Red Lady of Huntingdon College
Encyclopedia
The Red Lady of Huntingdon College is a ghost
said to haunt the former Pratt Hall dormitory at Huntingdon College
in Montgomery, Alabama
. Her story is told in Huntingdon alumnus Kathryn Tucker Windham
's book 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey
.
. She was described as a young woman wearing a scarlet dress and carrying a scarlet parasol who walked wordlessly up and down the halls of a women's dormitory
late one night, bathed in a red glow. This apparition, according to Windham, ultimately left the residence hall and disappeared from view as she passed through a gateway outside. The alleged identity or origin of this wraith has never been determined, and she was apparently never seen again.
named Martha (according to Windham) or Margaret (according to another source; no last name for this alleged person has ever been offered) who had reluctantly come to Huntingdon from New York, because her father's mother had attended Huntingdon when it was in Tuskegee, and his will specified that she must attend his mother's alma mater
. Martha did not especially want to come to Alabama
, but her father's fortune was large and she knew his deep love for his home state. Martha, according to the legend, was dressed in red when she arrived, and she brought with her red draperies for her windows and a red spread for her bed together with other accessories of the same color. Although many of her fellow students asked her to explain her apparent obsession with the color red, Martha always demurred.
for disdain. Martha sat alone and apart from them in the dining hall, and seldom spoke to her roommate. When other girls (Huntingdon was an all-female institution at this time) dropped in to visit, she seemed so cold and unfriendly that they eventually stopped coming. Truthfully, many of them had only come out of curiosity to see the red prayer rug Martha had bought in Turkey
and the odd little red figurines on her bookshelves.
Martha's roommate, according to Windham's story, ultimately found the situation unbearable and asked the housemother if she could move out. The housemother granted this request and put someone else in the room with Martha, who became increasingly aloof and irritable. This second girl also left her after only a week. This procedure happened again and again as one roommate after another found it impossible to live with the surly girl. At last the president of the dormitory, who was known for her ability to get along with everybody, moved in with Martha and did everything she could to make friends with her, but all efforts were futile. Martha had become embittered as well as withdrawn, and she seemed to resent the presence of this kindhearted girl.
After all her efforts at friendship had failed and after she found herself growing depressed and despondent, the dormitory president packed her belongings and prepared to leave. Just as she was about to go, Martha, who had not known of her imminent departure, returned to the room. With a look of defiance she said (according to Windham's story), "So you couldn't stand me either - like all the rest of your stuck up friends. I was beginning to think you really wanted me to be your friend but you hate me just like the rest. Well, I'm glad to be rid of you! Take your things and go! But I'll tell you one thing, my dear: for the rest of your life you'll regret leaving this room." The house president was disturbed by this bitter outburst but in the midst of her many activities she soon forgot about Martha's prophetic words.
Later, Martha's behavior allegedly became even more strange: She would wait until the lights were out, and then she would visit one dormitory after another, never saying a word but staring into space as if she were in a trance
. As time passed, she took to walking up and down the halls during the darkest hours of the night. Often she would alarm the girls by opening and closing their doors, then hurrying away to resume her pitiful promenade.
. Opening the door, she screamed and fainted. Girls from all over the fourth floor of Pratt rushed from their rooms to see what was wrong. Martha, or so the story goes, was found on the floor of her room, dressed in her red robe and draped in her red bedspread, having committed suicide
by slashing her wrists.
This happened "a long time ago", according to Windham, but students at Huntingdon have alleged that on the date of Martha's suicide each year rays of crimson light flash down from the transom of her room, and the Red Lady returns to haunt the corridors of Pratt Hall. Students have allegedly reported seeing Martha's ghost on Pratt Hall's fourth floor, claiming to have seen it pass through walls or closed doors. Today, Pratt Hall has been converted from a dormatory to the college's Department of Education and Psychology.
, Phi Mu
, and Alpha Omicron Pi
sororities at Huntingdon take part in "The Red Lady Run," painting their faces, wearing all black, and running around the campus.
known as "Frank the Library Ghost".
