Located at one of the oldest college campuses in the nation is a popular gathering spot where members of the community can enjoy live entertainment and events. This historic performing arts center has seen many talented actors and actresses take the stage, but there are also some malevolent spirits lurking in the shadows.
The Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall is one of the oldest and most haunted places on the campus of the College of William and Mary. If you love haunted historical tales, you need to schedule a trip with us here at Williamsburg Ghost Tour for a thrilling experience you will not soon forget.
Who Haunts Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall?
The arts and haunting tales seem to go hand in hand, as many ghosts and entities seem to be drawn to the excitement of live performances. This old memorial hall, dedicated to the Phi Beta Kappa society, is home to several ghosts who have an adoration for the theater and a penchant for disturbing the living.
The History of Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall
Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall, also referred to as PBK Memorial Hall, is the main performing arts complex at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA. It was one of the first buildings constructed for the campus, and at the time, it housed the largest auditorium at the school.
The building was completed in 1957 and replaced the former Phi Beta Kappa Hall which was destroyed in a fire in 1953. Since then, it has gone through several renovations and expansions. The hall was reopened after its most recent renovation in 2023 as a part of the campus’ new Arts Quarter.
The building includes several classrooms and venues dedicated to the school’s theatre and dance programs. The performance venues include the Glenn Close Theatre, named after one of the school’s most famous alumni, the Laboratory Theatre, the Studio Theatre, a dance studio, and a costume shop.
The PBK Memorial Hall has long been a gathering place for the community, serving as a venue for entertainment events like the William and Mary Charter Day ceremony, as well as political events such as the 1976 Presidential Debate between Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.
Current and former students of William and Mary have claimed the Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall is haunted. There have been many reports throughout the years of ghostly apparitions appearing in various locations within the hall. And according to these stories, most of the spirits do not like to be disturbed.
The Haunting of PBK Memorial Hall
Williamsburg is one of the oldest towns in the country, having been around since the colonial age. With that much history, it’s no wonder there are so many sites in this town with haunting tales and urban legends attached to them.
The College of William and Mary campus is home to multiple ghost stories, with many of them coming from the Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall.
While there have been several different spirits seen within the walls of this performing arts building, the two most notable include a former theatre student who never got her chance to grace the stage on opening night and one of the founders of the school’s theatre department who demands respect from the living.
The Ghost of Lucinda
In 1963, the theatre group was planning a production of the classic play, Our Town. Things were going well during practice until one evening, as opening night was getting closer, Lucinda, the lead actress, suffered from a fatal accident caused by equipment on her family’s farm while she was away from school on a break.
The theater department was shocked by the sudden loss, but they decided the show must go on. They asked the stage manager to step in for Lucinda and play the role of the main character, Emily. They noticed the wedding dress that Lucinda was supposed to wear during the play was missing and assumed that she had taken it home with her over the break.
The Return of Emily’s Wedding Dress
Late one night, after everyone had left the theater following practice, the stage manager was rehearsing her lines on stage. She was trying to catch up since she joined the production late and wanted to be fully prepared for opening night.
Out of nowhere, she saw a white figure in the very back of the dark theater. As she kept her eyes on it, the figure began floating above the seats and advanced toward the stage. As she got a closer look, the stage manager realized the mysterious figure was the missing wedding dress.
Quickly, she ran out of the room and left the building while trying to convince herself that it was all part of her imagination. The following day, the costume shop reported the dress had returned, but it was only ripped down the middle, which is the exact place where Lucinda was injured.
To this day, every wedding dress used as a costume for productions is kept in a separate location away from other costumes and props. The dresses remain hidden away in the back, secured by a lock. And there hasn’t been a performance of Our Town at the College of William and Mary ever since.
The Ghost of Miss Hunt
Althea Hunt was never referred to by her first name while she was alive, and she continues to demand that same respect in the afterlife, as students and staff members at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall always speak of her spirit as “Miss Hunt.”
Miss Hunt was the founder of the College of William and Mary’s theatre department, and she remains one of the most active spirits at PBK. She garners respect, and many people feel that she deserves it after everything she contributed to the theatre department while she was still alive.
Ultimately, Miss Hunt only wants theatre students to succeed. She likes to watch the final dress rehearsals of upcoming plays and musicals at the venue and is often seen watching from the balcony.
However, if you are disrespectful to the ghost of Miss Hunt, be prepared to suffer from misfortune. Theater students who didn’t heed the warning experienced bad luck such as snapped heels and ripped costumes. There have also been reports of lights in the theater bursting after someone failed to pay their respects to the entity.
If you do manage to make Miss Hunt angry, fortunately there is a simple solution. You can leave blue flowers in the dressing room on the opening night of the production.
The flowers serve as a thank you for the opportunity to learn from her and to perform on stage. Blue flowers are her favorite, and all will be forgiven just by carrying out this simple yet thoughtful gesture.
Ghostly Encounters at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall
It has been said there are some areas of the building that are safe spots for the living where the ghosts do not linger. Those areas include the side lobby and the theater’s design room. Other areas, however, like the main lobby and the balcony, are where the majority of encounters take place.
A Flirtatious Spirit
On the balcony, there is the spirit of a young woman who is known to be a promiscuous entity. She is often quite flirtatious with any males who sit in her space. She will make her presence known by making strange noises or causing doors to close when no one is around.
Staff members and students will tell you that this particular ghost will become agitated with the living as the clock gets closer to two in the morning. After that time, visitors are warned to tread lightly. And if you continue to stick around, you better be gone by 4 a.m. That is considered the worst time to be on the balcony.
Hauntings Near the Dressing Room
Some of the strangest dark energy and ghostly activity tends to occur downstairs past the side lobby, in the back near the costume hallway. The hall is lined with photographs of the department’s productions, with images dating back to the 1960s.
This area is next to the dressing rooms, which is where a lot of high emotional energy occurs during live productions as actors prepare to go on stage. Because of this, it is also a hotspot for spirits of the dead.
Students who are in that part of the building late at night say they hear strange noises, such as the rattling of chains and boxes falling off the shelves. Some have even seen shadowy figures lurking at the end of the hall.
Several students have also reported a malicious male ghost who roams the hallways behind the studio theatre. They call him the Hallway Man, and he will make noises and turn the lights on and off when students occupy his space late at night.
Haunted Williamsburg
It is common for cities as old as Williamsburg to have several old legends and ghost tales that have been passed down from one generation to the next. While it is difficult to say why Williamsburg seems to have such a high number of spirits and haunted locations, some believe it could be because the land the city was founded upon was once a sacred burial ground that belonged to the Powhatan tribe.
If you would like to learn more about the many haunted places in Williamsburg and the surrounding areas, you can keep up by checking out our blog. You can also schedule a tour with us here at Williamsburg Ghost Tour and visit some of the most haunting places in the state.
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Sources:
- https://www.wm.edu/as/theatre-performance/pbk/
- https://www.pbk.org/#:~:text=As%20America%27s%20most%20prestigious%20academic,liberal%20arts%20and%20sciences%20education.
- https://www.flathatmagazine.com/blog/in-defense-of-phi-betta-kappa-memorial-hall
- https://flathatnews.com/2017/10/30/rick-stevenson-ghost-article/