Basic Information
The Red Lady of Huntingdon College is one of two ghosts said to haunt Huntingdon College. The first one dates back to the 19th century when the college was still located in Tuskegee, Alabama, and was described as a young woman dressed in scarlet with a scarlet parasol who walked up and down the halls of a women's dormitory at night.
The second one appeared when the college was relocated to Montgomery, Alabama. A young woman named Martha or Margaret moved there from New York to study because her father's will stipulated it. She was severely shy, and when the other students heard that she was wealthy they mistook her shyness for disdain, which alienated a succession of roommates. Finally, the dormitory president moved in herself and attempted to win her over, but eventually she god frustrated as well and moved out again. This led the girl to conclude that the president was only pretending to like her, and said that "she would regret leaving this room for the rest of her life".
Her behavior became odder and odder until finally she committed suicide while dressed in a red robe and wrapped in her red bedsheets. Subsequently, she began to haunt the college.
Sources
Game and Story Use
- Given that the earlier ghost seemed to vanish after the move of the college, maybe someone or something felt that the college was incomplete without the Red Lady, and ritually or symbolically arranged things that Martha was driven to suicide - so that a new Red Lady would haunt the college at its new location.
- This may tie in with the old custom of human sacrifices to "sanctify" a major new construction. Perhaps this sacrifice sanctified the new Huntingdon College buildings?
- Perhaps all old American colleges have a student ritually driven to suicide among their first class of graduates in order to sanctify the institution?
- This may tie in with the old custom of human sacrifices to "sanctify" a major new construction. Perhaps this sacrifice sanctified the new Huntingdon College buildings?