The JKM Library Blog

October 2022

A chill has finally settled over Chatham University beckoning in sweaters and pumpkins. Some people revolve their entire year around this season, some will mourn the end of 70-degree days and green trees. No matter which category you fall into, JKM carries DVDs for all attitudes during the Halloween season. Thinking DVDs might be a little retro to compete with all of the streaming platforms out there? These are guaranteed to always be available, while movies come and go off of Netflix and HBO. Didn’t bring a DVD player because… why would you? We have you covered there too, with DVD players that plug into your laptop and TV that with the JKM’s Movie Collection can be checked out with your Chatham ID. Now on with the horror! (And not-so-horrific) For the Classic Jump Scare Modern Horror Fans The Conjuring (2013)- If you’re a horror fan then I’m sure you’ve ticked this one off of your list a long time ago. This 2013 film is classic secluded house horror, where the living just won’t leave the paranormal alone. If you like this one, you’re in luck because there is a whole universe that follows the characters introduced. Movies like Annabelle and Insidious can be linked back to the plot of The Conjuring. The Theater Major Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)- If you’re a fan of Halloween then there is no point in even suggesting this one. A timeless cult classic, this is the only time I would recommend looking beyond the library and seeing if you can catch a live show somewhere around the city. From the catchy songs to Tim Curry as Frank-N-Furter, there is something about the original movie that will capture you every Halloween. Bite-size Horror The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Episodes (Various seasons)- Let’s face it, sometimes we just don’t have the time or attention span to watch over an hour of gripping horror. And while you might not think of turning to The Simpsons for a scare, Treehouse of Horror has become a Halloween staple in my home. Filled with classic creepy cliché and tons of pop culture references these are sure to get the Halloween vibes going for any level of horror fan. The Anti-Halloween Academic To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)- Maybe you aren’t a fan of ghosts, killers, or witches and prefer to spend your time watching classic films and reading novels. While To Kill a Mockingbird might seem a little random on this list, the costumed climax of the film along with the southern gothic feel is why I would recommend it to someone who isn’t a fan of the typical horror genre. The Horror Expert Get Out (2017)- This movie caused quite a stir when it was released and for good reason. Jordan Peele’s Get Out is horrifying for its cinematography and social commentary on race relations in America. Psychologically, this movie will have you on the edge of your seat the entire time and might have the best twist in a movie that will come in our generation. HTV Mom Vibes Practical Magic (1998)- Dreaming of spending a Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts? Practical Magic will help you achieve that in your living room. A little bit of rom-com, a little bit witchy, and a lot of crazy, it’s required to have a midnight margarita or mocktail to sip on while this plays. These are far from the only options you can find for a Halloween Movie Marathon, so make sure you stop by the JKM to browse the rest of our media collection. Make sure you have a safe and spooky Halloween season, Cougars! 

McKenna DiRienzo is a senior communications student at Chatham. When she’s not working at the library, she likes walking through Schenley, finding the best bagels in Pittsburgh, or catching up on classic horror movies. 