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
said to haunt the former Pratt Hall dormitory at Huntingdon College
Huntingdon College
Huntingdon College, founded in 1854, is a coeducational liberal arts college in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. Related to the United Methodist Church, the college's central hallmarks are faith, wisdom, and service. The college is known for providing a solid academic experience based on good...
in Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
. Her story is told in Huntingdon alumnus Kathryn Tucker Windham
Kathryn Tucker Windham
Kathryn Tucker Windham was an American storyteller, author, photographer, and journalist. She was born in Selma, Alabama and grew up in nearby Thomasville....
's book 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey
13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey
13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey is a book first published in 1969 by folklorist Kathryn Tucker Windham and Margaret Gillis Figh. The book contains thirteen ghost stories from the U.S. state of Alabama. The book was the first in a series of seven Jeffrey books, most featuring ghost stories from a...
.
The first "Red Lady"
According to Windham and historian Daniel Barefoot, there have actually been two ghosts alleged to have haunted Huntingdon College. The first appeared in the late nineteenth century, while the college was still located in the town of Tuskegee, AlabamaTuskegee, Alabama
Tuskegee is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 11,846 and is designated a Micropolitan Statistical Area. Tuskegee has been an important site in various stages of African American history....
. She was described as a young woman wearing a scarlet dress and carrying a scarlet parasol who walked wordlessly up and down the halls of a women's dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
late one night, bathed in a red glow. This apparition, according to Windham, ultimately left the residence hall and disappeared from view as she passed through a gateway outside. The alleged identity or origin of this wraith has never been determined, and she was apparently never seen again.
Martha arrives at Huntingdon
The second Red Lady, according to Windham, was a former studentStudent
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
named Martha (according to Windham) or Margaret (according to another source; no last name for this alleged person has ever been offered) who had reluctantly come to Huntingdon from New York, because her father's mother had attended Huntingdon when it was in Tuskegee, and his will specified that she must attend his mother's alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
. Martha did not especially want to come to Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, but her father's fortune was large and she knew his deep love for his home state. Martha, according to the legend, was dressed in red when she arrived, and she brought with her red draperies for her windows and a red spread for her bed together with other accessories of the same color. Although many of her fellow students asked her to explain her apparent obsession with the color red, Martha always demurred.
Coping problems
Being a stranger and shy, as well as unhappy in her unfamiliar surroundings, Martha could not make friends among the students. They sensed that she was different from them, and having heard she was wealthy, they mistook her shynessShyness
In humans, shyness is a social psychology term used to describe the feeling of apprehension, lack of comfort, or awkwardness experienced when a person is in proximity to, approaching, or being approached by other people, especially in new situations or with unfamiliar people...
for disdain. Martha sat alone and apart from them in the dining hall, and seldom spoke to her roommate. When other girls (Huntingdon was an all-female institution at this time) dropped in to visit, she seemed so cold and unfriendly that they eventually stopped coming. Truthfully, many of them had only come out of curiosity to see the red prayer rug Martha had bought in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and the odd little red figurines on her bookshelves.
Martha's roommate, according to Windham's story, ultimately found the situation unbearable and asked the housemother if she could move out. The housemother granted this request and put someone else in the room with Martha, who became increasingly aloof and irritable. This second girl also left her after only a week. This procedure happened again and again as one roommate after another found it impossible to live with the surly girl. At last the president of the dormitory, who was known for her ability to get along with everybody, moved in with Martha and did everything she could to make friends with her, but all efforts were futile. Martha had become embittered as well as withdrawn, and she seemed to resent the presence of this kindhearted girl.
After all her efforts at friendship had failed and after she found herself growing depressed and despondent, the dormitory president packed her belongings and prepared to leave. Just as she was about to go, Martha, who had not known of her imminent departure, returned to the room. With a look of defiance she said (according to Windham's story), "So you couldn't stand me either - like all the rest of your stuck up friends. I was beginning to think you really wanted me to be your friend but you hate me just like the rest. Well, I'm glad to be rid of you! Take your things and go! But I'll tell you one thing, my dear: for the rest of your life you'll regret leaving this room." The house president was disturbed by this bitter outburst but in the midst of her many activities she soon forgot about Martha's prophetic words.
