Luther College campus in Decorah, Iowa

Luther College – Decorah, IA: Gertrude, Larsen Hall and What the College’s Own Records Say

Midwestern US Haunted Schools

Larsen Hall at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, a red-brick residence hall with two students walking pastLarsen Hall at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, is the setting for the school’s best-known ghost story, the tale of a girl named Gertrude. Luther’s own history guide says the stories are inconsistent and that no records support the main explanation of who she was. The building itself has a well-documented past: Larsen Hall was dedicated on October 13, 1907, and still houses students today. This guide tells the legends as legends and checks them against what Luther’s archives have recorded.

What the record says

Larsen Hall was dedicated on October 13, 1907, thanks to the fundraising of C. K. Preus, who raised $93,000, according to the Luther History FAQ. It was named for Laur Larsen, Luther’s first president. The dormitory stood three stories high with a basement, with a 40 by 50 foot center section and two 40 by 90 foot wings, and its basement held laboratories, music rooms and lecture rooms. A $60,000 modernization followed in 1944 and 1945. The same guide says that today it is a co-educational residence hall, with Study Abroad offices on the first floor of the east wing and Health Services and Counseling in the east-wing basement.

Luther was a men’s college in the 1910s. According to the FAQ on coeducation, the Decorah Junior College for Girls was founded on August 1, 1932, and became the Decorah College for Women on April 3, 1935. A 1936 church convention stipulated that Luther would be coeducational, and the 1936 graduates of the women’s college became the first women to graduate from Luther. Nine women had studied informally with Luther professors in 1873 and 1874, but women were not admitted as Luther students until 1936.

The legends

Gertrude. The best-known story, according to Luther’s ghost FAQ, is “Gertrude,” a girl said to linger in Larsen Hall. Retellings place her on the third floor and blame her for prank fire alarms, rifled drawers and missing clothing that is sometimes replaced with items from another era. Luther’s FAQ says witnesses describe her as anywhere from twelve years old to her late teens, often in 19th-century clothing.

How she died. The main explanation of her identity, as the college records it, is a high school girl who wanted to attend Luther and who died in 1918 when her bicycle was struck by an automobile. Some retellings place the accident on West Broadway.

Footsteps. A retelling also describes a woman’s footsteps in high heels in the corridors, most often in the section of the hall used as the health service. The ghost FAQ lists the 2005 article “Restless Spirits Haunt Luther” by Andrea Jennings in the student paper Chips among the resources in the Luther College Archives.

What the record does not support

  • Proof that Gertrude existed. Luther’s FAQ says “no records of any such event occurring can be found” and no records prove anyone named Gertrude lived in Decorah around 1918.
  • A would-be Luther student. The usual framing, a girl who wanted to attend before women were allowed, does not fit the history. Luther admitted only men until 1936, so a girl in 1918 had no application to make.
  • One consistent ghost. The FAQ points out that the accounts of her age and dress disagree.
  • The footsteps story. No source found documents the high-heeled footsteps. The health services office in the east-wing basement is a fact of the building, but nothing ties it to a ghost.
  • The place of the accident. The West Broadway detail appears only in retellings, not in any record the college cites.

Visiting

Larsen Hall is a residence hall where students live, so it is not a public attraction. Visitors can see campus through the Visit program, and its Norse for a Day visits include a campus tour. The Luther College Archives are open for research from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment, in the Reading Room on the upper floor of Preus Library. Confirm hours before going.

FAQ

Who is Gertrude at Luther College?

Gertrude is the name given to a ghost said to haunt Larsen Hall. Luther’s own history guide says no records show that anyone by that name lived in Decorah around 1918.

Is Larsen Hall at Luther College haunted?

No haunting has been confirmed. Luther’s guide calls the stories inconsistent, and it lists no records to back them up.

When was Larsen Hall built?

Larsen Hall was dedicated on October 13, 1907, and is one of the oldest buildings on campus. It is a co-educational residence hall today.

More haunted schools in Iowa

Read about Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa State University in Ames, Simpson College in Indianola and the Drake Municipal Observatory in Des Moines.

Sources

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Top image: Luther College campus, Decorah, Iowa. Photo: Wikideas1, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons