Spencer Residence Hall
Spencer residence hall was built in 1907 after the Brick Dormitory burned down on January 20th, 1904. During this fire no one was harmed, but they did lose all of their belongings.
In the late 1960s many stories arose about a spirit in this residence hall known as, “The Women in Blue” or “The Blue Ghost.” Often, blue spirits are “spiritually associated with psychic energy and truth. It is a very calming color, and many people associate it with spiritual guidance. Some people feel that blue orbs are a sign of a calming presence or energy while others feel they indicate the presence of a spirit guide in that location,” (Asaff). On two different occasions in the summer of 1976 a staff member heard a spirit “draggings something on the floor in the lobby” (Trojanowski, 2012). Along with this, people have reported a blue haze passing by the laundry room on the second floor, along with different things being thrown across rooms.
In the 1980s, this spirit was given the name “Annabelle” for reasons that are unknown. Although there is no documentation of this, it is said that Annabelle is the spirit of a student who hanged herself from a bell tower. During two different breaks, two different staff members noted that something or someone walked into their rooms and many people believe it to be Annabelle (Trojanowski, 2012).
Mary Foust Residence Hall
The Mary Foust Residence Hall, named after Mary Foust Armstrong, was completed in 1928. Mary Foust Armstrong was born on February 24, 1898, and graduated from Greensboro High School in 1915. She then went to the Women’s College, which became University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and graduated in 1920. Her father, Julius Isaac Foust, was the college’s second president. Although legend says that she gave birth and died on the first floor of this building, Mary actually gave birth in the Chancellor’s house, which is located on the corner of Spring Garden and Forest Street. A few days later, she passed away due to complications from the birth. This building is now used as the welcome center for Greensboro College, which is also known to be haunted. Mary Foust Armstrong’s daughter, Sarah went on to work at UNCG and was a member of their staff for 31 years (Encyclopedia of UNCG)
Many people believe that her spirit resides in this residence hall because they often hear “unexpected crying” and “funny noises” specifically on the second floor. There was also a portrait of her that hung over the fireplace for years that disappeared without a trace one day. Along with the photo disappearing, and noises being her, there are also rumors that in the 1950s three nursing students hanged themselves in the attic. Although these rumors persist, investigators say that hanging would have been very difficult, which leads for room to speculate about paranormal activity that could have happened (Trojanowski, 2012).
Every year the residents of Mary Foust host a haunted house. In 2012 they had folks hiding in the basement in a section that is generally locked off and at the end they came running out saying that they felt as though people were watching them and kept hearing things going on behind them. This is similar to when Guilford College had ghostbusters come onto campus and really upset the spirits. (Hudnall, 2014)
A UNCG sophomore at the time, Alice Croom said: “During RA training when the Two RAs assigned to Mary Foust moved in, it would sound like people were moving around in their rooms, even though they both knew no students could have possibly moved in yet. My friend Mariah would always lock her door religiously but when she got back the door would be unlocked. She got the lock replaced with security but the problem persisted throughout the year. She always said it was just a faulty key but I knew it was the ghosts”
According to one report, when students took down her picture in the parlor for a group presentation many unfortunate events occurred. These events included someone dislocating their hit, two other ending things with their partners, and a few other failing exams that they should have passed with flying colors. When the portrait was placed back on the wall everything went back to normal and the terrible events ceased immediately. (Moran, 2008)
Another report is from a student that lived on the third floor in a room near the center. They noted that many times throughout the semester they would be woken up in between 1 AM and 2 AM to the sound of footsteps running above them. They also noted that it would not be possible for a human to do this because the only space above the third floor was the attic and it was not big enough for anyone to fit in. Occasionally when this was happening students would call the campus police and when they would open the attic no one would be up there. This same person also mentions another time when he and his roommate were abruptly woken up at 6 AM to what sounded like a car crashing in the room below them. When they asked the residents of the room below them what happened later on in the day, they responded with confused looks on their faces saying that they didn’t hear or notice anything unusual that morning when they were getting ready. (The Ghosts of UNCG, 2009)
According to a Carolinian article, their school newspaper, they have a ghost tour every year. One year their campus activities board invited a “ghost hunter” to come along on the tour as well. They noted that as they were getting closer to the Mary Foust Residence Hall they asked the spirits if they were present, and the spirit replied with “I’m on the way” (McQueen, 2014)
Aycock Auditorium
The Aycock Auditorium, later renamed to the Tate Street Auditorium, was opened in 1927, and it has been said to be where the most paranormal activity occurs. Before the auditorium was built a colonial mansion was there, and a little old lady lived all alone in it. Raymond Taylor, a drama professor at UNCG, says that stories say that she became very unhappy living alone, and went upstairs and hanged herself from the rafters in her attic. It is also believe that because she died there she wanted to stay in that area, so when Aycock was built she adopted that as her forever home. Students often refer to this spirit as Jane Aycock and say that she is the daughter of Charles Brantley Aycock. Although they believe this to be true, there is no record of him having a daughter by that name (Trojanowski, 2012).
