Members Editorial
Spiritualists on Vaudeville: The Resistance Act
Members editorials are the expressed personal opinions of the members who wrote them and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the Haunt Masters Club as a whole.
When Charles N. Haygood of Milledgeville, Georgia died in 1886, he left his 25-year-old wife, Dixie Annie Jarratt Haygood, to fend for their three children. Desperate to make a make ends meet, she turned to the local paper. On the front page she saw a very curious article. It seems a self-styled Spiritualist Lulu Hurst of Cedarville, Georgia, was on tour on the east cost with her parents, and anything Lulu touched became nearly impossible for men to lift. Lulu’s adventures were documented in her 1897 book, Lulu Hurst: The Georgia Wonder, written under her married name, Lulu Hurst Atkinson.

Dixie saw an opportunity and took it, debuting on vaudeville as “Annie Abbott, the Georgia Magnet” at the Milledgeville Opera House. But, it wasn’t until she appeared at the Alhambra Theater in Leicester Square, London in December 1891 that her fame took off. The Fall, 2002 issue of the Georgia Historical Quarterly featured the story, "Georgia's Dixie Haygood: The Original Annie Abbott and 'Little Georgia Magnet,'" where authors Hugh T. Harrington and Susan J. Harrington explain that her act was so successful that that same year, two copycats, Carrie Arnold and Mattie Lee Price appeared under the same name in America. The show became known as the Resistance Act and it seemed soon there were numerous Little Georgia Magnets across the world.
Paranormal Research & Investigation
Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia & Western North Carolina
Annie Abbott: Little Georgia Magnet, Mistress of Most Mysterious Power and Powerful Company by An Trotter gives a rundown of the show:

  • Balance Test: Holding a pole horizontally, audience members were encouraged to try to push the performer over.
  • Forcing Test: The audience was asked to try to move the cue from the performers open palm without much luck.
  • Heavy Weight-lifting Test: The petite performer astonished the audience by being able to lift one or more people sitting in a chair.
  • Chair Test: Other audience members were asked to heave the chair down to the ground without much success.
  • Umbrella Test: An audience member wouldn’t be able to keep his balance when he tried to hold on to the edge of an umbrella the performer opened indoors.
  • Cane Test: The volunteer also wouldn’t be able to hold onto a cane or pool cue if the performer had her hands on it.
  • Unruly Chair Test: A chair an audience member was trying to hold onto would slide away from his grip towards the performer.
  • Table-rapping Test: Inexplicable, mysterious knocking noises were heard from under a table to answer questions proposed by audience members. This sort of act was very popular during séances.
  • Attractive Test: An audience member was asked to place his fingers on the performers and the slight woman was able to drag his across the stage without any effort.
  • Irremovability Test: People who tried to lift or move the performer were unable to.
  • The Billiard Cue Raising Test: The performer was able to pull a cue off of the floor with many strong men trying to hold onto it.
  • Glass Test: A glass held against her skin would emit a noise.
  • Child Test: In a shocking turn in the act, the performer could transfer her alleged abilities to a child.
  • Animal Test: The performer shows an uncanny control over domestic animals.
  • Wall Test: Audience members couldn’t push the performer up against a wall if she had one finger on the wall.
  • Pulley Rope Test: In the 1920s, the addition of this test was added to the act. The performer held onto one end of a rope and no number of men could get her feet off the ground.

Dixie died in her home in Macon, Georgia in 1915 and was buried at Memorial Hill Cemetery in Milledgeville. In 1950, the original Georgia Wonder, Lulu Hurst Atkinson, was interred 40 miles away in Madison, Georgia. But, how did these amazing women perform these uncanny acts of strength? While generally regarded as stage magic, some believed these “magnetic girls” possessed a mind-over-matter gift called psychokinesis.
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The Haunt Masters club does not endorse nor advise the use of provocation of any sort.
Credits, Links, Sources, Resources and Suggested Reading:
1. http://www.findagrave.com/
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