The legend of Mary Swope

Every college has its share of urban legends, whether they are true events or not, that are told across campus until the end of time. Here at Buena Vista University (BVU) there is a myth, folk tale or urban legend if you will, which was listed on Iowa's top haunted places.

The legend of Mary Swope started 10 years ago in the fall of 1997. The story was created during a simple night of sharing ghost stories in the spirit of Halloween, but it turned into an overdramatic, fabricated tale.

Many students hear the simplified version of this story their first year here at BVU, which goes something like this.

There once was a girl name Mary Swope. She died of lead poisoning that caused her to go crazy and jump out of the third floor window of her house, which used to be located in the same spot as Swope Hall room 305. People claim Mary's ghost opens and closes doors, even when locked, and will open and close the closet doors of that room. Like most ghosts, she will also venture to other rooms to play practical jokes, especially with the electrical equipment.

Although this myth seems silly and would seem to be nothing more than a fun story to tell around a campfire, for some people the belief that Mary's ghost is floating around the halls will never be shaken. When the story was originally told, there were girls from Swope Hall who began talking about weird noises and things that occurred on the third floor of Swope. All it took was a couple guys with imaginations to make the story what it is today.

"Eventually people kept adding details about what happened to Mary and making up stories about current or recent students who had seen Mary or witnessed odd things happening," Matt Wagner, one of the story's creators, said.

According to junior Kristen Goodson, the Resident Assistant of third floor Swope, these occurrences may have really happened at one time or another.

"There has been a strange noise in Swope which has been unidentifiable. The noise is similar to that of hammering at random times throughout the day and during the night. The concern was even brought to the RD, but no one can pinpoint where the noise is coming from," Goodson said.

Director of Housing Nate Buseman laughs at the topic of Mary Swope, although Buseman recalls one student who had a problem with the idea of a ghost haunting even though she did not live on third floor.

"I have never had people move out from room 305, but I have had people request to not live in the room because of the myths. Swope is old, doors creak and slam all the time because it's windy. If someone wants to believe they hear noises, then they will," Buseman said.

A few years ago, someone took the story to the next level by developing a Mary Swope Facebook page. Mary now has 133 (BVU) friends who are able to write on her wall with any question they desire. The amusing part is that the creator used the picture of the girl with the long black hair from the movie The Ring as the profile picture. Also, to reiterate the truth of her existence there are five other pictures which resemble old-time pictures and are said to be the Swope family portrait and individual pictures of Mary when she was a child.

Several interpretations of this story have been told, but the real full story is told on Mary's very own MySpace page. This time the myth is told in detail, suggesting that Mary's old Victorian home used to be where Swope is now and that she was so stricken with hysteria that she threw herself out of her second floor window that overlooked Buena Vista College. The story says the house was sold to BVU and later torn down and made into Swope Hall. So, how did she die from lead poising? It was said that her younger brother, Henry Edward Swope, was diagnosed with lead poisoning, which led people to believe Mary developed hysteria from lead poisoning she had acquired from drinking water from the lead pipes of their old home.

Whatever the real story may be, this myth still remains BVU's number one urban legend that students will carry on.

"As fun as it is to talk about this story, we need to make it clear to those people who get scared by it that there was no Mary Swope, there was never a girl who jumped out of the window of 305 and it's all in good fun," Buseman said.

Research has shown that BVU alumni Matt Wagner and Brad Laborman were the masterminds behind the story and did not think the myth would take off like it did. What was once a fun story told among friends turned into much, much more.

"We basically added a name and a story to something students were already claiming to have experienced, and that's how Mary Swope came to exist," Wagner said.

"I am amazed the story is still told today. We used to tell it to freshman girls to try to scare them into staying the night in the suites," Laborman said.