By Leah Moore
Days shorten, temperatures cool and summer foliage transforms into an autumn palette of oranges, reds, golds and browns. Nature prepares for one last fling before winters nap and thoughts of spirits creep.
The rich heritage of NSU and its buildings - claimed to be haunted, cause paranormal junkies to seek super natural phenomena. Seminary Hall, the oldest building on campus is known for its paranormal. It is the shining monument to Cherokee history and culture, and the nucleus around which NSU’s campus was built.
Once a Cherokee Female Seminary, it now houses classrooms along with academic and faculty offices. On the third floor lies the office of Frances Rule, administrative assistant.
“I believe in the paranormal, because I have had my own personal experiences that couldn’t be explained,” said Rule. “Yet, I am a skeptic, until proven otherwise. I don’t just believe something because I have heard it. I have to witness it to believe it.”
Rule witnessed paranormal, during an August 2008 investigation of Seminary Hall, performed by the River Valley Paranormal Research & Investigations.
“What you believe has no affect on the truth,” said RVPRI Founder and Lead Investigator, Adrian Scalf. “Ghosts are out there, rather you believe in them or not.”
Having experienced paranormal in their home, and struggling to find professional help, Scalf and his wife Tina made the decision to start RVPRI, a nonprofit team.
“We wanted to do it as a ministry for people who couldn’t find help from anyone else,” said Tina Scalf. “Our main focus is to help the people who need it.”
RVPRI investigated Seminary Hall out of curiosity.
The investigation started with two teams, a male team and a female team. The male team reported what seemed to be a shadow from a distance on the third floor. The female team had several unusual occurrences.
While on the fourth floor, the female team heard a bang on the wall in an unoccupied office; they went inside and found no one. On the first floor, they noticed shadows under the doorway, as if someone was pacing in front of the door. When they exited the room, there were cleaning supplies on the floor. No one had noticed the supplies, when they first entered the room.
In a classroom on the first floor, upon entering the room, the lights were on, (these lights are motion activated and no one was in the room), the female team turned off the lights and started the investigation. Two team members noticed moving shadows. They were unable to discern their origin; they felt that it was a paranormal occurrence.
During their investigation, after making sure the lights were set to off; the lights randomly turned on again. One of the team members asked if it was a spirit turning on the lights and if so, would it do it again. At that point, the light directly above that team member’s head turned on.
Brittany Abbott, nightshift custodian, has been working in Seminary Hall since May of this year. Squeaky footprints and knocking on doors keep Abbott on edge.
“I usually wear earphones, so I don’t have to hear anything,” said Abbott.
A few weeks ago, Abbott was mopping in a restroom on the first floor. She had her back turned toward the door when she heard, what sounded like the mop bucket moving. She went out into the hallway and watched the mop bucket roll down the hallway and then stop.
One might ask the question… could it be a ghost roaming the halls from the late 1800s - perhaps a young student from the Female Seminary. Or…could it be the late Florence Wilson, principal of the Female Seminary.
Answers await those who venture the Seminary Hall ghost tours, given by the Language and Literature Graduate Students Association. The tours, every Friday and Saturday, in October, consist of ghost legends and the history of Seminary Hall. Tours begin at dark and end at 10:30 p.m. Reservations are not required and the cost is $5 per person. Children under 12 are half price. Proceeds help fund travel expenses for graduate students when traveling to and from academic conferences. Participates should meet in front of the Seminary Hall.
A class offered by RVPRI, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m., will discuss the paranormal happenings of the Ft. Smith Museum and the evidence caught there.
For more information, visit http://www.rvpri.com/paranormalbasics.htm.
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