HAUNTED LAWRENCE

Haskell Indian Nations University is a fully accredited four-year institution
of higher learning, serving hundreds of students from the federally
recognized tribes in the United States. But while Haskell today strives to
educate its students within a framework that explicitly takes into account the
diverse beliefs, perspectives and experiences of indigenous people, this was
not always the case. In fact, when the school was founded in the late 1800s,
mistreatment of indigenous peoples on the campus was commonplace, and
today, stories are still told of the cruelty that was carried out by the school’s
administration during its early years. Consequently, many contend that the
school is home to a number of spirits that are still lingering in this earthly
realm due to past injustices.
Haskell Indian Nations University was originally established as the
United States Indian Industrial Training School, which opened its doors
on September 17, 1884. Author Frances H. Kennedy, quoting William
P. Ames (an employee of both the State Geological Survey and the
University of Kansas from the 1930s to the 1950s), writes that the mission
of the school was to make indigenous peoples “useful citizen[s]…in the
community or region of their future residence.” In other words, it was the
hope of the U.S. government that Haskell would be able to Christianize
and assimilate them into “mainstream” American culture at large.
Initially, the training school only served elementary children, and the first
class—comprising twenty-two young individuals from disparate tribes—arrived
in 1884. At that time, many of the buildings were unfinished, and exposed
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to the often brutal elements, a number of the children grew sick and died.
According to the Topeka-Capitol Journal, many students also perished from
infectious diseases that routinely ravaged the campus.
Returning the bodies of the deceased to their proper homelands proved
impractical due to financial constraints. Consequently, the victims were
usually laid to rest near the desolate edge of the school, where their graves
remain to this day; most of those who perished were mere children, with one
of the youngest, a member of the Cheyenne tribe named Harry White Wolf,
being only six months old. Some have even argued that forgotten graves lie
undisturbed in the nearby Haskell-Baker wetlands.
The early educative climate at Haskell was often brutal and inhumane;
according to the Pacific Standard, “Stories are told of trains arriving at
Haskell, filled with crying children wrenched away from their parents in
Oklahoma and elsewhere, sliding out of the carriages and stepping onto
the campus like zombies.” These children were barred from speaking
indigenous languages and were forced to abandon the religious and cultural
ways of their tribes. If they misbehaved, they were severely disciplined;
corporal punishment was not uncommon, and the unruliest youths were
beaten and restrained with chains.
The entrance to Haskell Institute around the turn of the twentieth century. Courtesy of the
Kenneth Spencer Research Library.
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The Haskell-Baker Wetlands, a hypothesized location for undiscovered graves. Author’s collection.
The Haskell Cemetery. Author’s collection.
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Over time, however, the school began to treat the students with a
modicum of respect. Eventually, the institute abandoned its assimilation
efforts altogether and instead began focusing on providing students with a
solid education. In the mid-1890s, the school introduced post-elementary
grades, and by 1927, the state education superintendent accredited it as
a high school. Soon Haskell Institute (as it was by then known) started to
offer post-secondary classes, and by the mid-1930s, vocational, industrial
and technical training had become a major part of the school’s program
of study.
In 1970, Haskell Institute once again shifted its focus, devoting itself
entirely to the needs of college students; newly christened Haskell Indian
Junior College, the school, as its name suggested, offered associate degress
to students. In 1993, the school was officially rechristened Haskell Indian
Nations University “to reflect its vision [of being] a national center for
Indian education, research, and cultural preservation,” according to the
school itself. Today, Haskell Indian Nations University offers a variety
of associate degree programs, as well as four bachelor’s programs in
elementary education, American Indian studies, business administration
and environmental science.
Given the sadness and suffering that permeates aspects of Haskell’s
history, it may come as no surprise that the campus is allegedly home to
many spirits.
Hiawatha Hall, which in the past housed the school’s original gym and
auditorium, is said to be haunted by a girl who drowned in the building’s
swimming pool. This pool has been shuttered for years, but eerily, those in
the building sometimes still hear splashing. Additionally, janitors who have
been working in the hall have reported that if they leave their tools out in
any given room, exit that room temporarily and return some time later,
their gear will either be missing or strewn about haphazardly.
The school’s library, which is housed in Tommaney Hall, is home to a
spirit that has been nicknamed “Libby.” This rambunctious ghost will bump
books off shelves, murmur among the stacks and inexplicably switch lights
on and off. Some have even seen what appears to be the shade of a woman
watching them while they read.
