A ghost called Helen is said to haunt this campus. The young coed died from influenza in 1918 and her spirit is alleged to have taken up residence in an old grandfather clock in Voorhees Hall, which was her previous dorm. The clock had been donated to the college by Helen’s folks. At night, her spirit left the clock and played the piano in the parlor or walked the steps to her old room on the second floor. Late at night, the white apparition would appear at the foot of students’ beds. Sometimes it slammed doors or pulled off the bedcovers. When the clock was moved to Stuart Hall in the early 1970s, the spooky manifestations started to take place there.
When Voorhees Hall was remodeled in 2000, one of the architects who was taking pictures for the renovation made it a point not to take pictures of students. A student showed up in one image however. The strange photo shows a student sitting on a staircase. The staircase landing in the photo was the one just outside what was once the infirmary.
Coe College is found at 1220 First Avenue Northeast in Cedar Rapids.