December 2021

The JKM Library is honoring the cultures and history of Native Americans through a book display. Native American and Indigenous Peoples’ Heritage Month may have already passed (please take a look at our related resources page), but we should continue to reflect on the past, present, and future of these communities and their relationship to of the United States of America: how Indigenous people were colonized, how they were almost decimated, and how they are still oppressed. We recognize that we occupy the unceded, ancestral land of many Indigenous peoples, including the Delaware, the Shawnee, and the Seneca Nation, who were members of the Haudenosaunee (hoe-dee-no-SHOW-nee) Confederacy. As recently as the 1960s, nearly one-third of the Seneca’s tribal lands were taken by the U.S. government to build the Kinzua Dam northeast of the Pittsburgh (for more on land acknowledgments, see this handout). Located in the first floor, the display offers a curated selection of more than 40 books with an interdisciplinary focus, ranging from literature and history to environmental studies. Part of our goal is to make these resources more visible, which often remain hidden in the stacks. In addition, we wanted to center texts by Indigenous voices. In the case of books by non-Native American authors, we have tried to include works that are inclusive in their approach and do not reproduce problematic stereotypes. For instance, we excluded a critically acclaimed book, S.C. Gwynne’s Empire of the Summer Moon, because of its description of the Comanches as “primitive” and “barbarian.” Such language harks back to the racist discourse of past centuries, but the book was published only ten years ago and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. We also did not choose to share most of our Native American art books because they perpetuate the colonialist idea that Indigenous cultures are to be collected by white institutions without any attention to Native American perspectives. It is therefore urgent to share correctives to these narratives, especially from the perspective of institutions like ours, which not only occupy unceded land but also play a role in the formation of collective memory. In addition, the library’s DVD collection does not include any films directed by Native Americans except for Reel Injun, a documentary about the depiction of indigeneity in Hollywood movies, which is part of the display. We hope to be adding more items to our collection that reflect these concerns. We invite everyone to experience the exhibit and check out any books that might interest you. Some books that we would like to highlight because of their importance for Native American history and cultures are: Roxane Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (history) Two-Spirit People: Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality (gender and sexuality) Natalie Diaz, When My Brother Was an Aztec (poetry) Cherie Dimaline, The Marrow Thieves (fiction) The Book of Elders: the life Stories of Great American Indians (testimony) Terese Marie Mailhot, Heart Berries (memoir) Native Americans and the Environment: Perspectives on the Ecological Indian (environmental studies) David J. Silverman, This Land is their Land: the Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled history of Thanksgiving (history) Sean Sherman, The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen (cooking)
~Khalila Chaar-Pérez (she/they) is Reference Associate at the JKM Library and also works at the People’s Media Record, a grassroots video archive in Philly. She’s a proud trans Puerto Rican committed to cultivating transformative justice, antiracism, and a world without capitalism. She is also an avid hiker, a film nerd, and a trekkie. 

September 2021

The JKM Library is excited to be working with CAB and the University Archives on an event this coming October 14th for National Dessert Day. The event will include fall and Halloween themed dessert snacks, the screening of short film “Chatham University Ghost Stories,” directed by student Tess Weaver, the telling of a recent ghostly encounter on campus, and readings from award-winning local horror authors. The University Archives will also have items from Chatham’s past that connect back to popular ghost stories on campus.
The event is from 7:00pm-9:00pm on Thursday, October 14th in the Carriage House. Registration is not required.
Below is the lineup for the evening. Keep scrolling to read bios and find links to our guest authors.

• 7:00pm- Welcome, mingle, view the archive materials
• 7:20pm- Nelson Pyles
• 7:40pm- Sara Tantlinger
• 8:00pm- Video of ghost stories
• 8:15pm- An Occurrence at Thomson House (told by Jocelyn Codner) 
• 8:20pm- Douglas Gwilym
• 8:40pm- Michael A. Arnzen

