Building Association of the Society of the New or Practical Psychology

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Historical Context

The Building Association of the Society of the New or Practical Psychology was incorporated in California on May 18, 1905, and was based in Long Beach.

The company sounded more like a cult as described by Long Beach historian Claudine Burnett:

"In 1905 every church in Long Beach was debating the teachings of Dr. William Rosecrans Price, a former Baptist preacher, who had founded a new system of psychic research in Long Beach the previous year. The aim of his association, the Society of the New or Practical Psychology, was to teach and live "practical" Christianity.

In little more than a year his society grew to number into the hundreds, composed of "thinking, practical Christian men and women,” who believed that Jesus taught a salvation that was practical in nature, and which was to be practiced in daily life. By "tuning in" to these principles, an intuitive psychic power could be developed which would show the proper way in which to live life. This eventually became known as "New Thought" philosophy, which Dr. Price set forth in his book The New or Practical Psychology.

On October 1, 1905, the corner stone was laid for the future home of the group, the Psychological Temple at 230 E. Second Street. All of the churches in Long Beach were present at this dedication; however some later came to question Price and his methods. The questioning started when Reverend Charles Pease of the First Congregational Church came across a book published in 1852 which duplicated Price's book The New or Practical Psychology. Pease accused Price of plagiarism. Accusations also came from Mrs. Roselyn Bates, chairperson of the Psychic Research Society. She claimed Dr. Price controlled people through his telepathic influence and made them do his will and bidding. She cited the fact that when the Bank of Long Beach refused him a loan, Price told his followers that if they loved him they would all withdraw their monies from the bank, and they did. She also recounted how Dr. Price had used his mesmerizing influence to have a lawyer steal a loaf of bread and have him walk down the aisle at one of Price's meetings with the stolen loaf. She testified that Price had telepathically controlled her husband time and time again in various ways to do his bidding, including financially backing the purchase of the lot for Price's $25,000 Psychological Temple.

Another controversial activity of the disciples of this new philosophy was the "holy kiss," which members conferred upon one another in greeting. Mrs. Bates said Price kissed only a select few of his group, and it just so happened that all of those selected were young, pretty and female. This "liberal" sexual policy infuriated the more conservative religious sects in the city. Many claimed Price used telepathy to influence his "victims" and took "advantage" of his female followers.

In response to the plagiarism question, Price stated that the principles behind the “New Thought" philosophy were known by many enlightened scholars of the past, it was only natural that he used some of the same words as those that had gone before him. He denied Mrs. Bates' charges and said she only said what she did out of spite because a business deal he made with her husband turned sour. He just laughed at the accusations relating to him and his female followers.

It seemed that Dr. Price also was involved in selling worthless stock in the National Gold Dredging Company. He made it look like such a deal, only allowing members of his Psychological Temple to buy shares. The company, Price avowed, owned eleven miles of the American River in Northern California, a river that panned up to $60 a day from a cubic yard of river rock. The stock, Price told his flock, was worth $3 a share, but was not on the market. He, however, with his connections, could obtain shares for his fortunate followers for only $1 a share. Many leaped at the opportunity only to find out later that the company didn’t own a foot of the river and what was being found was nowhere near the $60 return a day they had been led to believe. A big rubber and development scheme on lands in Mexico was also touted, but after a time when dividends failed to come in and extra assessments were made, some of the investors began to suspect something was amiss. Since they were also members of Price’s flock, a rift appeared in the psychic society. Dr. Price found himself involved in lawsuits, both civil and criminal. Judgment after judgment was secured and Price eventually lost everything, except his holdings in the Temple.

Finally the stockholders in the Temple held a meeting, declaring the doctor’s control illegal. They voted him out of office and forcibly took possession of the building, chiseling his name from the cornerstone. Price left Long Beach and started the New School for Applied Christian Psychology in Los Angeles. Here things also got out of hand. In 1923 he was arrested for fraud over two gold mines in Alaska, an illegal plan to place homesteaders on the Irvine ranch in Orange County, and the revealing of "the secrets of hermetics" for a price. He died in 1925.

On September 25, 1911, the beautiful Psychological Temple on west Second street in Long Beach, planned and erected by Price and his flock as the home of a new religious society, was sold at auction for $2,910.09, although the site and the building was valued at $25,000. Mrs. Anna Sewell, who held a mortgage of $12,000 on the temple, was the only bidder. The Sewells held heavy court judgments against Price and were the heaviest stockholders. Though the Sewells had managed to get back their money it did not look good for minor stockholders."

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