However, Pittsburghers have also named the ghosts haunting various spaces, all in an apparent attempt to add significance, character, or, in some cases, legitimacy to supposed sightings. These ghosts are sometimes used to brand a business, as is the case with Harold\u2019s Haunt, a queer-friendly Millvale bar named after a resident \u201cmalevolent presence,\u201d<\/a> or acknowledge the city\u2019s history, which stretches back to the American Revolution.<\/p>\n At the University of Pittsburgh, history is depicted in the Cathedral of Learning\u2019s Early American Room, described as emphasizing \u201clife in the 17th century (New England) for early English settlers.\u201d But the room has become known for more than its worn wood furniture and heavy iron fixtures \u2014 ghost hunters and paranormal investigators know it as housing the spirit of Martha Jane Poe McDaniel, whose handmade quilt, donated by her granddaughter E. Maxine Bruhns, former director of Pitt\u2019s Nationality Rooms Program, spreads across the two-floor, life-sized diorama\u2019s four-poster bed.<\/p>\n But, according to Michael Walter, the manager of education programs for the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Program, they don\u2019t talk about Martha anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause it was entirely fabricated by [Bruhns],\u201d he tells Pittsburgh City Paper. \u201cAnd it was something that she perpetuated because it was good publicity for her.\u201d<\/p>\n Walter says they decided to put a stop to the legend a few years ago because it obscured the \u201cunique history\u201d of the Early American Room and the Cathedral\u2019s 30 other Nationality Rooms, each of which highlights a different country or culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would have groups come in and sign up for a Nationality Rooms tour and say, \u2018We want to go to the ghost room,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cAnd they didn\u2019t even know there were other rooms that had interesting stories to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n While some were curious about the ghost, he says the stories also scared away school groups with young children.<\/p>\n The development might disappoint believers, especially those claiming they saw Martha fluff pillows or move objects in the room (as reported by Pitt\u2019s own publications<\/a>). But Walter believes it stands as an example of \u201cfake lore,\u201d which may seem folkloric but has no basis in a \u201cshared community story.\u201d<\/p>\n Walter says Bruhns, who died in 2020, \u201cwanted to believe\u201d that her grandmother was in the Early American Room, adding that she even spent an evening there to collect evidence. \u201cShe freaked herself [out] just by her imagination and left, and then talked about it for decades,\u201d he says, recalling how Bruhns then blamed various incidents on the ghost, including a water bottle falling out of her backpack and, more perplexingly, her home toilet exploding.<\/p>\n Despite being initially freaked out, Bruhns would go on to host Halloween night events in the room, encouraging people to join her and tell spooky stories.<\/p>\n With Martha\u2019s ghost finally put to rest, so to speak, Walter says the Nationality Rooms program, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary<\/a> this year, will focus more on its stated mission, benefitting the school and broader community \u201cintellectually, empathetically, and socially\u201d through the \u201cpreservation and sharing of cultural knowledge through educational programming.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re accentuating the abundance of valuable creativity of cultures that make up this region,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n Anyone interested in seeing the Nationality Rooms program in action can attend various events<\/a>, including a free upcoming Holiday Open House on Sun., Dec. 7, during which guests can experience a wide range of festive cultural traditions, cuisine, music, and more. <\/p>\n Still, Martha\u2019s fabricated legend appears relatively harmless compared to the gruesome origins of other Pitt ghosts. Walter recounts how, while attending an on-campus party, caterers told him about the mistress of a former chancellor who died by suicide in Bruce Hall, where her restless spirit now roams.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/EarlyAmerican_Room_pitt-quilt.jpg\")
Bedroom of the Early American Nationality Room at the University of Pittsburgh\u2019s Cathedral of Learning Credit: Aimee Obidzinski\/Courtesy of University of Pittsburgh Communications and Marketing<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/EarlyAmerican_Room_pitt-sampler.jpg\")
Sampler in the Early American Nationality Room in the University of Pittsburgh\u2019s Cathedral of Learning Credit: Aimee Obidzinski\/Courtesy of University of Pittsburgh Communications and Marketing<\/p>\n