Auburn creates an eerie backdrop for many ghost stories written by well-known writer and story teller Kathryn Tucker Windham. For a large part of her life, Windham gathered and crafted stories focusing on southern folklore, and an exhibit in Auburn's Ralph Brown Draughon Library was created to showcase Windham's collection.
Windham died June 12 at 93 years old. She left behind a legacy of wonderful storytelling and riveting ghost stories. Windham wrote several books focused on southern ghost stories and even southern recipes.
She is best known for her collection of short stories, "13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey," published in 1969.
Windham's short story "The Auburn Spirit" is just one of the many books on display. It is Windham's telling of the origin of a ghost many residents might be familiar with.
Dwayne Cox, head of special collections and archives, is more than willing to pull the book out of the exhibit and let anyone interested read the short story telling the origin of the confederate ghost that is said to have once haunted the Auburn University Chapel.
It is not known if the story of the chapel ghost originated from Windham or if she got her story from another source, but it is definitely an interesting ghost tale.
According the Windham's story, the ghost was once a Confederate soldier from England named Sydney Grimlett. After he died of gangrene in the chapel, which was being used as a makeshift hospital, he was buried in Pine Hill Cemetery.
Windham continues her story by saying that Grimlett came back 60 years after his death when the chapel was being used as a theater for the University. Hearing the sounds of music brought him to the chapel, and he never left.
Windham ends her story by saying Grimlett is said to still haunt the University but has moved on with the theater majors to the Telfair Peet building.
Windham does reassure the reader that there is no need to fear Grimlett for he merely whistles and occasionally moves a few props around.
Without Windham recording stories like "The Auburn Spirit," they would just die off into the faint whispers of those who told the story long ago.
Windham spent her life keeping the folklore of Alabama alive, and the exhibit at Special Collections has made sure to keep her legacy reaching past her time so future students can enjoy the stories she wrote.
Windham's relationship with the University began in 1984 when she started donating items one box at a time to Special Collections, which was then headed by Allen Jones.
As the years passed, Windham donated items whenever she could. The most recent box of papers and artifacts was collected last year.
"Dr. Jones really began our relationship with Mrs. Windham," Cox said. "All I really did was continue that relationship."
Jones became close friends with Windham and saw just what an important person she was for Auburn and the state as a whole.
"She was an Auburn person when I met her," Jones said. "I bought her tickets to all the football games."
Jones and his wife would often hold dinner parties in Auburn with Windham and friends, and storytelling filled their conversations.
Jones said he approached Windham about drawing up a contract for all her papers because he knew how important she was.
"She gathered a lot of southern folk tales and ghost stories and put them in writing," said David McRay, graduate student in history. "She is a very important part of Alabama folk history."
The collection is currently planned to be on display through the fall semester, and it gives all who visit a chance to get the know Windham through photographs, manuscripts and fan mail she collected throughout her career.
"Basically, we have a collection of all her papers which she donated to special collections, and I, along with another graduate assistant, just went through her papers and picked out things we thought would be interesting for the display," McRay said.
McRay said although the exhibit showcases Windham's work, it is just a small portion of the materials the archives has received.
It took about a day for McRay to look through the collection and pick out the most interesting pieces, but he said there were many artifacts that are interesting but didn't make the exhibit.
"Most of the stuff is similar to what we have on display, but I did find some things such as a comb in the boxes that I wasn't expecting," McRay said.
Cox said some of the most interesting pieces of the collection are Windham's Sunday school promotion ticket and an Alabama Public Television documentary which includes all the film that was shot and never shown.
He also said the photographs that Windham took of Alabama have a really nice visual appeal.
Windham was a native of Selma, but wrote about many cities and towns throughout the state.
"She was one of the most remarkable women I have ever known," Jones said. "People who didn't know her truly missed out."
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