Sara Tantlinger is the author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning The Devil’s Dreamland: Poetry Inspired by H.H. Holmes, and the Stokernominated works To Be Devoured, Cradleland of Parasites, and Not All Monsters. Along with being a mentor for the HWA Mentorship Program, she is also a co-organizer for the HWA Pittsburgh Chapter. She embraces all things macabre and can be found lurking in graveyards or on Twitter @SaraTantlinger, at saratantlinger.com and on Instagram @inkychaotics.
Nelson Pyles is the critically acclaimed author of the novels Spiders in the Daffodils and Demons, Dolls, & Milkshakes, a collection of short works entitled Everything Here is a Nightmare, as well as multiple short stories in various anthologies. His work has appeared alongside Harlan Ellison, F Paul Wilson, Tim Waggoner, Michael Arnzen, Jonathan Maberry, and Jack Ketchum. His next collection of short stories All These Steps Lead Down will be available in 2022
Nelson is the creator of The Wicked Library, a horror fiction podcast, where he also served as host for seasons 1-5, and collaborated as Executive Producer for seasons 6-10. He has also been a contributing writer to the popular audio-drama podcast, The Lift. Nelson is also an audiobook narrator and stunt vocalist for the progressive rock band, Novus.
Douglas Gwilym is a writer and editor who has also been known to compose a weird-fiction rock opera or two. If you aren’t lucky enough to have caught him performing his stories and music at venues around Pittsburgh, you can find him at douglasgwilym.bandcamp.com or follow him on twitter at @douglasgwilym. Check out his Amazon page. Befriend him on facebook.
Michael Arnzen is the four-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the novels Grave Markings and Play Dead. Arnzen teaches fulltime in the MFA in Writing Popular Fiction program at Seton Hill University, in Greensburg, PA. Known particularly for his experiments in minimalist horror, in such books as 100 Jolts and The Gorelets Omnibus, he invites readers to subscribe to his newsletter at gorelets.com, where they can get free short-shorts delivered to their inbox when they least expect them.

September 2021

This fall the JKM Library is teaming up with the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics to bring you an in-library display in honor of Constitution Day, also know as Citizenship Day. Constitution Day is regularly observed on September 17th to commemorate the day in 1787 that delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in Philadelphia. It is a day to recognize the history and importance of the Constitution, and to celebrate being a citizen of the United States of America. In addition to the display, the PCWP is hosting a screening of the documentary Surge (2020) on Thursday, September 16th at 11:15am in the Eddy Theater. From the documentary’s website: Surge is a feature documentary about the record number of first-time female candidates who ran, won and upended politics in the historic, barrier-breaking 2018 midterm elections. Surge follows three candidates in Texas, Indiana and Illinois who each running in uphill battles to flip their deep red districts to blue, including Lauren Underwood, the youngest Black woman to ever be elected to Congress. Some items included on the JKM Library’s display are: You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe African American Women in the Struggle for the Vote, 1850-1920 by Rosalyn Terborg-Penn The Unwinding An Inner History of the New America by George Packer Iron Jawed Angels (feature film) Selma (feature film) Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life by Roger Daniels Eyes On the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Movement (PBS docuseries) The Oxford Handbook of the U.S. Constitution Women’s Rights in the USA: Policy Debates and Gender Roles by Dorothy E. McBride and Janine A. Parry Representation and the Electoral College by Robert M. Alexander All library items can be checked out by Chatham community members, with the exception of the pocket Constitutions. Those were provided by the PCWP and are free to take and keep. 

November 12, 2020

El día de los muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a special international celebration practiced throughout many Spanish speaking countries. Its rituals and traditions can be traced back to both indigenous cultures and European Christian practices. As a holiday, it demonstrates the blending of these countries in Central and South America, and it is now celebrated in many countries across the world including the United States and some parts of Asia. Although it is celebrated differently in each country and culture, at its heart it is intended to be a celebration of life and a way to honor and remember loved ones who have passed. The JKM Library was proud and excited to partner once again with Modern Languages, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Counseling Services to host Chatham’s third celebration of el día de los muertos as part of the Latinx Heritage Month celebrations. This year, to keep everyone safe, we hosted our event series virtually via Zoom. This meant lots of compromises concerning activities and programming during each event, but we were pleased to be able to bring this event series back to Chatham despite such difficult times. There were 34 total participants between both virtual events. Screenshot from the first Zoom event. Provided by Professor Mildred López. On Tuesday, October 27th  we offered “¡Celebremos el día de los muertos!”, an educational presentation on el día de los muertos. Students from Professor Mildred López’s Spanish LNG161 and LNG261 classes led a presentation on the history and culture of the holiday. After the presentation, we watched a video, got a tour of JKM Library resources on the subject, and played a spirited game of el día de los muertos trivia. The second event was hosted on Thursday, October 29th  and featured a discussion led by Dr. Elsa Arce and Susan Kusmierski from Counseling Services on how to cope with grief, celebrate life, and honor both. Attendees shared personal losses they experienced in their lives, what those losses meant to them, how they handle their grief, and how they remember and honor those they have lost. Attendees also discussed the place that a holiday like el día de los muertos could have in the United States, and what communal grieving could offer them personally. Professor Mildred López also walked attendees through an event in Piura, Peru that helps women cope with the loss of children. The entire community comes together through a very touching and emotional ritual that asks mothers to share their children with the women who have lost theirs. This event allows individuals to heal both communally and across generations. Professor López also discussed the significance of Monarch butterflies, which are used as both a metaphor for immigration and a symbol of the souls of loved ones coming back to visit their families. Because we were unable to offer the usual crafting projects as part of this year’s event series, templates and instructions for multiple engaging crafts were made available on the JKM Library’s resources page. Participants were encouraged to try the crafts at home. Recipes for the traditional refreshments were also made available for those who wanted to try their hand at making the pan de muerto or indigenous hot xocolatl (chocolate) themselves. Thank you to all sponsoring departments, to Mildred López and her Spanish classes, to Dr. Elsa Arce, Susan Kusmierski, and to everyone who attended. We look forward to continuing to celebrate el día de los muertos in 2021. 

