In December of 1885, May Howard was arrested and fined for being an inmate of a house of ill-fame in Rapid City, SD. It wasn’t the first time she would be arrested for, as the local paper stated, flaunting her shame in the face of decency, but it would be the last. The city had started to crack down on bawdy houses, and May saw the writing on the wall.
May had also began making a transition in her life. As many of her profession before her, May tried her hand as a spirit medium. Having started performing in the summer of 1886, with a “group of English mediums,” she was met with spectacular failure. But it wouldn’t put her off, and it wouldn’t be long until she would claim to be one of the most eminent mediums.
Creating May Howard
Tracing the life of May Howard is exceptionally difficult. She would initially bill herself as an English medium; however, she had ties to South Dakota, having been the daughter of a Valentine Schinnel of Salem. She would claim to have learned from the famous Fox sisters, but by the time May was active, they were beginning to get ready to admit it was all a hoax. She traveled the United States, yet under what name she went by was often a question.
As a young woman, she would make a living in houses of ill-fame, including in a few in the Black Hills. She wouldn’t be the first woman to make the transition from soiled dove to medium. It would seem as if the transition had some benefits, besides the obvious. Often with the transition came inside information, making mediums like May quite accurate with their readings. At least in some situations.
Becoming the Medium
Those situations were not present when she began her career though. Having left the Black Hills to start this new life, May first performed in Wisconsin, and it wasn’t to rave reviews. She and her group of “English” mediums were labeled as frauds.
The first shows were lackluster, composed of old tricks that were largely known. Nothing spectacular occurred, and the “spirit manifestations” that were conducted were done so in the dark. For May’s part, while her beauty was said to shine, it only shone for a small portion of the show, as she hardly was on stage.
Over the next few months, May would hone her skills. She would ditch the company of the English Mediums she first performed with, and instead started touring with self-proclaimed professors who helped guide May in the craft. They would lend their expertise, and May would lend her feminine charm.
This new setup would propel May’s career. Teaming up with experienced experts in the field, those who knew more extravagant tricks, and how to hide their fraud more effectively, allowed her to not only learn the trade, but to excel. It was a win-win situation, as May didn’t have to solely rely on tricking the audience as those accompanying her could, and the men, those self-proclaimed professors, and later doctors, had a beautiful woman performing with them, which added both some much needed distraction, as well as selling power.
Back Home
With the stage set, May would return to her home state at the end of 1887. The person she used to be was all but gone, as she was now the eminent English medium. Accompanying her was H. B. Howard, who was said to be a celebrated medium himself.
The pair would start their performances on the east part of the state, where May had grown up. While charges of fraud or trickery were still often leveled against May, it was often excused because the performances were so remarkable. And she was quite charming herself.
May and H.B. Howard would tour the eastern part of the state for a number of years. It was during that time that they would meet up with Dr. Charles Slade, who would eventually work with May on the west coast.
Charles was a charlatan of the finest sense, having been known to not only steal other performers acts, but also their identities. A year after the famed Kate Fox died, Charles would perform with her in Huron, SD. It wouldn’t be the first time that he would have his female partner claim to be someone they weren’t.
Eventually though, May would have to leave the eastern part of the state when her true identity came to light. When it was revealed that she was born in Salem, where she had grown up with her father, it became harder to keep up her act. And off west she went.
Medium of the Black Hills
Nearly a decade after she was last arrested for being a soiled dove, May was back in the Black Hills. Finally, she would be able to use her past life to her benefit. She knew stuff about quite a few people in the area, and it was going to be revealed.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing though. Many would still hail her as a fake, but her shows continued to pack houses. Even the naysayers would admit that her trickery and the mystery she caused was convincing for many. She was talented.
Soon the question began circulating, was she really a medium, or just a magician? Unlike her first performances in Wisconsin, she would not entertain her audiences in full light, which challenged skeptics even more. May would also subject herself to various tests, and always declared genuine. But often, she wouldn’t make the claim that her powers came from spiritualism. She was moot on that point.
