Conditions Governing Use

Collection is open for research use.

Custodial History

Collection donated to the Edgar Cayce Foundation by Babcoke's granddaughter Amy Morrissey Swartz in 2010.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item,] [date (if known)]; Lester Babcoke Collection, Coll. 3, box_, folder_, The Edgar Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

Lester E. Babcoke was born in Missouri on April 28, 1910 to Louis Eugene Babcoke and Maude Vernon Babcoke. He married Wilma "Billie" Orvetta Atkins and had two daughters, Marge and Patricia. Babcoke first wrote to the A.R.E. in 1953 after readings Gina Cerminara's book Many Mansions. According to Gladys Davis Turner, "He wrote us that the next day he went to a bookstore and bought everything he could find on Edgar Cayce and related material, saying that he had 'finally found something that made sense in regard to religious philosophy." (A.R.E. News, April 1983). He converted his garage into a lending library and amassed over 400 Cayce-related books. In 1958, he added the A.R.E. tape library, which he brought with him when the Babcoke family moved to Virginia Beach in 1967. Babcoke organized Hugh Lynn Cayce's first Phoenix, Arizona lecture in 1956. The following year, Babcoke introduced Hugh Lynn to William and Gladys McGarey, who later founded the A.R.E. clinic in Phoenix. The first Phoenix study group also formed in 1957. Lester and his wife Wilma held staff positions at the A.R.E. headquarters. Wilma managed the A.R.E. cafeteria kitchen, and Lester became a member of the board of trustees. Their daughters also worked at the A.R.E. Babcoke was deeply interested in the electronic and mechanical topics in the Cayce readings. He became an authority on the Radio-Active appliance, and worked with Edgar Evans Cayce and Marsden Godfrey to provide appliances to the A.R.E. clinic, notably for their multiple sclerosis research program. He gave lectures at A.R.E. on the work of P.D. Ouspensky and George Gurdjieff. During the 18 months just preceding the opening of A.R.E.'s Library/ Conference Center in 1975, Lester worked at designing and building its sound and recording system. He remained an active A.R.E. member until his death in Virginia Beach on January 9, 1983 at the age of 72.

Scope and Contents

This collection includes A.R.E. member and staff person Lester Babcoke's diagrams, notes, and research materials relating to mechanical and electronic topics in the Edgar Cayce readings and to the study of meditation and parapsychology.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by material type.