November 21, 2019

Chatham’s Day of the Dead event series continues to be an exciting and successful celebration! Held for the first time in 2018, the series consists of two events that educate the Chatham community on the international holiday and offer opportunities to celebrate the traditions and act in the spirit of the day. The series is sponsored by the Jennie King Mellon (JKM) Library, Modern Languages, the Multicultural Affairs Office, and the Counseling Center as part of Chatham’s Latinx Heritage Month celebrations. The events have been held in the JKM Library for the past two years. Our first event this year, held on October 21st, consisted of a workshop run by students from Mildred Lopez-Escudero’s LNG261 Spanish language course, where attendees learned about the history and reach of el dia de los Muertos. The attendees created cempasuchil (paper flowers) together for addition to the ofrenda (altar). The group then worked together to decorate our 2019 dia de los Muertos ofrenda. Previous to the event, the library sent out a survey to the Chatham community asking for ofrenda honoree nominations. After a final round of voting, the community selected the Tree of Life Victims, Victims of Gun Violence, and Trans Women of Color who were killed in 2019. These groups held a place of honor on our ofrenda this year. At our second event of the series, Chatham University’s Counseling Services ran a workshop on grief. The discussion focused on sharing experiences and memories of loved ones who have passed and discussing ways to cope with grief. The group also discussed ways to honor those loved ones. This is the major element of el dia de los Muertos. Remembering and honoring loved ones who have passed allows communities to life up their ancestors, celebrate life, and cope with grief. It’s healing through celebration; honoring both death and life. After the discussion, the group made paper Monarch butterflies and decorated them with glitter, rhinestones, and other embellishments. Some people wrote the names of their loved ones on their butterfly or messages of remembrance to send out into the universe. The butterflies were added to the ofrenda in honor of the attendees’ loved ones. Both events featured refreshments of traditional Mexican hot chocolate and pan de muerto (Bread of the Dead) to share. Both were prepared by university catering following traditional Mexican recipes. Almost 60 people attended this year’s event series, an increase over last year. We love this event series and are excited to continue offering it in the future. A big thank you to the Jennie King Mellon Library, Mildred Lopez-Escudero and the Modern Languages Department, Elsa Arce and Counseling Services, and Randi Congleton and the Multicultural Affairs Office. You can read more about our Day of the Dead celebrations in our blog post from last year’s events, as well as in this post on PULSE@Chatham. Click through our gallery of images to get a good look at what these celebrations entailed. 

