Princess Mysteria (stage name of Vauleda Hill Strodder, 1888 - March 14, 1930) was an African American

mentalist Mentalism is a performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, appear to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities. Mentalists perform a theatrical act that includes special effects that may appear to employ ps ...

, who wrote a regular column for ''

The Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

''.

Biography

Vauleda Hill was born in an American family in 1888 and grew up in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, but identifying her exact birthplace is made difficult by her insistence that she was born "at the foot of the Mahali Mountains in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, near

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

." The story as she told it is that she developed skills as a mentalist as a child and, by the age of six, was able to answer questions before they were asked. Impressed by her performance, the Rajah of

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

made her a princess. Historians agree that this was just a legend created to promote her performances, and note that it was not uncommon for African American women claiming "occult" powers to advertise themselves as Indian. With her parents, Vauleda moved from Kansas City to Chicago, where he married one Al C. Strodder. In the 1910s, she started performing as "Princess Mysteria," assisted by her husband, who went under the name "Prince Mysteria." She dressed as an Indian, with rich jewels and a headband. She also performed as a mentalist, calling herself a "human radio," on the waves of WJKS, a radio station in

Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...

. Eventually, she emerged as one of the most applauded mentalists in the United States. Mysteria also became famous for dispensing her wisdom weekly on her own column, called "Advice to the Wise and Otherwise," in the African American newspaper ''The Chicago Defender'' from 1920 to 1930. She died unexpectedly, after a short illness, on March 14, 1930, in Chicago. ''The Chicago Defender'' commented that, "from roughly 1917 until her death in 1930, no other female magician and few male magicians received as much coverage in the black press as she did."

Biography

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Further reading