Hank Walker Photo Archives - LIFE

Meet Lady Wonder, the Psychic Horse Who Appeared Twice in LIFE

Bill Syken — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:55:11 +0000

The story of Lady Wonder began in 1925, when her owner, Mrs. Claudia Fonda of Richmond, Va., noticed that the horse she had purchased when it was two weeks old—then just called Lady— would come when Fonda was merely thinking of calling her. Fonda wondered if the horse could read her mind, she told LIFE. By the time Lady was two years old the horse had been taught to spell out words by using blocks with letters on them. When Lady correctly predicted the winner of the Dempsey-Tunney boxing match, the fame of what Fonda billed as “The Mind-Reading Horse” began to spread.

Lady Wonder’s first appearance in LIFE came in 1940, when the magazine, as part of a larger story on ESP, related the history of the horse but also reported that it had lost its extra-sensory special powers. The horse could still perform simple mathematics, though, and was at that point merely being billed as “The Educated Horse,” with claims of clairvoyance left by the wayside. Still, the story noted that its ESP expert believed the horse once posessed special powers.

Then in 1952 Lady Wonder returned to the spotlight when she seemingly offered insight to a tragic case involving a missing boy. Here’s how LIFE described her contribution in its issue of Dec. 22, 1952:

A friend of the district attorney of Norfolk County, Mass., went to see her, on a hunch, to ask her for news of a little boy who had been missing for months. She answered, “Pittsford Water Wheel.” A police captain figured out that this was a psychic misprint for “Field and Wilde Water Pit,” an abandoned quarry. Sure enough, that is where the boy’s body was found.

The incident brought national attention to Lady Wonder, and among those who made the pilgrimage to her Virginia farm was LIFE photographer Hank Walker. He captured the mare, then 27 years old, in action, dispensing advice and sports predictions. (For the specific college football picks from Lady Wonder mentioned in the article, the horse was right on only one out of three picks).

Not everyone was buying the act. In 1956 the magician Milbourne Christopher, who was a noted debunker of frauds, visited Lady Wonder’s stable and concluded that the horse was spelling out words under the subtle guidance of Fonda, who was directing Lady Wonder on which blocks to select.

Lady Wonder died the next year.

The 27-year-old Lady Wonder, a horse with purported clairvoyant abilities who communicated answers by flipping letters on a rack, was a popular tourist attraction in Richmond, Va,. 1952.

Hank Walker/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

“Lady Wonder,” a horse with the purported ability to see the future, came in from the pasture to answer questions for her customers, Richmond, Va., 1952.

Hank Walker/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The 27-year-old Lady Wonder, a horse with purported clairvoyant abilities who communicated answers by flipping letters on a rack, was a popular tourist attraction in Richmond, Va,. 1952.

Hank Walker/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Mrs. Julius Bokkon regularly visited Lady Wonder to solicit the opinion of the clairvoyant horse on matters in her life, Richmond, Va., 1952.

Hank Walker/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Lady Wonder, the purported clairvoyant horse, gave a Massachusetts businessman direction on where to get a loan, spelling out “Heancock,” which was interpreted to mean the insurance company John Hancock, 1952.

Hank Walker/LIfe PIcture Collection/Shutterstock

The tricks of Lady Wonder included performing addition; here she had been asked what 7+6 equalled (she had already pulled up a “1” that is out of view to the left), Richmond, Va., 1952.

Hank Walker/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Owner Claudia Fonda stood by as her clairvoyant talking horse tourist attraction, Lady Wonder, gave a Massachusetts businessman direction on where to get a loan, spelling out “Heancock,” which was interpreted to mean the insurance company John Hancock, 1952.

Hank Walker/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The 27-year-old Lady Wonder, a horse with purported clairvoyant abilities who communicated answers by flipping letters on a rack, was a popular tourist attraction in Richmond, Va,. 1952.

Hank Walker/LIfe PIcture Collection/Shutterstock

Lady Wonder, a horse with supposed clairvoyant powers, attracted visits from tourists and well as regulars such as Mrs. Julius Bokkon, Richmond, Va., 1952. The levers around the horse were like keys in a giant typewriter that it used to communicate its messages.

Hank Walker/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Meet Lady Wonder, the Psychic Horse Who Appeared Twice in LIFE appeared first on LIFE.

See Photos of a Young Queen Elizabeth II Touring North America

Wed, 20 Apr 2016 12:00:44 +0000

In 1957, when Queen Elizabeth II was about five years into her reign, she paid a visit to North America, complete with all the pomp and circumstance one might expect of a royal tour. She met with President Eisenhower and Vice-President Nixon; visited her subjects in Canada, where she opened a session of the country’s parliament; visited Jamestown, Va., site of the first permanent British settlement in America; and took in her very first American college football game, in which Maryland beat North Carolina. (Her take: “My, it’s exciting!”)