November 14, 2018

The touching and insightful Disney Pixar film Coco pushed the Day of the Dead to the front of popular culture in the United States last year, but this celebration has been around for thousands of years in one form or another. The Day of the Dead is an established international holiday that can trace its roots back to indigenous traditions in the Americas and the Catholicism brought by the Spanish and other Europeans. Continue reading to hear about Chatham’s celebration of the holiday and see images of our ofrenda. Every year, between October 31st  and November 2nd, families from different Spanish speaking countries prepare a celebration to honor their departed loved ones. This is a special occasion to remember their lives and celebrate their memories. Families gather to enjoy their loved ones’ favorite foods, listen to their favorite music, and share memories. This celebration is called el día de los muertos (Day of The Dead) and originated with indigenous cultures in parts of North (Mexico) and South America. With the arrival of Hispanic civilization, this celebration was embedded and merged with the Catholic All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Currently, el día de los muertos has become a tradition with both indigenous and Hispanic roots. This custom was brought to the United States by immigrants and recently has become very well-known and celebrated in many K-12 schools. To learn more about the Day of the Dead celebration, check out our Reference Guide on the topic: https://library.chatham.edu/dayofthedead

Chatham University celebrated el dia de los muertos for the first time this fall on Thursday, October 25th! This exciting event included an educational workshop about the holiday (its traditions and history) run entirely by Chatham students, a fun craft in the form of paper cempasuchil flower making, and a quick ceremony to honor our dead loved ones. As a university, we selected three people (or groups of people) to honor on the ofrenda. This year we voted to honor Antwon Rose Jr., Victims of Police Violence, and Victims of Mass Shootings, and each member of the Chatham community was encouraged to make a paper flower or a paper butterfly to add to the altar to remember a specific loved one. The altar was set up on the first floor of the JKM Library and remained up for a few weeks for others to view and pay their respects.

We also hosted a second event on el dia de los muertos (Friday, November 2nd) that consisted of a presentation on grief, a conversation about remembering departed
loved ones, and another hands-on craft. We made paper Monarch butterflies with our own personalized messages written on them while enjoying music and snacks. Folks
could keep their butterflies for themselves or add them to the wall around the ofrenda with others. We enjoyed Mexican hot chocolate and pan de muerto at both events!
These events were hosted as part of Chatham’s Latinx Heritage Month celebrations and sponsored by Modern Languages, the JKM Library, the Multicultural Affairs
Office, and the Counseling Center. A special thank you to adjunct professor Mildred Lopez Escudero for bring the program to Chatham and the JKM Library!

October 2016

First held in October of 1921, Mountain Day was an annual holiday sponsored by the Athletic Association that gave students and faculty an opportunity to enjoy sports, games, and a picnic outside of the city. The event was described as follows in the October 23, 1923 edition of The Arrow, the college newspaper: “It was a clear, cold day, and everyone there was in fine spirits. As soon as the picnickers reached the orchard, games of prisoners base, baseball and leap frog were started, and lasted amid much merriment, until lunch time. Lunch was served cafeteria style, and large quantities of wieners, sandwiches, pickles, gingerbread, and all the things that go with a picnic, were consumed by the hungry mob. After lunch a field meet was held, the events were carried off in a most business like manner, under the direction of Marian Frank [‘25]. A standing broad grin, discus throw (a paper plate serving as the discus), a three legged race, blind race and a shoe race, and a tug of war made up the list of events. The tug of war was brought to an untimely end when the rope broke. The Juniors won the meet and received a silver cup, (from Woolworths) with a blue ribbon triumphantly floating from the handle. The Sophomores received a dumbbell from the Gym, as a token of the fifth place in the event. Then came the event of the day—the Hare and Hounds chase. The Seniors and the Sophomores were the Hares, and proved most elusive; as the Hounds, Juniors and Freshman, had great difficulty in tracking them. After the weary racers had collected their belongings, they started for the car, feeling that Mountain Day was one of the college’s pleasantest traditions, and a most successful holiday for everyone.” The last Mountain Day was held at PCW in the 1950s, but similar events continued to take place at college campuses throughout the country, including women’s colleges Smith and Mount Holyoke.

