Simpkins Hall at Western Illinois University, a four-story tan stone building with tall arched windows and a campus sign in front

Illinois Campus Legends: Western Illinois, Morton College, Maryknoll

Midwestern US Haunted Schools

Not every campus legend fills a full post. This roundup covers three Illinois places with thinner or harder-to-trace stories: a janitor’s ghost at Western Illinois University, a legend at Morton College that rests on a reported 1969 death, and a Glen Ellyn seminary that no longer stands. Each section separates the record from the legend. Longer posts cover Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Lourdes High School in Chicago, Millikin University in Decatur and Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey.

Western Illinois University – Macomb, IL

Simpkins Hall was built in 1937 and 1938 with a federal grant as the university’s training school, according to the English department’s history of the building. It was dedicated in 1939, served as a laboratory school until 1968, and then became the English department’s home, named for Rupert R. Simpkins.

The legend centers on “Harold,” described as a former janitor or graduate assistant who lingers on the third floor after classes. People tell of keys, doors and a typewriter. Author Michael Kleen’s 2021 article adds a child’s laughter. Kleen’s 2018 summary says two longtime university employees told a Western Courier reporter they first heard the Harold stories in the 1980s. It adds that the reporter suspected the name began with a teaching assistant who, hearing typing early one morning in the Writing Center, shouted, “Harold, knock it off!”

The record does not support a real Harold. A 2015 piece in the English department’s Mirror & the Lamp says the original story made him a graduate student who died in the building, but “there is no record of this student or his death.” A crying sound that a department secretary once heard turned out to be a squealing radiator, and a professor who heard odd noises in his office suggested the old building’s pipes. Other stories online could not be traced to any record and are left out.

Simpkins Hall is a working classroom and office building; no ghost tour was found. The WIU Archives keeps a paranormal resources collection that researchers are welcome to use; check with the archivists first.

Morton College – Cicero, IL

Morton College, the second-oldest community college in Illinois, was founded in 1924 and housed at Morton East High School. Construction on its campus at Pershing Road and Central Avenue began in 1973, and the campus opened about 21 months later, according to the college catalog.

The legend is of “Emily,” a young woman said to have been killed before the campus existed. A 2018 article in the Morton East High School paper, which itself cites a ghost-listing website, says security staff have seen her on rooftops at night and theatergoers hear her during violent plays. A 2024 article in the same paper ties the story to the reported 1969 death of a Morton College freshman, and adds that an unnamed worker saw her on a roof during construction and that officers say she throws pebbles.

The record gap is the main fact here. No contemporary newspaper report of a 1969 crime could be reviewed for this post, so the date, place and circumstances are unconfirmed. What exists is later: Leslie Rule’s 2006 book When the Ghost Screams quotes Chicago ghost-tour guide Richard Crowe calling the case “one of the area’s most baffling mysteries” and places Morton classes at Morton East in fall 1969, which fits the catalog. The legend rests on that book, on student papers and on later retellings. Because a real young woman is behind it, this post does not name her or repeat details from those accounts.

Morton College is a public community college; no ghost tour was found. Rooftops and buildings after hours are not open to visitors, so contact the college first.

Maryknoll College – Glen Ellyn, IL

Maryknoll College was a Catholic seminary college. The Maryknoll order bought the land in 1944, the college opened in 1949, and it graduated its last class in 1971 and closed in 1972, according to a neighborhood history. Lewis University ran a law school there from 1974. The Glen Ellyn Park District won the right to buy the 25.3-acre site in 1999, and demolition began in August 2000, according to 2000 newspaper articles reproduced on an alumni site.

The legend is the “phantom priest.” Before demolition, the Glen Ellyn News (July 27, 2000) reported that seminarians and faculty were said to have met one in the photo lab’s darkroom. One student photographer felt watched and felt a cold hand glide along his back, and he noticed his photo chemicals change temperature. A fellow student with a similar experience picked out a photograph of a deceased priest, and the two learned the chemicals had once been that priest’s. The same article carries a skeptic: an alumnus who attended from 1967 to 1971 compared the ghost talk to “telling spook stories around a campfire” and said the tales were “just stories going from one to the next.” A wrecking-company manager, quoted that August, joked there had been “no ghost sightings.”

The record does not support the details. The priest is never named, and no earlier print version of the darkroom story was found.

Nothing remains of the seminary. Maryknoll Park, at 845 Pershing Avenue, is a public park; the Park District lists hours of 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., so confirm before going.

Uncorroborated: Madison Grammar School, Quincy. Troy Taylor’s 2002 Ghosts of Quincy says an unsolved killing took place in a house that stood on the school’s site and that a 1982 fire at the school was paranormal. It names no one and gives no date, no record of either claim was found, and the documented 1982 school fire in Quincy was at Webster Elementary.

FAQ

Who is “Harold” at Western Illinois University?

The name given to an unseen presence on the third floor of Simpkins Hall, said to be a former janitor or graduate assistant. A 2015 student-run piece found no record of such a person.

Is the Morton College “Emily” legend confirmed?

No. The haunting is folklore, and the reported 1969 death behind it could not be confirmed in a contemporary newspaper for this post. The legend rests on a 2006 book and student papers.

Can you visit Maryknoll College in Glen Ellyn?

The seminary building was demolished beginning in 2000. The site is now Maryknoll Park, a public park run by the Glen Ellyn Park District.

More haunted schools in Illinois

Read about Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Lourdes High School in Chicago, Millikin University in Decatur and Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey. Planning a visit? Start with How to Run a Campus Ghost Walk This Halloween.

Sources

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Top image: Simpkins Hall at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois, August 2009. Photo: Illini Grad Research, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped and resized, via Wikimedia Commons