The “Red Lady” Ghost

Red Lady Ghost

She is seen floating through the halls in her red robe, her wrists slit . . .

Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama, has laid claim to this tragic female ghost for generations. Her spirit is seen on the fourth floor of Pratt Hall, a former dormitory at this college.

I first read this legend in Kathryn Tucker Windham’s collection of ghost stories, entitled Thirteen Alabama Ghosts and Jeffery.

Huntingdon College

A reluctant young female student, named Martha, arrived at Huntingdon College in 1910, wearing a red dress and carrying a red bedspread, and red rug.

Tuskegee Female College

She was born in New York to wealthy parents and had no desire to attend a school in the South, but her mother had attended the college when it was in Tuskegee, and her father left specific instructions in his will.

So Martha feeling she had no choice, complied.

Martha was painfully shy, and when other student’s approached her to query why her door room was decorated with draperies and figurines all in red, she hesitated and then was quiet.

They mistook her reaction for disdain.

After this, she had trouble making friends because she now had a reputation for being “stuck up.”

She actually was just having a great deal of trouble adjusting to the new environment.

One roommate after another tried to break Martha’s reserve but failed, uncomfortable, they would request to move out of the “red” dorm room.

This sad young lady, missing home, and with no friends to confide in, became depressed. She began to roam the halls of the dormitory at night. She was seen opening random doors, staring as if in a trance.

The popular resident hall president, taking pity on Martha moved in but her attempts to befriend the reclusive coed failed. Martha returned to her room, one afternoon, to discover the president moving out.

Bitter at this point, Martha told this young lady she would regret her decision.

The next day she did not attend any of her classes. The president was sent to check on her.

As she approached the room, she saw strange red flashes of light coming from the door’s transom. She screamed as she opened the door.

Martha was lying dead on her red rug. She had slashed her wrists taking her own life.

Pratt Hall today.

Ever since students have seen these red flashes coming from this room on the anniversary of Martha’s death.

Her ghost, wearing a red robe, is often seen on Pratt Hall’s fourth floor, floating down the hall. She is also observed walking through walls and closed doors.

A red glow is also spotted coming from the room that was once hers.

Pratt Hall is no longer used as a dorm. Today it is Huntingdon colleges’ Department of Education and Psychology—but Martha's ghost is still seen. 

Here are two other posts that highlight stories from Windham's book. 

13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey 

Bill Sketoe's Hole