In the Haskell Auditorium, many have spied the shade of a young man,
dressed as if he lived in the 1940s or ’50s, sitting in the audience. According
to those who have seen him, he appears to simply enjoy watching the shows
put on in the theater. Backstage, things are not so peaceful, as many have
reported the sound of a young girl crying.
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Several of the school’s dormitories are purported to house the spirits
of deceased students (and perhaps not coincidentally, it is within these
dorms that the tales of the school’s ghost are most often told). In one
unspecified hall, it is claimed that the perfume of a student who died
in a motorcycle wreck still lingers. In Winona Hall, the sound of a ball
hitting the floor sometimes reverberates, with many believing the sound
to be caused by the spirit of a basketball player who perished during her
time at the school. A good number of students have reported nocturnal
apparitions or have felt the presence of something in their rooms late at
night. What is more, the footsteps of small children have been heard to
echo through empty dorm hallways.
Indeed, some of the most often reported spirits are those of children; it is
commonly assumed that these are the spirits of those who died during the
early years of Haskell and were either laid to rest on the school’s campus or
quietly buried in the nearby wetlands. These specters, which over the years
Hiawatha Hall. Author’s collection.
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have earned the rather endearing label “Haskell Babies,” are believed to
roam the campus grounds, dressed in clothes of a bygone era. Their cries,
so the story goes, can be heard in the aforementioned graveyard. Allegedly,
those on the Haskell Rail-Trail (a path built on the now-abandoned railway
that transported children to Haskell during the turn of the twentieth century)
have heard the wailing of babies, but when the sounds are investigated,
they mysteriously cease. It is also claimed that these spirits will turn up in
pictures that are taken in the cemetery or that their ethereal forms can be
seen playing near the places where their bodies lie buried.
But despite their eerie presence, many contend that the Haskell Babies are
protector spirits of sorts, watching over the campus and its students. In 2000,
for instance, several students claimed to have had visions of faceless children
standing at the end of their beds. A week later, after a horrible car accident
claimed the lives of three Haskell students, some reasoned that the faceless
ghosts—despite their disturbing appearance—were not malicious and were
merely trying to warn of the impending disaster.
The idea that the spirits are for the most part innocuous is a popular one.
Scotty Harjo, a former swim coach and staff member at the university, told
the Topeka Capital-Journal in 2001, “I try to tell people not to be scared [of
the spirits].…They’re just here.” Lori Tapahonso, a former communication
studies professor at Haskell, was even more optimistic when she spoke to
the Lawrence Journal-World in 2007: “[The spirits are] not [on the campus]
because they can’t leave.…They’re there because they love the school.”
However, it seems there are exceptions.
It is said that most feel a tingle in their spine around the belfry of Hiawatha
Hall, and many have felt the gaze of some unseen entity spying on them from
atop the tower. Additionally, in the bowels of the hall, there is a portion of
the building that has been mysteriously sealed off. Is this structural oddity
related to the ghosts that haunt the campus? Many—especially those on the
Internet—think so.
Pocahontas Hall (often referred to simply as “Pokie”) is the setting for many
ghost stories that are particularly chilling. Some say that in the early years
of the school, this building’s underground level was used as an infirmary
for sick children, many of whom died. Others say that this basement served
as a morgue. The unhappy spirits of those children who perished here still
haunt the hall to this day, and many individuals swear that they have heard
despondent cries echo eerily throughout the building.
It is also alleged that on this level a girl committed suicide by hanging
herself. Unnervingly, a rumor has emerged claiming that if one were to
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venture into the basement, one might see a phantasmal vision of the girl’s
body hanging from the ceiling. Unfortunately for the students living in
the hall, the dorm’s laundry facilities are located right next to a door that
leads to the large and abandoned basement where all of this is rumored
to have transpired.
Haskell Indian Nations University is located south of East Twenty-Third
Street and north of East Thirty-First Street, bounded by Vermont Street to
the west and East Perimeter Road to the east. Haskell is a federal university,
but afterhours prowling is heavily discouraged. Furthermore, given Haskell’s
complex socio-cultural history, ghost hunting on campus is problematic and
is viewed by many (with good reason) as culturally insensitive. If you visit
Haskell, remember to be respectful.