Volume 59, Issue 11  - October 30, 2006

Hear steps behind you? You're not alone
By Graciela Salazar
Staff Writer

A ghost is an unexplained presence that’s not human.

This is what John B. Hawthorne, special collections archivist for the Arnulfo L. Oliveira Memorial Library, said Thursday at the Gazebos during a discussion and book signing for “The Ghosts of Fort Brown” to a group of students.

“I thought it was very informative,” freshman education major Michael Aldape said during the presentation. “I thought it was really interesting to hear about the history of the school, and things that people have … experienced.”

 "The Ghosts of Fort Brown and Beyond" is the third volume of stories people tell about experiences on campus and in the Valley. Hawthorne compiled the stories.

Hawthorne finds the repetition of stories the most intriguing.

“Stories about the soldier ghost, the little boy ghost, the mother ghost, the nurse ghost, the sounds of soldiers’ bugles, Calvary soldiers riding around campus, even the stories of the ghost dog on campus,” he said about the stories featured in the book.

Hawthorne said the Gorgas Hall was a post hospital and the only hospital for Brownsville.

In 1911, there used to be a cemetery in the approximate location of The Village of Fort Brown; but, it was moved to Alexandra, Louisiana, he said.

“That helps explain some of the ghost stories because some of the bodies were not dug up,” Hawthorne said. “When we do have the construction on the new wing of the dorms, many historians believe the construction will be interrupted by bodies being dug up.”

He said he has not encountered a ghost.

“I just think that so many people have that [belief] there is something out there, but I just don’t know exactly what it is,” Hawthorne said.

He said he would like to see a ghost.

“That would be very interesting and I think that would help me sell the books,” Hawthorne said.

He said some of the most common questions people ask in the Hunter Room are, “Where are the ghosts? Where can I find the ghosts?

“That’s what people are really interested in--the ghost story.”

Hawthorne said his favorite story is about the boy and mother ghosts. The boy is always looking for his mother and the mother is looking for her child. They’re doomed for all eternity to be searching for each other … around the old part of campus, around the old Morgue.”

The little boy gets in all kinds of problems, he said.

“He especially targets young women--like he pulls their hair,” Hawthorne said. “Some of the ladies who work in the Old Morgue have said [the ghost] pulls chairs from under them, or steal typewriter keys.”

Hawthorne said a UTB/TSC janitor quit because of a ghost encounter

“The little boy ghost would bother this poor man, and play the jukebox late at night [at the Lighter Student Center],” he said. “One day, he saw [the ghost] there playing the jukebox [really loud], and he just up and quit.”

Last year KGBT-TV Channel 4 News spent 7½ hours on campus to research ghost encounters.

“They claimed to [find] voice evidence of a black soldier ghost and the little boy ghost who is often mentioned,” Hawthorne said.

 The boy ghost said on audio recordings that “he wanted to go home and that he was looking for his father,” he said.

Hawthorne said he tries to have some educational value to the ghost books, in addition to “just being a fun thing.”

“There is a certain amount of history and learning that people do when they read the book.”

He said there are possible plans to make a documentary, “interviewing the people who’ve seen ghosts, getting their stories as well as putting some of the history of the campus.”

“They should definitely go ahead with the DVD,” junior art major Carol Martin said. “It’s wonderful that they’ve done all the research into the history.

Those who contributed to the book include Vice President for External Affairs Antonio Zavaleta, BAT Program Director Peter Gawenda and history Professor Manuel Medrano. The book was illustrated by Estevan Medrano.

Volumes I and II had high sales, so Hawthorne decided to do a third volume.

“We’ve now sold over 2,700 copies of all the books combined,” Hawthorne said. “We don’t personally benefit from the money; but, it goes to our Friends of the Library, buy things … or to help us do exhibits or hold cultural events.” 

The books are $6 each and are sold at the library’s circulation desk.