The visit wasn’t all parties. Coming in the midst of the Cold War, the alliance between the U.S. and Britain was as crucial as ever. As LIFE noted, the Queen’s visit coincided with another by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, who was in Washington for “urgent policy talks” about Soviet accusations that the U.S. and Turkey were planning to attack Russian-armed Syria.

More than 60 years later, that alliance remains strong and so does the urge to celebrate.

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during their 1957 North America tour.

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth II, 1957

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth at College Park’s Byrd Stadium during her 1957 North American tour.

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Original caption: “Close-up is provided as teams, Maryland, right, line up. Queen (center) is almost on scrimmage line.”

Hank Walker The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Original caption: “Absorbed spectator, the Queen turns to question [University of Maryland President] Elkins. At right is Governor McKeldin.”

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Original caption: “Accompanied by the President and met at the door by Mrs. Eisenhower, Elizabeth and Philip arrive at the White House for their four-day-stay.”

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth with Richard Nixon during her North American tour, 1957.

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth II (L), Vice President Richard M. Nixon (C), and Prince Philip (2R), during a luncheon for the Queen during her North American tour in 1957.

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth, Richard Nixon, Mrs. Eisenhower, and Prince Philip in Washington D.C. during the Queen’s North American tour in 1957.

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth with U.K. Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd during her North American tour in 1957.

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth visiting Jamestown, Va. Replica of colonists’ ship “Susan Constant” in the background.

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Original caption: “With `Parson,’ Queen visits James Fort Church replica.”

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Original caption: ” Decorated girl scout, Jennifer Ankers, gets notice. `You have a lot of medals,’ said Philip. `Six,’ she replied. In back is Governor Thomas Stanley.”

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Original caption: “Mock prisoners, locked in the stocks for her edification, amuse the Queen. `Does it hurt?’ she asked, while Philip inquired, `Do they throw rotten eggs at you?’ The prisoners replied, `No.'”

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip during their North American tour in 1957.

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and [Governor General of Canada] Vincent Massey during the Queen’s North American tour in 1957.

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during their visit to Williamsburg, 1957.

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Queen Elizabeth during her North American tour, 1957.

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post See Photos of a Young Queen Elizabeth II Touring North America appeared first on LIFE.

Pope John XXIII and Vatican II: The Catholic Church’s Modern Moment

Thu, 24 Apr 2014 08:34:06 +0000

As monumental as the election of a new pope has always been and always will be for Catholics around the world, other (very) occasional events in the life of the church often have far more wide-reaching and long-lasting effects. The pontiff is, of course, the supreme figure in the church’s hierarchy —but more than 260 men have held the title over the past two millennium, and only a relative handful of those figures have presided over historic changes in the ways Catholics worship and relate to both their local parishes and congregations and to the Holy See in Rome.

By contrast, for example, the Second Vatican Council (known colloquially as Vatican II) held at St. Peter’s between 1962 and 1965 was more significant in both its message and its spiritual and cultural ramifications than any single act or pronouncement by any pope of the past few centuries. The twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church, and only the second ever held at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican II offered nothing less than an utterly new dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world.

Opened in October 1962, when Pope John XXIII was pontiff, and lasting until December 1965, during the papacy of Pope Paul VI, Vatican II advanced both major and minor reforms to church doctrine and matters of faith, e.g., encouraging Catholics to pray with non-Catholic Christians; a new prominence (and power) for bishops within the church; the sanctioning of languages other than Latin during Mass, and more.

Here, LIFE.com recalls the historic, landmark Vatican II council with photographs by Hank Walker and Paul Schutzer.

Pope John XXIII rode in the procession to St. Peter’s Basilica at the start of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 1962.

Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scene in Rome during the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 1962.

Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Vatican Ecumenical Council and Ecumenical Procession, Rome, 1962.

Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A table of cardinals during the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 1962.

Hank Walker The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prelates attended a party at the Chinese Embassy in Vatican City on the eve of Vatican II, 1962.

Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Cardinals at a party held by the Chinese ambassador, Rome, 1962.

Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Vatican Ecumenical Council and Ecumenical Procession, Rome, 1962.

Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scene during the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 1962.

Hank Walker The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Pope John XXIII during the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 1962.

Hank Walker The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scene inside St. Peter’s Basilica during the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 1962.

Hank Walker The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Devout observers of the procession of Catholic prelates entered St. Peter’s during the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 1962.

Hank Walker The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Pope John XXIII rode in a procession to St. Peter’s Basilica at the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 1962.

Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

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