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Runaway Slave, Nicodemus, Haunts AOPi Sorority House

Before the Civil War, the town of Athens was split over the slavery issue, and several local houses were used as stops on the Underground Railroad. Many of today's greek residences had tunnels running through them and under streets to other houses.
Many of the Athens residents at the time, however, were sympathetic to the Southern cause, and when they discovered that the house located at 24 E. Washington was operating as a station on the Underground Railroad, they did not take the news lightly. An angry mob ransacked the house and flushed out one runaway, a man named Nicodemus.
Nicodemus, who was hiding in one of the house's secret passages, ran toward a basement tunnel for safety. But he was shot as he fled through the tunnel. The men captured him, and Nicodemus died as they dragged him out of the house.
Strange occurrences began to surface almost 100 years later, when the house, the oldest house in Athens, served as a residence for the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority.
In the beginning of Fall Quarter of 1972, the sorority sisters invited a local witch to the house one night to read tarot cards and predict their futures. The witch, who had never visited the house before, claimed, upon entering a fourth-floor bedroom, the house was haunted by the ghost of a man.
The man's presence was felt more distinctly two weeks later when a woman napping in the house said she was awakened by the sensation of a man's hand trying to strangle her. When she finally managed to make her way out of the bed and down the stairs, she was convinced that someone was trying to kill her.
Later that same quarter, a resident of the house reported she saw the figure of a man, about 6 feet-4-inches tall, dressed in ragged clothes in the house. A search of the entire building resulted in nothing other than frightened college students.
The ghostly visitations continued after the winter break. One woman, Barb, reportedly heard whining and scratching noises coming from the sealed-off passage entrance. Small objects began to disappear. Locked doors were found open two nights in a row. Searches still resulted in nothing more than jangled nerves.
Later in 1973, one Zeta, Valerie Christie, had a strange nighttime visitor.
"One night I had just begun to doze off, when I felt someone in bed with me. I kept trying to sleep, but it was useless," Christie said."I didn't feel jeopardized, but it was very uncomfortable. Someone was caressing me and his hands were all over me. Finally I went to sleep in the other room."
Eventually, the residents of the Zeta Tau Alpha house decided the only way to deal with their ghost was simply to accept him as another member of the sorority. The women learned to live with Nicodemus the way they learned to live with each other, and they even wished him "good night" on their way to bed.
The OU chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha was closed in 1988, according to Kevin Shannon, the assistant director of student activities. He said the decision to close the chapter was most likely a national office decision, not university sanctioned. After the Zetas left the house, it was occupied for a short time by the Sigma Nu fraternity, and it is now home to the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority.
Sophomore Peggy Feurey, a professed critic of the ghost stories and resident of the house at 24 E. Washington, said the women haven't seen Nicodemus or traces of him lately.
"We say stuff about it all the time. If doors open and shut, we always say, 'It was Nicodemus.'" However, that is the extent to which today's residents feel Nicodemus's ghostly presence.
- compiled by Katie Schlegel