In 1918, the Spiritualist movement was nearing its end in America and making its way up North. For decades, mediums and seances had been a national obsession. Posh folks even held such gatherings in their homes as a sort of pastime. Dr. Hamilton, a respected Canadian physician, was one of the last to board this bandwagon, spurred on by his wife's insistence after the death of his son.
Eventually, an entire room of their Winnipeg home was devoted solely to paranormal research. They studied telekinesis, trance states, automatic writing and most extensively, ectoplasm.
In those days, ectoplasm was believed to be the by-product of communing with the other side. The unexplained material was said to emanate from the bodies of mediums; oftentimes taking the shape or displaying the countenance of a deceased individual.
The appearance of ectoplasm seemed to decline after Harry Houdini's campaign to expose fraudulent mediums. The possibility of fraud did not deter Dr. Hamilton. His special room was reportedly locked at all times unless a "circle" was in session. He claims to have taken strict scientific measures to warrant against fakery. He even installed a bank of cameras that could be activated to simultaneously photograph the proceedings. Despite these claims, many dismiss his large photo archive as nothing more than evidence of the ongoing practice of fraudulent mediums.
His efforts did not go unnoticed. The Winnipeg Society for Psychical Research elected him their first president in 1931.
Dr. Hamilton remains an important figure in the field of Parapsychology. He was one of the first investigators to apply scientific method to the study of the unknown. His collection of photos and experiment archives can be found at the University of Manitoba.