January 2016

You’re probably familiar with the Song Contest as one of the longest-running and most cherished of all the Chatham traditions, but have you heard any of the vintage recordings of these tunes in the University Archives? You’ll have a chance this weekend as Chatham’s Archivist Molly Tighe joins the hosts of WESA’s Rhythm Sweet &
Hot for a chat and a spin around the vinyl grooves cut by PCW singers all the way back in 1947.
During this week’s live broadcast, which airs from 6:00 until 8:00 pm on 90.5 FM, Molly will chat with hosts and hepcats Mike Plaskett and Dale Abraham about a recently discovered recording of the Class of 1947 singing classic Song Contest tunes We Sing Hi-Ho, Charm Girl of PCW and PCW Progress. Since these swingy tunes
are sure to make you slap-happy and to blow your wig (21st century translation= become very excited), we decided to dig around in the University Archives and pull out some Song Contest treasures to get everyone prepped and ready for the big show.
First, a little bit of history. Chatham’s Song Contest dates back to 1921, when a competition between the classes was enjoyed so much that it became one of the most hotly anticipated traditions of every school year.
Competitive Sing in the June 1921 issue of Sorosis
Read the full June 1921 issue of The Sorosis here: http://tinyurl.com/jl896qc
For many years the Song Contest was held in combination with Color Day and together the two traditions generated a whirl of class spirit. The two events would occur during the fall semester after the first-year students had successfully completed their first round of exams and had sufficiently settled into college life (including learning all the favorite school songs!).
Selected pages from the 1927-1928 Student Handbook including mention of Color Day, Song
Contest, and song lyrics.
In 1928, song lyrics and music were compiled by the Song Book Committee into a song book.
Copy of the Chatham Song Book from the University Archives and Photo of the 1959 Song
Contest Leaders
The rules for the contest were a little different back then. Each class was responsible for presenting three songs: one with original lyrics and music, one with original lyrics set to an existing tune, and one song selected by the judges just prior to the contest.
Chatham Song Contest, 1957
According to an article in The Arrow on November 22, 1944, each class would practice their songs daily, sometimes sending a secret operative to spy on the other classes to try to discover the competing classes’ performance plans. On the day of the contest…
…there was a mad checker game struggle for the right seats for the right voices. After everything was under control except Bertha Butterfly in our stomachs, we sat through a hymn, through the announcement of the Freshman Commission, through Hail to PCW, the presentation of the colors and the reception of the new
Freshman. All the time we wondered- whether our class Rachmaninoff had remembered to fetch along her music. (Read the whole article here: http://tinyurl.com/homkedn)
Awaiting results of the Song Contest, 1959
In the early years, the winning class was awarded a five pound box of candy.
Song Contest Winners, 1959
Later, the candy box was replaced with a silver cup.
Song Contest, 1980s
There’s no mention of recording any Chatham songs until 1946, when a contributor to the student newspaper implored her classmates to join forces to document their musical history. She writes, “Without old college songs to sing while in the shower, PCW graduates can probably hold their job competently or cheer hubby after his hard
day at the office, but it might be nice to have something specific to help them reminisce once in a while.”
Editorial in a 1946 issue of The Arrow
Chatham University Archives maintains a healthy collection of LP recordings of Song Contest, no song recordings predate the late-1950s. We couldn’t be sure if this 1946 editorial had spurred any action- until now!
LP covers of Song Contest recordings
A recently unearthed 1947 recording was produced at George Heid Productions & Transcription Services in downtown Pittsburgh and features the same three songs performed at the Senior Dinner for the Class of 1947. Could it be that the 1946 editorial inspired the creation of this recording? Could it be that the students took a trip
downtown on a streetcar to cut record of the winning songs from the Song Contest? Could it be that this is one of those very recordings? We think so!
The recording, which you can hear when you tune your radio dial to WESA 90.5 from 6:00 until 8:00 pm this Saturday night, may very well be our earliest recording of a campus tradition that spans decades and even continues through to today (Click here for a video of the 2014 song contest). We hope you’ll tune in!
Can’t wait for the show? Want to prepare for a sing-along? Here’s the music and lyrics to a couple classic Chatham tunes.
We Sing Hi-O, words and music by members of the Class of 1929
Chatham Charm Girl
Still hungry for more? Come by the University Archives in the JKM Library on Monday from 1-5 or Thursday from 1:30-3:30 to chat with Chatham Archivist Molly
Tighe about the Song Contest or any of your favorite Chatham traditions!
 

