Henry Martyn Parkhurst (March 1, 1825 - January 21, 1908) was an American stenographer who served as Chief Official Court Reporter for the US Senate, an astronomer with pioneering work in Photometry, and an author.[1][2][3] Parkhurst was an advocate of "Dianism".[3]
Henry M. Parkhurst | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Henry Martyn Parkhurst March 1, 1825 |
| Died | January 21, 1908 (aged 82) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupations |
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| Father | John L. Parkhurst |
| Relatives | Charles Henry Parkhurst (cousin) |
Early life
editHenry M. Parkhurst was born on March 1, 1825, to Rev. John L. Parkhurst. His cousin was Rev. Dr. Charles Henry Parkhurst.[4]
Stenographer
editWhile typical stenographers record the words spoken, Parkhurst became a "phonographic recorder", writing not the words but rather the sounds which were spoken.[5] Parkhurst devised a modification of Pittman's phonography which Parkhurst called "Stenophonography".[1] An advocate for spelling reform, Parkhurst published The Plowshare for forty years, using a special alphabet "in which each character stood for a single sound and each sound was represented by a single character."[1]
In 1847, he served as reporter for the Female Anti-Slavery Society of Salem.[6][7] From 1848 to 1854, Parkhurst was the Chief Official Court Reporter for the US Senate.[1][8]
Astronomy
editAt a young age, Parkhurst observed the Great Comet of 1843. In the 1870s, he published a journal article describing a new photometric mapping device that could record the location and magnitude of stars. In 1893, ten years of his observations were published in the Harvard Annals.[9][10] From 1883 to 1907, he conducted research into long period variable stars.[11] Beginning in 1887, he conducted a survey of asteroids.[11]
Paranormal investigator
editIn 1867, Parkhurst investigated purported-clairvoyant Mollie Fancher, and after which he wrote multiple statements attesting to her abilities. In 1878, Parkhurt publicly attested to Fancher's abilities in a letter to the editor of the New York Herald.[12][13][14]
Dianism
editIn 1887, Henry M. Parkhurst anonymously published 'Diana', a pamphlet that taught the practice of Dianaism. [15][16][17] The pamphlet was written in "reform spelling".[18] Parkhurst named his practice after the goddess of chastity.[17] Parkhurst drew inspiration from radical religious philosopher John Humphrey Noyes.[17]
Parkhurt later took credit for the pamphlet, authoring "Why I Wrote 'Diana'".[15]
Elmina Slenker was a "prominent promoter of the 'Diana method' of continence and distributor of the pamphlet Diana which explained to readers how to practice sexual expression without fears of conception".[19] She was arrested under obscenity laws. Parkhurst briefly took the stand in her defense at her trial.[15]
Influence
editSex reformer Ida Craddock advised study of "Alpha-ism" and Dianism [20][18] "Diana", a pamphlet by "Prof. Parkhurst, the astronomer, and published by the Burnz Publishing Co., New York".[18]
In 1908, Parkhust died. That year, an in-depth profile of Parkhurst was published in Popular Astronomy, penned by Yerkes Observatory astronomer John Adelbert Parkhurst (no relation).[11]
Works
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d "1908PA.....16..231P Page 231". adsabs.harvard.edu. Bibcode:1908PA.....16..231P.
- ^ "Parkhurst Henry Martyn 1825 1908 - AbeBooks". www.abebooks.com.
- ^ a b Chappell, Vere (1 December 2010). Sexual Outlaw, Erotic Mystic: The Essential Ida Craddock. Weiser Books. ISBN 9781609252960 – via Google Books.
- ^ "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on January 22, 1908 · Page 3".
- ^ Cima, Gay Gibson (24 April 2014). Performing Anti-Slavery: Activist Women on Antebellum Stages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139917247 – via Google Books.
- ^ Ernest, John (1 August 2017). The Oxford Handbook of the African American Slave Narrative. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199731480 – via Google Books.
- ^ Garrison, Wendell Phillips; Garrison, Francis Jackson (1 August 1894). William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879: The Story of His Life Told by His Children... Houghton, Mifflin. p. 149 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "The Phonographic Magazine". The Institute. 1 August 1890 – via Google Books.
- ^ Williams, Thomas R.; Saladyga, Michael (26 May 2011). Advancing Variable Star Astronomy: The Centennial History of the American Association of Variable Star Observers. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139496346 – via Google Books.
- ^ Observatory, Harvard College (1 August 1893). "Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College". Hetcalf and Company – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c "Popular Astronomy". Goodsell Observatory of Carleton College. 1 August 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ "The Arena". Arena Publishing Company. 1 August 1895 – via Google Books.
- ^ Laurence, Lauron William De (1 August 2017). "Clairvoyance and Thought-transference". De Laurence – via Google Books.
- ^ Hammond, William Alexander (1 August 1879). Fasting Girls: Their Physiology and Pathology. Library of Alexandria. ISBN 9781465549709 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c Schmidt, Leigh Eric (26 September 2016). Village Atheists: How America's Unbelievers Made Their Way in a Godly Nation. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400884346 – via Google Books.
- ^ Brumberg, Joan Jacobs (1 August 2017). Fasting Girls: The History of Anorexia Nervosa. Vintage Books. ISBN 9780375724480 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c Passet, Joanne Ellen (1 August 2017). Sex Radicals and the Quest for Women's Equality. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252028045 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c Chappell, Vere (1 December 2010). Sexual Outlaw, Erotic Mystic: The Essential Ida Craddock. Weiser Books. ISBN 9781609252960 – via Google Books.
- ^ "SEX RADICALS IN AMERICA'S HEARTLAND : REDEFINING GENDER AND SEXUALITY, 1880-1910" (PDF). Mospace.umsystem.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
- ^ Craddock cites: "The Christian Life", a journal edited and published by Rev. J.D. Caldwell, Chicago
- ^ a b "Parkhurst, Henry M. (Henry Martyn), 1825- - The Online Books Page". onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu.