It's not many college campuses these days that are complete with their own cemetery. Sunnyside is a small cemetery in a wooded corner of the Mills campus where Cyrus and Susan Mills, her sister, Jane Cordelia Tolman, Hettie Belle Ege, and Fannie Anna Madison (Seminary Class of 1897), are buried.
With a cemetery on campus, you almost have to expect a few hauntings....
Lisser Hall Carriage Ghost (Ethel Moore and Mary Morse) The Date Ghost (Orchard Meadow) Ethel Moore Hall The Music Building Mary Morse Hall (& more still to come!) (Those stories in green were submitted by readers. All others are those known by the site's author.)
The only ghost at Mills that I can vouch for myself is the ghost that walks the stage of Lisser Hall, the campus theatre. Some say that it is Louis Lisser, a music teacher from the College's early years that haunts the building bearing his name. Others hold to the notion that it is Susan Mills herself that paces the stage. Though the building has undergone several renovations and has been actually turned end for end at one point (the main entrance used to face what is now Lucie Stern instead of facing the new Library as it does now) it is said that one of the first uses for the hall was Mills' laying-in-state. Thus, logic holds, her spirit simply remained at the theatre after her body was buried at Sunnyside.
I can't say why, but I've always been of the opinion that it is Susan Mills that haunts the theatre. I supposed I grew up always hearing people call the ghost Susan, and so it stuck in my head.
It is an undeniable truth to many of those who have worked in the theatre over the years that some one, be it Louis Lisser or Susan Mills, does still occupy the building. There are rumors of occasional incidents throughout the theatre, even those built long after the deaths of both Mills and Lisser, but it is the stage itself that is the focus of most of the haunting.
Though I personally know of no one who has actually seen the ghost, I know of many who have heard her. I myself heard Susan countless times over the 27+ years I was on campus and in the theatre regularly. I don't ever recall being scared by the ghost, but I will say that when the sound of footsteps began to pace the length of the stage, it usually was time to take a break or at least find a task elsewhere. Not feeling threatened by the ghost is not nearly the same thing as not feeling uncomfortable by her presence.
For her part, Susan simply walks from one side of the stage to the other and back. Now that I think about it I can't recall if it is the sound of the footsteps themselves I have heard or simply their pressure on the creaky wood stage. In either case, it is clear that some one is walking past you! She usually takes her strolls in the late evening, though I have been aware of her in the day as well. The footsteps can be heard immediately below the stage, in the scene shop, as well. She paces the stage for a time and then as abruptly as they started, the footsteps stop again. Susan has moved on for the night.
Though I know of no one who claims to have actually seen the "carriage ghost" I have heard the story enough times to consider it worthy of repeating here.
Behind the Mary Morse and Ethel Moore residence halls runs a road used mostly as a service path for college vehicles. On one side is the hill that leads up to the halls and on the other side of the road is drop off down to a wooded area below.
According to the story, on very blustery nights a lone horse-drawn carriage rides down the road only to loose control and slip over the edge and down the hill before vanishing completely. This scene repeats itself over and over again to those watching from their windows above. No one knows who is in the carriage or where it is going or when this accident might have actually happened.
Countless times I have walked the road at night. I walked it on clear nights and I walked it on miserable nights and each time I half wanted to see the carriage and half wanted not to. Each time, I saw nothing.
But that's just me..
I recall hearing first hand accounts of the ghost that waits on the steps of Orchard-Meadow hall. In each instance, a young woman is seen on the steps and appears to be waiting for some one, perhaps a date, perhaps a ride from a friend. Usually, those who see her think nothing of it at first and simply walk past. Only after they get inside do they turn to see who she is and if they recognize her as some one who lives in the building. When they turn to look, she is gone. Perhaps she was picked up before they turned, they think. Perhaps she walked away.Soon however other people have the same experience with the same woman in the same location. That's when they realize they have seen a ghost..or at least a very patient woman. To my knowledge, she has been waiting there for at least 30 years!
If you've ever been to Ethel Moore, you know it can be a bit foreboding just by itself. It is large with many turns in the hallways and it can feel somewhat isolated from the main campus, especially at night. The opening of Mary Morse to Freshwomen and the construction of the Prospect Hill apartments in recent years have helped, but not completely.
There are at least two ghosts that are rumored to reside in Ethel Moore. The first is often thought to be Ms. Moore herself. Those who believe they have seen her or felt her presence are most aware of her in the hall's library, a dark but beautiful wood room. While there are those who claim to have actually seen her in the library, most are more aware of her as an invisible prankster who turns pages, moves books and ruffles papers.
The second ghost in Ethel Moore is definitely seen more than felt. In one of the long hallways, many women have passed a fellow student as they walked. Only after passing did they realize that her clothes are a bit out of date. When they turn to take a second look, the woman has vanished. No doors were heard to open or close and not enough time has passed for her to have walked the length of the hallway and gone elsewhere.
The Music building is one of the most beautiful places in all of the campus. From the main performance hall with its murals to the beautiful patio outside of the ensemble room (and the long ignored fountain behind the building near the base of the Greek Theatre) it is simply a treasure.
It is also frequently filled with the sounds of students and their music. The sounds echo through the building, buoyed by the stone floors and thick walls. And sometimes I'm told, the music fills the halls even when its player can not be found. At the far end of the building are a series of practice and rehearsal rooms and as the story goes, one of them is always "in use." I've never heard of anyone seeing a ghost or feeling a ghost, only of the music playing and upon further inspection all of the rooms being empty.
Like every Mills alumna I have heard numerous (ghost) stories. The most reliable one I have heard is this:It happened in the April of 1996. Mary Morse was the dormitory for foreign students studying English (EF students) then. I know this male student from Taiwan personally. One night he and his European roommate fell asleep on their separate beds without turning the lights off. In the middle of the night, both of them awoke and were surprised to see a man sitting at the desk reading a newspaper. When the man noticed the two student's gaze, he dropped the newspaper, stood up, and exited the room by WALKING THROUGH THE WALL!
Everyone at Mary Morse was talking about it the next day and I had confirmed the information with the Taiwan student. Neither of them had had any alcoholic drinks that night and both of them saw the same thing.
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