MARY BALDWIN UNIVERSITY HAUNTINGS Administration Building There is a long, long list of paranormal and haunting experiences from Mary Baldwin University. One of the most noted occurred in the Administration Building on the corner of Frederick and New Street back in the 1980s. One night a secretary was alone in the basement of the building and was working late organizing files and folders when she was abruptly alerted to the sound of a door slamming. She proceeded to hear the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. She called out, "Who's there", thinking it was a staff employee or teacher. There was no reply. She called out a second time with no reply. She immediately walked out of her office and down the hall to see who was in the building. She made a left turn down another hallway, when suddenly at the end of the hallway she spotted a union soldier from the waist up. He looked rough and tattered, was wearing a blue unbuttoned officer's jacket with a blue cap. He had no legs, at least none that she could see. They made eye contact, she screamed and he disappeared immediately. The secretary was terrified. She gathered her belongings and made a rapid exit from the building that evening. The soldier was described as being solid in appearance from the top up, the secretary noticed the gold buttons on his jacket. There is another report that there is a staff lounge in the basement of the Adminstration Building, where teachers and staff will take their lunch and breaks. Many will enjoy the news or soap operas on televison while having lunch. The lounge contains one wicker chair that often is unoccupied during lunch and breaks. There have been several situations where some staff has witnessed the sound of this empty wicker chair creaking and cracking as if someone were attempting to sit in it. One staff worker witnessed a cushion in the seat of the chair move and show the imprint as if someone is sitting on it. Apparently it has happened so many times that the staff now leaves this chair unoccupied. Teachers and staff workers believe the individual that sits in this chair is the union soldier that was witnessed in basement. They have affectionately decided to name this soldier Richard. So needless to say, the wicker chair in the lounge is now officially reserved for Richard. Other weird experiences have occurred in the basement as well as on the first floor. A new printer in one of the first floor offices began to mysteriously malfunction and not print. The printer would just freeze. A repair man was called to service the equipment. After servicing the equipment, it would operate as intended. The repair man would leave and no more then get into his van parked on New Street, when the printer would malfunction again and he would have to be called back to repair it. This scenario would play out 3-4 times before the staff employee would yell out, "Richard! Would you leave the printer alone, please!" There were no more occurrences with the printer from that point on. There have been additional experiences in the Administration Building. Employees have witnessed objects move on their own accord, objects disappear and reappear somewhere else later, even paperwork that has levitated, float and hover in mid air, only to suddenly and quickly drop to the floor. All of these events have occurred in the Administration Building and all of them, every single one has been attributed to poor Richard. The staff enjoys and likes their resident union soldier ghost. They all believe Richard to be mischievous and playful. But one may wonder, what would a union soldier be doing on campus? Perhaps he may be from a search party in 1864, someone who really enjoyed that part of his life and his visit to Augusta Female Seminary. There is one other report from the Administration Building that occurred several years ago. One night a security officer while doing his normal security patrol through the building was walking down a hall on the first floor when he turned the corner and witnessed what he described as a white, semi-transparent mist at the end of the hallway. It slowly materialized into the thin figure of a woman in a gown just hovering by the window. The guard slowly kept his composure, turned around and immediately made an exit from the building. After a few more personanl experiences, the security officer would find another line of employment. ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCES Another security officer was patrolling a building that contained the campus swimming pool very late one Saturday evening. As he walked by the room where this swimming pool was located, he heard what sounded like someone jump off the diving board and a big splash into the water. Thinking he had busted someone taking a late night swim in the pool during hours when it should be closed, he immediately unlocked the door and entered the room. To his amazement he discovered no signs of activity in the water, in the pool room, in the locker rooms. There was no movment of the water, no water on the concrete outside the pool, absolutely no signs of activity. The officer would go on to document this in his nightly report. Another story revolves around one of the buildings that housed students on campus. One student reported her dorm room had several unusual, unexplained events occur. She would notice that pictures that would hung on the wall would be found often on the floor. The same would occur with a certain mirror, found on the floor. Picture frames on shelves and on her bedstand would often be discovered facedown. This student would eventually discover that her dorm room was actually the former office of Mary Julie Baldwin. It was also said though there is no actual documentation or proof of such that Mary Baldwin forbid students have mirrors in their campus living quarters. It was also stated that Baldwin would allow very few photographs in living quarters as well. Baldwin's focus was that students devote their full attention to their studies. Again, there is no proof of this occurring but it does make you wonder, what if any of this were true about Mary Baldwin and these rules? This student also discovered several very small handprints on the door to her dorm room. Small handprints believed to be that of a young child. To make matters a little more unnerving, the handprints were discovered on the inside of the door from within the room. The student would clean the door, only to discover the handprints appear some time later. Another student living in this same room had a very scary experience one night. She was abruptly awaken late one night to see a dark form, human shape figure on top of her holding her down by her wrists. She felt a heavy pressure upon her chest and she could feel the breath of whatever was holding her down upon her face. She screamed several times and it slowly dissipated before her very eyes. She immediately requested another dorm room. Noises above this particular room that come from the attic have been reported on various occasions. The sound of someone moving furniture, dragging items across the floor, the lifting and dropping of heavy objects. An interesting note, the attic was used for storage of Mary Baldwin's belongings, furniture and more. CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS ON CAMPUS There have been reports from numerous students that have actually witnessed ragged, tattered confederate soldiers on campus. Often described as semi-transparent, some of these soldiers have been sighted on the campus grounds and in door rooms. Most of these reports come from an area close to the old Staunton Military Academy. There has also been reports from female students that state they have been touched, pinched or had their hair pulled or tugged at. This would stand to reason that there were indeed some confederate soldiers that may have hid on the campus ground to avoid capture of the invading union army in 1864 and 1865. TALLULAH BANKHEAD Some students have experienced what they believe is the ghost of Tallulah Bankhead in the auditorium on campus. There have been sightings during activity rehearsals in the auditorium of a lady sitting in the very back row of seats dressed in 1920-30s clothing. Interesting to note that the group of student performers on stage at the time of this occurence, some will see her clearly while others can not see her at all. Those students that do see her describe her as resembling Tallulah Bankhead. When the seated lady is approached, she instantly disappears. One night, a few students gathered in a dorm room on campus to conduct a seance to contact Tallulah. About half way through the seance, the group of students heard what sounded like a cabinet crash to the floor with dishes breaking in the very next room beside them, the kitchen. The students immediately rushed into the next room fearing the worst, only to discover nothing out of place. No cabinets on the floor, no broken dishes, nothing out of the ordinary. Was it their imagination? Clearly they all heard the same sound coming from the kitchen but yet nosignsofwhattheyanticipatedtheywouldfind

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