October  2015

The Ghosts of Chatham
As Halloween approaches, again comes the time of year for trick-or-treating, gorging on candy, and costume parties. It’s also the time of year that we are especially
conscious of spooky things. Among various ghoulies like black cats, vampires, and witches, the most popular creatures of the night that dominate our imagination around Halloween are ghosts. It’s a great time for telling ghost stories, everyone knows at least one, and even Chatham has several that have been passed around over the years.
Here is some history on “our” Chatham ghosts.
PCW students gathered on the lawn of Berry Hall I in 1914.
Source: Chatham University Archives & Special Collections
The Ghost of Berry Hall
There are two versions of the Berry Hall Ghost (also known as the PCW Ghost) story, but they both are equally disturbing. The first version was published in the Chatham newspaper, The Arrow in 1926.
Back before the existence of Woodland, Laughlin, and even Dilworth Hall, the Berry family lived in the Berry mansion. George Berry was a member of the first Board of
Trustees, and at the time his home was said to be the largest private residence in Allegheny County.
One night the nanny was sitting in the house’s tower with the family baby. There was a storm, and lightning struck the tower. The nanny screamed with fright, and
jumped, dropping the baby. As the story goes, the baby rolled down the stairs and died. The departed baby was said to return occasionally, floating around and crying.
Supposedly it used to visit the girls in what was then Room O, directly beneath the tower.
A view of the Berry Hall I tower.
Source: Chatham University Archives & Special Collections
The second version of this story was actually part of the first year handbook in 1948. In this sanitized version, the nursery was in the tower, and the nanny heard a scream, only to find the infant missing from his crib. The infant was never found, and the tower was locked and boarded up. In this version, the ghost is a prankster, putting splinters in chairs to rip nylons, draining the soda machine, and clanging the radiators. There is even a joke about him playing a dirge on the organ. While creepy, this later tale is almost funny, and it’s interesting to see how the tale evolved from chilling to entertaining over the 20 year period.
Other Chatham Ghosts
Some of the other Chatham ghosts seem to have their grounding in location rather than fright. It is still a popular tale today that Andrew Mellon roams the Mellon
building. The previous Laughlin House also was known for its resident ghost. As another story goes, one night a man had a flat tire in front of the Spencer House, and as he stopped heard the voice of an old woman screaming his name.
Portrait of Michael Late Benedum overlooking Benedum Hall.
Source: Chatham University Archives & Special Collections
One of the more popular stories took place at Benedum Hall. The Benedum’s oldest son, Claude, was killed in World War I. Claude was thought to haunt the home, and
then when it became a dormitory, pestered the girls living in the dorm. Some of his hijinks include turning the water off and on in what used to be his bathroom, curtains moving with no wind, and doors slamming open and closed. Typical ghost fare. One story even goes that a group of students were working on tutorials on the history of Benedum Hall when the marble table they sat at collapsed beneath them.
Students conversing in one of the Benedum Hall dorm rooms.
Source: Chatham University Archives & Special Collections
It’s unclear which of these stories have basis in truth, and which were made up to scare incoming first years. Nonetheless, the stories of ghosts on campus continue, so if you experience something a little spooky over the next few weeks, don’t worry. It’s just our longstanding residents, coming out for a visit.
Benedum Hall Gardens and Fountain.
Source: Chatham University Archives & Special Collections