Resurrection Mary: Ghostly Dancer

Chicago’s Hitchhiking Apparition and Archer Street Haunt

Jun 27, 2007

Mary's ghost has been reported by many reliable witnesses and she has left behind unique physical evidence of her own existence unlike the folklore of traveling phantoms.

Mary

Blue-eyed Mary had golden hair, wore a white dress and black patent leather shoes when she went to the O. Henry Ballroom, now Willowbrook Ballroom, to dance. According to legend, she died in a car accident caused by a hit and run driver after she left the dance hall in 1934. It is believed the phantom named Resurrection Mary is buried in Resurrection Cemetery, 7200 S. Archer Road. Records show that a young Polish girl around Mary’s age and description is buried there.

Ghostly Experiences

The first encounters with the phantasm Mary, happened in 1939. People reported seeing her jump on cars’ running boards or hitching a ride. Witnesses’ descriptions matched that of Mary in life.

One surprised man gave Mary a ride and danced with her. Her skin was cold. She was distant and didn’t talk much. When he drove her home, she asked to be let off on Archer Street, near the cemetery. She ran from the car and disappeared before reaching the gates.

Sightings of this phantom increased in the 1970s when the cemetery was being renovated. Ghostly activity usually increases when places are being worked on.

A man called the Justice Police Department and said he saw a girl peering out of the cemetery gate and thought she was locked in. The investigating officer shined his spotlight into the burial grounds and called to her over his loudspeaker. He noticed that the bars had been bent, and saw hand-prints. The bar seemed to be seared. Metallurgical experts could not explain how the bars were bent. Cemetery officials denied this account, saying a truck backed into the gate. They had the bars removed.

Others have reported seeing her walking along the road, but Mary disappeared before authorities arrived. Some say Mary was in the middle of the road. They braked to avoid hitting her, but she vanished.

Apparition or Lore?

Phantom hitchhikers are the subject of folklore. In the majority of the accounts, it is a beautiful young woman. She is on an isolated road, late at night. The diver is a lone male. He stops and asks her if she needs help. She must go home. He gives her a ride. She appears to be cold. He gives her his jacket or sweater. When they reach her home, she vanishes along with his garment. That night or the next day, the man knocks at the door of her home and is told that the girl was killed in an accident years before and appears on the anniversary of her death. He is shown a picture and recognizes her.

He wants to make sure that he was not told a tale and goes to her grave where he finds the garment he lent her folded neatly on top of the stone.

Usually, urban legends happen to a friend of a friend of a friend. Details generally vary, but the theme is the same.

With Mary, there are many witnesses. Some gave their names. There are also the police reports. Experts examined the cemetery’s bent bars. Pictures of them exist. Photographs can be tampered with….

Evidence seems to indicate that Mary in not the ordinary phantom hitchhiker.