Odd behavior
The sad girl, abandoned by the one person she had believed to be her only friend, allegedly formed the habit of wandering into rooms where the other girls were congregating, but her presence cast a chill upon the groups and they would soon find flimsy excuses for leaving her alone. Then, with a feeling of alienation from all humankind, she would return to her solitary sleeping quarters, where she would wrap herself in her red bedspread and retreat from the whole world.Later, Martha's behavior allegedly became even more strange: She would wait until the lights were out, and then she would visit one dormitory after another, never saying a word but staring into space as if she were in a trance
Trance
Trance denotes a variety of processes, ecstasy, techniques, modalities and states of mind, awareness and consciousness. Trance states may occur involuntarily and unbidden.The term trance may be associated with meditation, magic, flow, and prayer...
. As time passed, she took to walking up and down the halls during the darkest hours of the night. Often she would alarm the girls by opening and closing their doors, then hurrying away to resume her pitiful promenade.
Suicide and alleged ghostly activities
One evening after Martha had not appeared for classes or meals all day, her former roommate, the dormitory president, had a guilty feeling and decided to go see her, thinking that this time she might be able to help Martha in some way. As she neared Martha's room at an isolated corridor at the top floor of the building, she is said to have noticed flashes of red shooting out into the corridor from the room's transomTransom
Transom may refer to:* Transom , a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window* Transom , one of the beams running athwart the ship's hull at the fashion timbers or the surface that forms the flat back panel of a stern of a vessel* Operation Transom, a major bombing raid* Transom knot,...
. Opening the door, she screamed and fainted. Girls from all over the fourth floor of Pratt rushed from their rooms to see what was wrong. Martha, or so the story goes, was found on the floor of her room, dressed in her red robe and draped in her red bedspread, having committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by slashing her wrists.
This happened "a long time ago", according to Windham, but students at Huntingdon have alleged that on the date of Martha's suicide each year rays of crimson light flash down from the transom of her room, and the Red Lady returns to haunt the corridors of Pratt Hall. Students have allegedly reported seeing Martha's ghost on Pratt Hall's fourth floor, claiming to have seen it pass through walls or closed doors. Today, Pratt Hall has been converted from a dormatory to the college's Department of Education and Psychology.
Commemoration
In October every year, the Chi OmegaChi Omega
Chi Omega is a women's fraternity and the largest member of the National Panhellenic Conference. Chi Omega has 174 active collegiate chapters and over 230 alumnae chapters. Chi Omega's national headquarters is located in Memphis, Tennessee....
, Phi Mu
Phi Mu
Phi Mu is the second oldest female fraternal organization established in the United States. It was founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. The organization was founded as the Philomathean Society on January 4, 1852, and was announced publicly on March 4 of the same year...
, and Alpha Omicron Pi
Alpha Omicron Pi
Alpha Omicron Pi is an international women's fraternity promoting friendship for a lifetime, inspiring academic excellence and lifelong learning, and developing leadership skills through service to the Fraternity and community. ΑΟΠ was founded on January 2, 1897 at Barnard College on the campus...
sororities at Huntingdon take part in "The Red Lady Run," painting their faces, wearing all black, and running around the campus.
Other alleged ghosts
In addition to the Red Lady, Huntingdon College is allegedly haunted by the restless spirit of a young male student who supposedly shot himself on the college green sometime during the 1970s after being jilted by a former girlfriend. Students have allegedly reported feeling unseen forces tugging on their clothes as they walk across the green at night, or mussing their hair, or blowing in their ears. Other spirits alleged to haunt portions of the Huntingdon campus include those of a murdered co-ed, a young boy who allegedly drowned in the college pond, a female student clad only in a towel, and a poltergeistPoltergeist
A poltergeist is a paranormal phenomenon which consists of events alluding to the manifestation of an imperceptible entity. Such manifestation typically includes inanimate objects moving or being thrown about, sentient noises and, on some occasions, physical attacks on those witnessing the...
known as "Frank the Library Ghost".
Further reading
- Barefoot, Daniel: Haunted Halls of Ivy: The Red Lady, pp. 11–15.