in his biography of Garrett, Eileen J. Garrett and The World Beyond the Senses (Available here), fondly recalls of her unbridled enthusiasm: “You never know,” she used to say, “there might be something, and we mustn’t miss it, must we?”
After Mrs. Garrett’s untimely death in 1970, Mrs. Eileen Coly, her daughter, took over the reigns of the foundation.
Eileen Coly (1916–2013) served as the President of the Parapsychology Foundation from 1970 through the mid-2000s. In fact Mrs. Coly held the position of PF President longer than her mother did. Mrs. Coly shared Garrett’s vision for the Foundation, which was to formulate a multi-disciplinary international approach to the study of psychic phenomena with an emphasis on scientific methodology and education.
Born and educated in England, Mrs. Coly traveled extensively with Garrett, working as her assistant. They were separated during World War II, during which Mrs. Coly remained in England, surviving the bombing of London. After the war, Mrs. Coly settled in the United States in 1947 and worked at Creative Age Press and on Tomorrow magazine, both founded by Garrett.
During the early years of the Foundation, Mrs. Coly raised her own family and served on the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, coming back to work full-time at the Foundation in 1966. Mrs. Coly’s husband, Robert Coly, joined the Foundation in 1969 and served as its Administrative Secretary and Treasurer until his retirement in the late 1990s. Her daughter, Lisette Coly also joined the foundation in 1969. Working up through the organization she served as Executive Director for many years during Mrs. Coly’s tenure as President and now serves as PF’s current President. Although the Foundation was not envisioned as a “family affair”, it seemed destined to become one.
Mrs. Coly’s unique past experiences with Garrett and the psychic world, along with her administrative skills and publishing expertise, enabled her to preside over the Foundation’s valuable programs for more than 30 of its 65 years. Mrs. Coly was the proud recipient of the 2001 Parapsychological Association’s Outstanding Career Award “for her generous support and dedication to the science of parapsychology.” A memorial blog was posted to the PFLyceum website on December 23rd, 2013, and contains the text of the reminiscences of Mrs. Coly’s friends and family, as well as of PF Board members. To read this blog click here.
Whatever the future brings, one thing is certain, scholars and scientists and dedicated researchers will continue to probe these mysteries (there’s no limit to human curiosity), and the vision of the extraordinary women who founded the Parapsychology Foundation will continue to play an absolutely vital role, fostering and encouraging tomorrow’s visionaries, and providing a worldwide forum supporting the scientific exploration of psychic phenomena.
Over the years, the Foundation’s varied programs have been designed to meet these goals. The Grant Program, suspended during financial hardship has now been rededicated to continue it’s support of individual scientists and scholars, laboratories and other investigative units, and university departments conducting research in parapsychological phenomena. The Foundation’s past publishing program consisted of the International Journal of Parapsychology, the Parapsychological Monograph Series of scholarly treatises, Proceedings of the Foundation’s thematic International Conferences, the Parapsychology Pamphlet Series, and the Classic IJP CD-Rom, which contains the first 10 volumes (published from 1959 to 1968) of the International Journal of Parapsychology in a searchable format. The PF also published books in their imprint, Helix Press. While the publications program is suspended for the time being, the Parapsychology Foundation has inaugurated a YouTube channel dedicated to uploading classic and newly-made content on the scientific study of psychic phenomena.
The Eileen J. Garrett Library is now located
The Foundation is not a membership organization but we encourage those who are interested in learning more and sharing with others with similar interests to like the Parapsychology Foundation Psychic Explorers Club page and the Parapsychology Foundation page on Facebook, and to subscribe the Parapsychology Foundation on YouTube as well as our Twitter feed @ParapsychF and our photos on Instagram. As ever, the Foundation is seriously working towards taking advantage of everything that the new century’s technology can offer. This is a time of change for the Foundation, and besides following us in our various social media incarnations, bookmark this website and our blog and check back often as well. Many more changes are coming!