Rev. Sherman J. Hester (b. June 4, 1913–d. April 21, 1977; age 62), also known as “Father Jacob” and “Child of Thunder,” was a priest associated with the Universal Hagar’s Spiritual Church for 26 years. He served as pastor at UHSC churches in Pennsylvania and, most predominantly, in Columbus, Ohio. He was a graduate of and instructor in the School of Mediumship and Psychology, an exalted royal knight of Cleveland Chapter 14, a state Prince of Ohio and West Virginia, the Supreme Father of all assocation conventions, Supreme and Divine Guide of the Royal Knights of the Association, Grand Marshall and Royal Exalted Knight, and president of the Universal Hagar's Medium League Chapter 16. He was also a member of St. Mark Masonic Lodge No. 7. Rev. Hester died in Detroit, Michigan while attending a convention there. He was married to Marion E. Hester with whom he raise his daughter Celestine Joyce and her sister [name uncertain]. 
Rev. Hester’s home had been abandoned since 2003. There was a church downstairs, living quarters upstairs, and an attic library. Rev. Hester collected diverse materials related to church affairs, making this a significant collection in UHSC history. The house having experienced severe deterioriation, many of the materials were critically damaged save those that were salvaged. This collection is an AMP curated selection of items from Rev. Hester’s salvaged estate.

Hailing from the abandoned Columbus, Ohio home of the late Rev. Sherman J. Hester (1914-1977), this collection offers an extremely rare archival look into the history of the Universal Hagar’s Spiritual Church (UHSC), notably during the peak of its operation (circa 1940s-50s). Founded in Detroit, Michigan by Rev. George William Hurley (1884-1943) in 1923, the UHSC is one of the earliest organizations within the African American “Spiritual church” tradition, as well as one of the earliest Black schools of occult magic and mediumship in the United States. The latter aspects of the church culture have remained outside public awareness, being privately taught through the church’s School of Mediumship and Psychology, Father Hurley’s tiered course of occult education. The Knights of the All-Seeing Eye, a masonic-inspired society, was also a significant part of the church. Rev. Hurley is regarded by his followers as the Prophet and Messiah of our era, or the “Black God of the Aquarian Age.” The UHSC theology is a syncretic mix of the African American Baptist church tradition, European occult magic, Christian Theosophy via Levi Dowling’s Aquarian Gospel, Christian Science healing and New Thought philosophy, Islamic Nationalism, and Ethiopian Judaism, among numerous other influences. Astrological divination, mediumship, and alternative forms of healing have remained key practices within the church. Such occult influences and practices are more pronounced in the UHSC than in any other African American “Spiritual” church tradition. While they have a predecessor in the Spiritual church of Mother Leafy Anderson (founded c. 1913) and her successor Mother Catherine Seals in New Orleans. Like these pioneers of the Spiritual church movement, the UHSC and broader Spiritual church tradition is notable for its empowerment of female leadership, which has remained less common in orthodox African-American religious traditions.