A Dig into the Archives: The Mitchel Hall Hauntings

The University of Central Oklahoma’s Mitchel Hall performing arts theater will be revisiting its ghostly history as grounds for multiple hauntings, as a well-known apparition named Thornton has been seen amidst this Halloween season and performances. 

Oct. 30- Nov. 2, the UCO theater department will present Noël Coward’s Comedy ‘Blithe Spirit,’ which beckons if the theater’s own reported spirit, Thornton, a deceased janitorial staff member of the theater, with sightings going as far back as the early 70s will also be attending the performances.

Since its addition to the University of Central Oklahoma in 1926, the Mitchel Hall Theater has been more than just a building modeled after the Shrine Auditorium in Oklahoma City. Plastered with stagelights, brick, and seating for two thousand individuals, the theater has been a complete UCO history book. 

Many other ghostly sightings have been reported from Mitchel Hall over the years, and according to an interview with the Edmond Sun on April 10, 1997, Kathryn Kune, professor of visual art and design, quoted seeing Amelia Earhart from the balcony of Mitchell Hall.

The first woman pilot to travel solo trans-Atlantic and disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937, had reportedly spoken to students in the Mitchell Theater auditorium on Jan. 27, 1936. “It was such a thrill to see a woman who could fly,” Kune said. 

At midnight, on September 2, 2005, Ron Cross, co-director of the Edmond-based Paranormal Research of Organized Studies, spoke to students about some of his past encounters with ghosts in front of Mitchel Hall right before investigating the building for paranormal activity.

The ghost hunters from the Oklahoma City Paranormal Research Alliance were invited by former theater professor Donna Dickson to investigate the rumors of the ghost Thornton after hearing students say that he supposedly lived in Mitchel Hall.

“Some think he may be a janitor. Some think he fell from a balcony,” Dickson said. 

To start their ghostly investigation, Cross and his team did what they call a “sweep” of the building. This consisted of using “electric magnetic frequencies,” said Becky Cosgrove, creator of the OKC Ghost Club.

The first group to “sweep” the theater spent 45 minutes recording, taking photos, and reading the EMFs of the dark building, using only flashlights to guide them. Some of the group members had said to had heard knocks and felt cold gusts of wind during their investigation. 

Although their readings came back in normal temperatures, psychic Mary Bennfrank, who had been following with the team, said “the only thing I saw was a man walking across the stage that wasn’t in our group,” Bennfrank said.

“It was definitely there”. The question of whether or not Mitchel Hall was being haunted by Thornton had gone unanswered that night. 

Although not much activity was recorded, Dickson had still become acquainted with the UCO theater and had a vested interest in it. “I truly believe that every self-respecting theater should have a ghost or two,” Dickson said slyly.