Ghosts in Due West? Decide for Yourself

By Sue Kahrs

Every small hollow has its legends, its tales, and its whispers of things that go bump in the night. And this time of year, when pumpkins are lit, the leaves begin to fall and darkness spreads, stories of spooks make their way through the Erskine college dormitories.

Carnegie Hall Resident Director Ruth Burton, an expert on Erskine and Due West ghost tales, shares her stories with freshman girls and others about certain dark trails beneath beneath stately magnolia trees, and late-night sounds in empty concert halls.

Are the stories true? Burton just smiles and says,"Decide for yourself." Here are some of her favorite Erskine and Due West ghost stories:

THE GHOST OF MEMORIAL HALL

Memorial Hall was built in 1912, and its structure included a freestanding balcony that has since been replaced by supporting columns.

During one of the first performances given in Memorial, according to Burton, the overweighted balcony collapsed, injuring several people and killing a small girl from Donalds.

Burton says it is not clear what the little girl’s name was, but she was also said to be a vocalist.

And though she had never performed in Memorial, to this day, while walking around the concert hall late at night, Burton says you may hear a small voice singing…

Students have also reported that a chair in the audience remains in the down position, where the little girl is thought to watch over performances.

ROOM 51

In Carnegie Dormitory, a portrait that is hanging over the piano in the formal parlor is rumored to keep a close eye on those entering and leaving the building.

According to Burton, legend has it that a girl named Rosa was a Carnegie resident and Erskine student who was jilted by her fiancé, and jumped to her death from a third floor window of Room 51 in the dorm.

Fortunately, the legend of Room 51 is only a story composed by former Carnegie residents trying to scare the freshmen.

As the real story is told by Burton, Rosa was a servant woman who came to Erskine with a girl from McCormick in the early 1860s. Rosa was well thought of by all of the residents of Carnegie, as well as Erskine in general.

She became a favorite in the dorm, and looked after all of the girls as though she were in charge of them all.

When Rosa’s charge graduated from Erskine, Rosa remained in Due West, and died of natural causes. Rosa is said to be buried in the Due West A.R.P. Cemetery.

Many Carnegie residents have reported that doors will open mysteriously in the dorm.

Could it be that Rosa is still looking after her girls in Carnegie?

THE GHOST OF MAIN STREET

One of the first motorized vehicles in Due West was the ice wagon, which would provide Due West with refrigeration in the warmer months of the year.

One afternoon, a woman who lived in the house on Main Street, (the one across the street from the library, with the magnolia trees out front) was waiting for the ice wagon, and accidentally stepped in the street just as the wagon pulled up to her house.

She was killed in the accident, according to Burton. But some say they have seen the ghostly woman standing under her magnolias, wearing a white dress and hat.

True or not, these stories make for an interesting Halloween in Due West.