Taylor, who retired in 1960 notes that he had many personal encounters with the spirit in Aycock Auditorium during his time at UNCG. One of his most memorable moments was when he and a janitor were setting up for a play they took off all of their clothes because of the heat and set them down. When they went back later to put them back on, the clothes were in a completely rearranged. He was wearing a vest with a watch chain and the watch chain was put in the form on the cross on his desk. Another time he was working late with a colleague and they both had their backs to the door. Suddenly the door opened, cold air came in, and they could hear chains clanking together. They immediately got up and looked around, but they didn’t see anything that would explain why this happened (Trojanowski, 2012).
Although Jane Aycock was the most infamous spirit within the UNCG sphere for many years, this has changed as of late. Many professors that work in the Aycock Auditorium note that there have not been many disturbances in the past few years, and many people suggest that Jane’s antics have become much less mischievous and that she is happily resting now. Although this is the more common narrative there are reports of people hearing her when sitting in the chairs in the audience, but only when they are alone in the auditorium. Folks also noted that sometimes lights will flicker on and off and that is how they know that she is still around. (Brown, 2016)
Asaff, Sarabeth. “The Different Colors of Ghost Orbs and Their Meanings.” LoveToKnow. https://paranormal.lovetoknow.com/Ghost_Orbs_Different_Colors.
Carolinianweb. “Ghosts of UNCG, Upclose and Personal.” THE CAROLINIAN. November 09, 2014. Accessed December 06, 2018. https://carolinianuncg.com/2014/11/09/ghosts-of-uncg-upclose-and-personal/.
Carolinianweb. “The Ghost of Jane Aycock.” THE CAROLINIAN. March 23, 2016. https://carolinianuncg.com/2016/03/23/the-ghost-of-jane-aycock/.
“Construction of Aycock Auditorium.” Digital image. Spartan Stories: Julius Foust and Harry Barton: Partners in Design. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8kMEbAb6Wg0/VaU1JovyNnI/AAAAAAAAA3w/hxdkY3z8yxA/s1600/04 Aycock Aud.jpg.
Hudnall, Matthew. “Haunting Of Mary Foust.” YouTube. April 23, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk3fDi2ByEQ.
Lawrimore, Erin. “Spencer (Cornelia Phillips) Residence Hall.” Encyclopedia of UNCG History. June 21, 2017. http://encyclopedia.wp.uncg.edu/spencer-residence-hall/.
Moran, Caitlin. “We Got Spirits, Yes We Do.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/We-Got-Spirits-Yes-We-Do/3243.
Mulligan, Sean. “Mary Foust.” Encyclopedia of UNCG History. June 06, 2017. http://encyclopedia.wp.uncg.edu/mary-foust/.
Trojanowski, Hermann. “The Ghosts of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.” Spartan Stories. October 29, 2012. Accessed December 06, 2018. http://uncghistory.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-ghosts-of-university-of-north_29.html.
Page written and created by Ana H., Caroline W., and Joseph P.
