Is Point Park College Haunted?

Students, faculty agree

Published 10/30/97

While many people drive long distances to phony haunted houses made up of costumed monsters, fake mice and rubber bats, all a Point Park College student may have to do is either stay in one of the college's dorms or visit the nearby Playhouse for a scare not found in the price of an admission ticket.

In a season full of ghosts and goblins, Point Park has its own chapter in the book of supernatural sightings and happenings. Throughout the years, rumors of supernatural occurrences, including some with recognizable features, have been passed on by students and teachers alike. In a recent attempt to convene with the supernatural, six Point Park students entered the Playhouse of Point Park College on Halloween night last year. One of the students there, sophomore theatre major Erica Stickel, said that they tried to communicate with the undead in four different areas: the Bar, the Hamlet St. Stage, the Lillian Russell room and the Rockwell Stage.

Stickel said the seance at the Bar was unsuccessful. "The ghosts were just playing with us. Nothing came up in the Bar." Things weren't much better for the group at the Hamlet St. Stage because the Ouija board they were using wasn't able to get steady.

"The Lillian Russell Room is where everything seemed to happen," Stickel said. In the Lillian Russell Room, Stickel said that the group made contact with a six-year-old girl named Maria, who said she was lonely. After talking with Maria for some time through the Ouija board, the group asked Maria to show herself. However, when this was asked, Maria was cut off by another spirit called the "lady in white."

In an article published in last year's Pioneer magazine, the "lady in white" is believed to be a former performer at the Hamlet Street Theater in the 1930s. After apparently discovering that her husband was having an affair, she entered the bar dressed in white, (the bar used to be where part of the Playhouse stands today) and once she shot her husband and his mistress, she turned the gun on herself. She is believed to occupy the upstairs theater with gun in hand, reliving that fatal scene.

The "lady in white" continued her channeling with the group as they entered the Rockwell Stage for their final seance. While conversing with the "lady in white," Stickel said the ghost eventually wanted to talk to her directly and proceeded to spell out her last name on the Ouija board. "I wasn't touching the board, and out of the people who were there, nobody knew my last name," Stickel said.

As the "lady in white" began to spell her last name S-T-I-C.., Stickel said she grabbed the board and told everyone to stop playing.

"They say you should never 'disconnect' with the ghosts until the board says 'good-bye,' but at that point I was so freaked out. I couldn't take it," Stickel said. "All of that stuff freaks me out, but for some reason I'm drawn to that kind of stuff. It's scary, but for some reason you want to try it."

Asides from the ghosts with "faces" attached to them, it is believed there are other anonymous spirits that occupy the Playhouse. Dr. Shirley. Barasch, fine, applied and performing arts chair, said that many various spirits occupy other places in the Playhouse, such as in its bricks.

Barasch said that before the Rockwell Theater was constructed, there stood in its place the Tree of Life Synagogue, which moved to Squirrel Hill in the early '30s to make way for the theater. Also, there was an old house in front of the Hamlet Theater that was eventually connected with the theatre. After the joining, ghosts from the attic of that house were believed to reside in the Playhouse, Barasch said.

A recent incident of possible supernatural intervention occurred during last year's production of "Miracle Worker," a play about the life of Hellen Keller. During the scene where Keller, who is deaf and blind, discovers water, Barasch said that rainwater came through the roof during the scene.

Even though the "Lady in White" is said to carry a revolver, Barasch said the ghosts are of no threat to the students. In fact, the ghosts are "supportive" of the aspiring actors and actresses and visit them from time to time.

It is believed by those who study paranormal activities that if a spirit's residency is threatened, it will do things to hinder any further development that has been applied to its habitat. However, with the recent renovations of the Playhouse last summer, Barasch said that the spirits were happy that its place was tidied up. "You can hear their sighs of comfort," Barasch said. "There are times when I think when you look outside, you can see it (the Playhouse) smile."

The Playhouse isn't the only place at Point Park where supernatural sightings have occurred. In Lawrence hall, there has been rumored sightings of a former tenant's spirit. In 1967, Justice Michael Musmanno asked to stay after the college bought the Sherwin Hotel in 1967 and converted it to Lawrence hall. Musmanno stayed there until his death, and over the years he has reportedly been sighted by students roaming around Lawrence hall, according to John Leahy, journalism and communications professor.

The Point Park Library Center, which has been recently opened to the public, hasn't reported any signs of supernatural activity. But perhaps with all the new commotion going on in the Library Center, formally known as the Colonial Trust Building back in 1902, the possible spirits that have been dormant all these years might finally awaken to add fuel to the fire about whether or not there is supernatural existence at Point Park.

Caption: Could this be the "lady in white" or trick photography? You decide. Globe file photo.

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