Soon, whether she was a fake or not didn’t really matter, as she was entertaining. She was also able to sprinkle in enough information about certain people that made her appear quite credible. That would come to an abrupt stop though at the end of 1895.
While in the Black Hills, May would begin working with the “doctor” Charles Slade. It wouldn’t be long that the two would get into trouble, and simply vanish. The rumor was that they had left the country, while their creditors mourned their silent departure.
Once again, the claims of being a fake cropped up. That it was just a dead-beat act, that most had seen as a fraud, was the common reporting. It was clear though that many had bought into their act, and to what they were selling, as they left with a small fortune that their investors would never see again.
Charles would return to the Black Hills a few years later, with another “famous medium,” Kate Eddy. May stayed away even longer. When she did return to the spotlight, it was once again in the eastern part of the state, but this time, it was under a new guise.
Another Rebirth, And Again
In December of 1897, May would once again emerge into the limelight. This time though, she was billed as the “White Mahatma.” She was one of a dozen or so performers who would take the title, playing off commonly held beliefs about the far east. Claiming to have learned from the fakirs of India, she turned out to be even more successful.
Dropping the pretense of giving a lecture on spiritualism, as was the current trope of performers like her just a decade earlier, she instead gave a full performance, with one effect after the other. Done were the tricks that she had used in the beginning of her career, and now it was something much more mystifying.
The fact that she was from the area didn’t seem to phase anyone, even though it was common knowledge. They just wanted more and more of her, and May was happy to supply. As the White Mahatma, May had an act that sold out theaters.
For the next few years, she appeared to live a happy life, performing in the eastern part of South Dakota. But that chapter in her life would quickly come to a close when a figure from her past caught up with her; Charles Slade.
In 1899, Charles and May once again began to work together, and it wouldn’t be long until they again made a flight from the area. This time they relocated to California, where May would create her final persona.
First arriving in California, May would continue to bill herself as the White Mahatma, but that guise would quickly fade away. Trying to sell “Spirit Power” to her audiences, they quickly saw through the ruse. Many were quick to point out that it was nothing more than the sort of magic traveling magicians performed while debunking the claims of spiritualists. It was clearly a fake, even though it was a good fake.
Over the next few years, the duo would then largely vanish. But when they reappeared in 1908, May Howard was now the psychic wonder. It was the persona she would keep throughout the rest of her career.
However, the heyday of the spiritualism movement was long gone. The movement was seeing a decline, especially after a growing number of psychics were being shown to be frauds. Among those exposing fraudulent mediums was Harry Houdini, who at the time was one of the most well-known celebrities in the world.
May would try to overcome the increasing scrutiny of her profession, but it would become ever more difficult. Knowing that there would be those who claimed she was a fraud, she would often directly challenge skeptics, giving them access to her while she was on stage.
While May would refrain from being exposed during a performance, explanations by experts were not only being given, but demonstrations of the tactics were also being performed. To her credit, most would applaud May for her clever ruse. She was also smart enough to not over sell herself. Unlike a great number of her colleagues, she wouldn’t attempt to claim any of the prize awards offered by different organizations, or by Houdini himself, for those who could prove they were the real deal.
For the next decade, May would remain on the west coast, where she would continue to perform with Charles. The shows would eventually become less complicated. Having proven herself enough, May would simplify her act.
The big stage props would slowly vanish, and instead it would just be her on stage, answering questions. Then, on May 29, 1918, May would seemingly perform her final show. She had performed for just over three decades.
Whatever happened to May after that performance on May 29th remains a mystery, as is much of life. She disappears from the written record, a record she was apt to be missing from.
Who was May
After digging through the records, figuring out who May really was is nearly impossible. Was her real name actually May Howard, or was that just one more persona? It’s a question that the records can’t answer.
In many ways, May Howard was a phantom. A phantom who took a common path. She found a way to escape her life as a soiled dove, and do so in a big way. And for her, having a past that was lost was best. She wasn’t going to divulge more than needed.