The Spirits of Queens University

Posted: 07.02.2025 | Updated: 07.02.2025

Sometimes darkness hides where we least expect it, and, come nightfall at Queens University at Charlotte, it manifests. Ghostly apparitions, strange noises, and other inexplicable activity have become such a regular occurrence at this historic institution that it’s almost expected you’ll have an eerie tale of your own to tell come graduation day. 

But the next question on your mind may be, why here? The answer begins with the founders of Queens University.

Read on to discover what happened at Queens University at Charlotte that made it a hub for spiritual activity. Better yet, experience the chill for yourself in the heart of Charlotte. 

Stroll through the streets of Uptown Charlotte in the steps of bootleggers from the city’s dark prohibition-era past. Take a walk among the dead at Old Settlers Cemetery; all this and much more await you with Queen City Ghosts.  Visit our site today! Aching for more chilling tales of the unknown? Visit our blog. 

Is Queens University Haunted?

There is hardly any area of Queens University’s campus that hasn’t been touched by reports of ghostly happenings — from eerie spectral manifestations and poltergeist activity to strange sounds. They’ve been so pervasive that it leaves little doubt among students and faculty: Queens University is haunted.

History of Queens University

Queens College was founded by Rev. Robert and his wife, Margaret Anna Burwell, in 1857. First named the Charlotte Female Institute, it was one of the first of its kind, presenting a rare opportunity for women in the American South to receive an education. Queens College — in addition to its ever-evolving curriculum — underwent several transformations throughout its history. 

It moved to its present-day Myers Park campus in 1912, and later became officially co-ed in 1987. Then, in 2002, after already undergoing several name changes, it became what it’s known as today: Queens University of Charlotte. The private university’s most controversial change didn’t come until 2020, however, when a darker page of its past came to light, centering on its very founders. 

Slavery, an unforgivable evil today, was extremely common in the 19th-century American South, unfortunately, even among religious leaders. Research conducted by faculty at Queen’s University in 2020 concluded that the Burwells were no different. 

They weren’t just slave owners, but also engaged in their brutal treatment, holding white supremacy true to their hearts. In fact,  Robert Burwell, a Presbyterian minister, was called to serve at a parish in Hillsborough in the 1830s because he was an advocate for the Southern Presbyterian Church’s position that “slaves should not preach, be congregants of the church, be educated, nor be baptized.” The university’s task force also found that four of Queens University’s original board of directors were slave owners. 

Burwell Hall, named after Margaret Anna Burwell, has since been renamed as Queens Hall; her portrait was also removed and placed in storage. That still hasn’t kept her — or any other ghostly residents, for that matter — from making their presence known on campus.

Queens University Hauntings

Everyone tries to get out of Queen’s Hall by 10 p.m. Legend has it that if you stay later, you have a chance at seeing none other than the building’s former namesake, Margaret Burwell. She has been seen wearing a long, black, period-style dress, walking through as though she were watching over her beloved building. 

Queens University has also experienced a share of tragic deaths over the last century. One involves a female student who was staying in the Albright Residence Hall in the 1800s. Her family found out she was in a relationship with a woman. Not the end of the world today, but in the 19th century it was damning enough to make her slit her wrists. 

There have since been reports of loud knocking sounds coming from inside the walls of her former room. Some witnesses have seen the lover’s name, Julie, appear on the wall above the bed in blood-red lettering. 

A similar story has floated around Morrison Hall, where a student named Clara was staying during World War II. Her boyfriend returned from overseas, hoping to surprise her at her dorm room, but caught her with another man. 

From here, there are two different endings. One has it that the boyfriend – in a fit of rage — covered Clara’s mouth, tied a bed sheet around her neck, and pushed her over the bannister of the back stairwell. Another is that the grief-stricken Clara committed the act herself.

Now, those who have stayed in the room claim to feel another presence with them. Electronic devices are also known to act bizarrely, such as laptops turning on and off. A former administrator also had to repeatedly hang up his undergraduate diploma when it would fall down for no reason. 

More dorm room hauntings

There’s another unsettling story that comes from room 303 of Overcash Hall. A student woke up one night and saw her roommate slumped over the desk. She tried repeatedly to wake her up, but when she looked at her bed, she realized her roommate was still asleep. The figure at the desk sat up, prompting the terrified student to scream for her life before it vanished. 

Another student was shaken awake in the dead of night over at Belk Residence Hall. She looked around the room when she noticed her desk violently vibrating. It stopped as soon as she got out of bed to investigate. 

An hour passed when the student was woken again by the desk’s vibrations. This time, she naturally made a run for the door, when something even more frightening happened: the door locked by itself. A young girl’s face then manifested on the closet door. Another student had a similar experience three years later. The apparition of a young girl peeked out from the same closet door. 

Wallace Residence Hall also has its own haunted dorm, but interestingly enough, no one knows what number it is. It’s on purpose to prevent students from being scared out of their room assignments. So far, all that’s been reported are banging sounds and cold spots. 

But if that’s the case, why is it that this particular room’s number is kept secret? Perhaps there’s something even more chilling than we could imagine that roams Wallace Residence Hall. 

Haunted Charlotte

Charlotte is filled with a rich history, centuries worth of stories that hum long after the lights go out; some good and some so bad that they’ve left an ominous cloud looming over one of its most prestigious institutions: Queens University of Charlotte. Rev. Robert and Margaret Anna Burwell built it with the intention of serving God and preaching the word of peace. Yet behind closed doors, they participated in the most barbarous acts of evil ever known to humanity. 

It’s this very evil that has left Margaret’s ghost forever bound to her legacy, forced to roam the halls of a building that no longer bears her name. That’s just one layer of the amount of tragedy Queens University has experienced over the years. Stories of betrayal, personal tragedy, and regret have touched every corner of its sprawling campus, leaving it festering with ghosts and making it one of Charlotte’s most haunted locations. 

It’s only in Charlotte where you can truly walk among the dead. Home to the highest number of graveyards per capita, this historic city is filled with haunting stories from its prohibition-era past.  Don’t just hear it, experience it on a ghost tour that will plunge you into this city’s darkest chapters and leave you with a hair-raising chill. Visit our site today and book your spot with Queen City Ghosts! 

Curious about what else lies in Charlotte? Read more by visiting our blog, and stay up to date with us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Sources:

• https://www.queens.edu/
• https://www.queens.edu/president/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2023/09/QueensHistoryTaskforceFinalReport1.pdf
• https://www.charlottemagazine.com/school-spirit-the-ghosts-of-queens-university-in-myers-park/
• https://kcfreemanauthor.com/2019/10/16/haunted-halls-of-queens-university/