Allentown Pennsylvania
Cedar Crest College
Haunting is caused by the suicide of a pregnant student, who may have regrets.
DESCRIPTION/HISTORY
Cedar Crest College is a small women’s liberal arts college that was founded in 1867, by the United Church of Christ; an affiliation that is still in place today. It is a beautiful campus, with 84-acres, and a nationally registered arboretum with more than 130 species of trees.
While it is a women’s undergraduate college, they state that students of all genders can pursue degree programs through the School of Adult and Graduate Education (SAGE) at the undergraduate and graduate level.“
Adults who want to go back to school, of any gender, can enroll in the separate adult programs (SAGE) that cover undergraduate and graduate courses.
The buildings are in great shape, even the older 19th and 20th century structures. Cedar Crest College has done a wonderful job renovating their buildings to keep up with the needs of the students and faculty, as well as constructing new buildings when needs arise, throughout the years.
Tom and I visited the campus, and it was a beautiful place. Some of the buildings sit on the edge of a huge rectangular green space. The older buildings add character to the college and the newer buildings fit in with the architecture.
Its buildings include Blaney Hall, The Narrows, Curtis Hall, and Hamilton Boulevard Building. The four residence halls are Butz Hall, Moore Hall, Steinbright Hall, and the upper level of Curtis Hall.
Their website states the college’s goals for their young women: “Cedar Crest College has taken a bold approach to education – creating a college and a curriculum designed for women who want to achieve at the highest levels! ”
Besides offering academics, Cedar Crest College offers a well-rounded program, including athletics, student paper, student radio, and many activities aimed at young people.
Cedar Crest College has more than 1,400 students, from 27 states, from Maine to Alaska and 20 countries including Ghana, India, Japan, Ukraine, Nepal, Peru and South Africa. Their student to faculty ratio is 11:1. They have 92 full-time professors. Classes have on average 20 students per class.
Cedar Crest College’s student body is made up of students who live on campus, both undergraduates, and graduates, and also has a large commuter population as well. On site, undergraduate residence halls are Butz Hall, Curtis Hall, Moore Hall and Steinbright Hall. Each residence hall has its own perks, along with the necessities and amenities that young people desire in their residence halls.
HISTORY OF MANIFESTATIONS
In 1866, there were no opportunities for women in Allentown or anywhere else to seek a higher education. Members of the Zion Reformed Church got together and decided that it was high time to establish a seminary for women.
They formed a committee of five members to come up with a plan to remedy this situation. After the annual meeting of the East Pennsylvania Classis at the Zion Reformed in 1867, where members studied the proposal to serve women’s educational needs written by neighboring Muhlenberg College, they decided to go ahead and start a seminary, with the name Lehigh Female Academy.
In the fall of 1867, nine young women gathered in a basement to become the first group to begin their college journey. The academy kept enrolling students until the basement was too small just a year later.
The committee supporting the academy bought Robert Emmet Wright’s Clover Nook Estate in 1868, and moved the fledgling academy there, changing its name to the Allentown Female College.
In 1872, to gain more support, the Cedar Crest Alumnae Association was founded. It became a non-profit organization in 1933.
In 1884, to handle the growing student population, buildings on the campus also grew to include twenty-five rooms, a gym, library, art room, and a chapel.
In 1893, the college changed its name again, becoming The Allentown College for Women in 1893.
Once again, the college needed more room, so on June 4, 1913, the school moved again, to a much bigger property this time at its present location within S Cedar Crest Boulevard, Hamilton Boulevard (222), Parkway Boulevard, and College Dr.It again changed its name, this time to Cedar Crest College. Classes began on the new campus on September 29, 1915.
The 1927 Allen House started as the president’s residence, The building was later revamped into a library and administrative building. The Allen House was named in honor of college William and Roberta Ritter Allen, supporters and alumni of the class of 1936.
Throughout the eras, the college continued to grow.
In 1974, the college offered its first bachelor’s degree in nursing. The first nursing class graduated in 1978. Today, The college’s Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science programs span more than 35 majors, including professional advising programs in Pre-Dentistry, Pre-Medicine, and Pre-Veterinary Medicine.
Since 2003, Cedar Crest has offered graduate courses and degrees with MBA programs that would eventually include doctoral-level degrees in nursing, which started the movement to offer an entire school of nursing.
