North Hall Fire, Slippery Rock State Teachers College, 1937

On October 16, 1937 Homecoming preparations at Slippery Rock State Teachers College went awry and the original North Hall dormitory caught fire. Everyone escaped the blaze but the building was a total loss. Ox roasting is dangerous business!

An alert bystander captured the scene on 16mm film. Slippery Rock University historian Bob Watson later added a voiceover describing this historic event. Watch the video to the end to see Emma Guffey Miller and Dr. Charles Miller, the college president, in the ground breaking ceremony for the new North Hall.

Original 16mm film transferred to laser videodisk by Dr. Mark Chase in 1991. Converted to MPEG (54 MB) by Judy Silva and Melba Tomeo with the assistance of Brian Danielson, SRU Instructional Technology. The laser videodisk is in the Slippery Rock University Archives.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Emma Guffey Miller
• Slippery Rock University
• North Hall Fire
• Dr. Charles State Teachers College
• Fire

[MrsVolpe]

I lived in North Hall my freshman year. I really liked it because it was not co-ed (it is now). I heard all about Emma, too. However, no one actually died in the fire and Emma is just a myth.

[linda22003]

My mother lived in this dorm; the fire happened during her freshman year. She used to tell me about escaping in just her nightgown. She was always careful of hotels where she would stay, and always made sure of a way out.

[steve6146]

Great video! My Grandfather was Dr. Charles S. Miller, President of Slippery Rock in this video! Wonderful to see his face! Steve Miller Jr.

[malibu246]

... the first time i viewed this, was around halloween my freshman year when i lived in the current north hall when they showed it and told us about the haunting of Emma....i had nightmares for weeks to come .. pathetic i know, but yeah, Emma never sent me any surprises ...