This Week in The Muhlenberg Weekly History: The History of Ghosts on Campus

“This Week in The Muhlenberg Weekly History” will bring to light past events, interesting articles, and forgotten aspects

of Muhlenberg history that The Weekly has covered throughout its rich 133 year history on campus.

On Saturday, Oct. 15, the Alumni Club of the Lehigh Valley sponsored a Haunted History Tour of Muhlenberg College. The tour, led by Special Collections and Archives Librarian Susan Falciani and myself, was attended by nearly 60 alumni and guests ready for a fun and frightful night. The stops included Brown, Seegers, Trumbower, Haas, Ettinger, East, Hoffman House, the Chapel, Wescoe School, and South. Here are some of the stories.

One of the most prominent Muhlenberg ghosts is that of Oscar Bernheim. Bernheim, Muhlenberg class of 1892 and past treasurer, is believed to have haunted his house before it was demolished to make room for Baker Theater as well as Robertson South. On Feb. 14, 1946, Bernheim suffered a heart attack in his living room, crawled up the stairs, and died in his bed. After his death, many different people and groups filled the space. One of these groups was honors women. The women that moved into his house would experience a hauntings by a “friendly ghost.” These happenings were strongest in Room 21, his old bedroom, and most hauntings also occurred around Valentine’s Day. There would go on to be many reports of strange happenings, such as sudden mood switches in the room, feeling like someone’s watching you, something in the corner of your eye disappearing, and foggy hazes. These hauntings lead students to conduct a séance on Feb. 13 and 14, 1972. On Feb. 14, 1973, three power failures occurred, only on those grounds, and when electricians assessed the system, nothing was wrong with the power.

In 1970, WMUH hosted a séance in Seegers, as a group of students used a candle’s flame to measure the presence of supernatural beings. At one point in the night, the candle flickered wildly one time, but never again. Two of the girls at the séance tried to comfort the spirit and invited it back to Walz. One girl went to take a quick nap and planned to wake up around 2 a.m. for late night studying; however, before setting the alarm, she fell asleep. At exactly 2 a.m., her radio turned on, with the WMUH radio station blaring. However, the kind of radio the girl had couldn’t be programed to turn on at a set time. The two girls thought it was the ghost thanking them for their hospitality earlier in the séance.

Not all of these hauntings affected just students: an unnamed faculty member in an off-campus apartment was believed to be home to multiple spirits. He reported seeing a woman with long brown hair dressed in white at the foot of his bed on many occasions. He heard knocks, whispers, footsteps, yells, and curtains move with no wind, and also saw a friend who had recently died walking out of his closet. As The Weekly reported, “sometimes his supernatural co-residents refuse to allow him to sleep.” One especially frightful night, he “discovered a disembodied head at the foot of the bed.” In 1973, students held a séance with the staff member in the apartment, during which they saw curtains move and felt strong breezes; however, all windows and doors were closed. Even after repeated attempts to expel the spirits, the staff member still stayed in the apartment. Sadly, it was not noted who he was or exactly where he lived.

The next haunted house is Brown Hall. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, there were many reports of an old man hanging out by the fireplace and couches in the second floor lounge. After the lounge was transformed into a room, he disappeared. Some claimed to have seen him in the attic, but many believed he was gone for good. A couple years later, two students heard a noise and went in the hall to investigate. The two women saw a “white, cloud-like form ‘floating’ in the first floor hallway outside of Room 128.” When they walked through it, they felt “a weird sensation of cold and oppression.” That seems to be the last mention of the old man in Brown. However, there is the more contemporary tale of Ingrid. Ingrid, a relatively friendly ghost, is believed to only bother you if you have boys sleep over. She is believed to have died falling down an elevator shaft in Brown, but seeing as Brown currently has no elevator, this is hard to believe. However, upon visiting the attic of Brown while planning the tour, an elevator shaft was found from the building’s original construction.

Our final story takes place in South Hall. The story of South’s hauntings starts much like this article: with Oscar Bernheim. Bernheim’s wife had a large rose garden behind the house that they were both very proud of, and rumor has it that in his will, Bernheim asked that it remain untouched. However, if that was true, Muhlenberg clearly didn’t listen. Many believe that the Hoffman House was torn down to make room for South Hall. Research for the tour showed that his house was not on the same grounds as South, but his wife’s rose garden might have been. The strangest case of an Oscar Bernheim haunting is from 2002, as students living in Suite 401 reported multiple cases of ghostly happenings: thermostat plummeting wildly, electronics turning on and off, objects moving, and cloudy hazes appearing. The haunting became so strong that the students began seeing a fully formed man that would talk to them on occasion. This case became so large that ORS had to contact the “campus religious authorities to remedy the situation.” Not all of the students in the suite were terrorized as much as the others. Through their own research, they might have figured out why. The one girl who was not affected by Oscar’s presence had a rose-themed room, complete with rose patterned bedspread and flower decorations. To this day, it is believed that keeping a healthy potted plant in your room is the best way to ward off the Bernheim spirits.

As you can see, Muhlenberg isn’t home to just current students, faculty and staff. Some Mules of the past might still be lurking around campus, refusing to leave their precious Muhlenbubble.