Woodlawn ghost, mystery student:
What ever happened to Hilda Sipes
Bethany Hart
Issue date: 4/26/07 Section: Features
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Wittenberg is known for its intimate setting. As a result it seems as though everybody knows everybody else on campus. Thanks to the Wittenberg rumor mill, students probably even know everything about each other as well. There is one student that, surprisingly enough, you may not know and there are very few rumors going around about her nowadays.
Who is this mystery student? Hilda Sipes, a student who lived in Woodlawn Hall almost 80 years ago. In fact, she hasn't left.
Yes, I'm talking about "The Woodlawn Ghost." For those of you who have lived in Woodlawn, especially on the third floor or in the old part of the hall, you know the girl I am talking about. She makes her presence known when necessary by slamming bathroom stall doors, causing light bulbs to go out, and the occasional scent of smoke will fill the room.
Sipes was the victim of a horrific fire in Woodlawn on Tuesday May 15, 1928. According to an article in the Springfield Daily News, the blaze began at 2:00a.m. on Tuesday morning. The girls in Woodlawn quickly became disoriented by the flames licking the building and the smoke that was beginning to fill the hall. In an attempt to escape, many girls jumped from their windows or exited the building through their window and jumped off the porch, 15 feet off of the ground.
Sipes, however, exited her room and went down the hall to check on her friends. This would lead to her downfall as slowly the hallway filled with smoke. The firemen who found her reported that she entered the bathroom and closed the door, thinking it was her room. Once she entered the bathroom, her hair caught fire along with her bathrobe and the student died of smoke inhalation.
It took the house mother, Lilly Myers, until 15 minutes after the firemen had begun fighting the blaze to realize that one of the occupants was missing. Sipes was then found in the bathroom by firemen. Her hair and bathrobe were incinerated and she was "tanned by the heat."
Who is this mystery student? Hilda Sipes, a student who lived in Woodlawn Hall almost 80 years ago. In fact, she hasn't left.
Yes, I'm talking about "The Woodlawn Ghost." For those of you who have lived in Woodlawn, especially on the third floor or in the old part of the hall, you know the girl I am talking about. She makes her presence known when necessary by slamming bathroom stall doors, causing light bulbs to go out, and the occasional scent of smoke will fill the room.
Sipes was the victim of a horrific fire in Woodlawn on Tuesday May 15, 1928. According to an article in the Springfield Daily News, the blaze began at 2:00a.m. on Tuesday morning. The girls in Woodlawn quickly became disoriented by the flames licking the building and the smoke that was beginning to fill the hall. In an attempt to escape, many girls jumped from their windows or exited the building through their window and jumped off the porch, 15 feet off of the ground.
Sipes, however, exited her room and went down the hall to check on her friends. This would lead to her downfall as slowly the hallway filled with smoke. The firemen who found her reported that she entered the bathroom and closed the door, thinking it was her room. Once she entered the bathroom, her hair caught fire along with her bathrobe and the student died of smoke inhalation.
It took the house mother, Lilly Myers, until 15 minutes after the firemen had begun fighting the blaze to realize that one of the occupants was missing. Sipes was then found in the bathroom by firemen. Her hair and bathrobe were incinerated and she was "tanned by the heat."
Be the first to comment on this story