Today, The college’s Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science programs span more than 35 majors.
At the graduate level, there are over 15 programs, including the first Master of Crime Science degree.
In 2017, their first doctorate program established a Doctor of Nursing practice.
Since then, there are now four doctorate degrees: Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nursing Practice, Family/Individual Across the Lifespan Nursing Practice, Nurse Anesthesia, and Occupational Therapy.
HISTORY OF MANIFESTATIONS
Sometimes the pressures of personal issues, college living and demands for high achievement can crush the young people who feel that they don’t measure up, and they buckle, thinking that killing themselves will give them the peace that eludes them in this life. Sometimes mental illness like depression/schizophrenia is activated under pressure in the late teens/early 20s.
Bloomington Indiana Memorial Union, IN (The Indiana Memorial Unionis the University’s 500,000-square-foot college union, a campus centerpiece where students go to study, relax, eat, bowl, watch movies, and even shop. It has also been the favorite place in the past for students to kill themselves, attracted to all the high places to jump off).
Central Washington University, WA (A personal, painful loss suffered by a student inspired a rash action and a consequent haunting).
The Pagoda on Five Mile Drive, WA (After witnessing a fatal accident, a grieving person committed a rash action).
Cedar Crest College, PA (In 1956, a college legend says that a young woman, called Wanda, hung herself on the stairwell of the female dorm, Butz Hall, because she was pregnant).
Sometimes spirits show themselves to the living as children, as they remember the good times they had in their youth.
Hartford Twain House, CT (The three spirits of Mark Twain’s daughters show themselves as young girls playing together, remembering a time when they were children and having fun).
Robert E. Lee Mansion, VA (The little spirit of a giggling four-year-old boy here could be Robert Lee, coming back as a child).
Hotel Bethlehem, PA (The spirit of famous opera singer May Yohe appears as a child to relive the happiest times of her life here).
Cedar Crest College, PA (The spirit of a college student shows herself to the living as herself and as a little girl).
MANIFESTATIONS
The Spirit of Wanda
Described as a young co-ed who is lonely, wanting friends.
She seems to seek company with various residents, appearing in a form that is less scary, as a little girl when she is reaching out to the other young women.
Personal Appearances
She appears in two forms: as herself before she died, and as a child.
Her apparition has been spotted by residents and custodians, wandering up and down the halls of this residence dorm.
One undocumented report claims that she sometimes shows herself as a little girl, reliving good times in her life as she plays by herself, before her troubles.
One report from a student claims that residents have seen this little girl in mirrors, or reflective surfaces, playing or just watching the living.
PARANORMAL FINDINGS
The many personal experiences of both residents and custodians have been reported, though no official investigation has been allowed inside.
Students who live in the building may have done informal investigations on their own, talking to her through flashlights, divining rods and EVP meters. Hopefully they haven’t had seances or used a divination board which can draw in negative spirits.
STILL HAUNTED?
Probably so.
Both young women and adult staff have seen her in both her forms. She plays by herself, remembering her happy childhood before her problems, but also seems to seek company in indirect ways.
Unless a medium was allowed in to help her let go of her shame and go to the light, this spirit is probably still there, though college officials deny her existence. They claim that this entity is the result of overactive imaginations, based on college legends, perhaps started by other students, wanting to scare the freshmen. (Legend of the Penguin – Slater Hall).
LOCATION
100 College Drive
Allentown, PA. 18104
http://www.cedarcrest.edu/ca/index.shtm
Cedar Crest College campus borders lie within S. Cedar Crest Boulevard, Hamilton Boulevard (222), Parkway Boulevard, and College Dr. Take College Dr. off of Hamilton Boulevard.
Our Photos are copyrighted by Tom Carr
Visit the memorable… Milwaukee Haunted Hotel
SOURCES INCLUDE
- Haunted Places: The National Directory
by Dennis William Hauck - http://www.delcoghosts.com/cedar_crest.html
- http://www.delcoghosts.com/cedar_crest.html
- cedarcrest.edu/ca/index.shtm
- https://www.cedarcrest.edu/about/#:~:text=More%20than%20150%20years%20ago,species%20as%20a%20recognized%20arboretum
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Crest_College
Our Haunted Paranormal Stories are Written by Julie Carr
Our Photos are copyrighted by Tom Carr
Visit the memorable… Milwaukee Haunted Hotel
