'WHITE WOMAN' GHOST

Some tales are merely that - tales.  They have no true paranormal aspect to them, other than the ability to live forever as each new generation comes of age and the tale is retold.  One of the most prevalent themes in all of paranormal reseach is the 'lady in white', 'the woman in white', and other similar descriptors.

Wilkie Collins in 1859 published what is considered to the the first mystery novel, The Woman in White.  Other tales and reported sightings could fall into the category of the classic woman in white tale; a women wronged or harmed who restlessly wanders around in perpetual grief or remorse.

He no doubt drew inspiration from tales through out the British Isles of such women dating from medieval times.  The Irish Banshee may be a version that dates further back and reflect an older tradition still.

Hispanic cultures may reflect the motif in their weeping mother or similar tales associated with the violation of innocense.

The famed "resurrection Mary' version from Chicago, and its many locale variants, may be inspired by ancient tales, Collins ,or be a manifestation of some ofter process at work in society.  The resurrection Mary story emerged at a time when young ladies were first gaining freedom to go out without chaperones and in wild automobiles to dance to hot music and drink cold liquer.  There may be a tinge of a morality tale created to keep them 'down on the farm'.

One local version in Oklahoma is set near Conners College, near Warner, Oklahoma.    There is supposedly (I  have not verified any of this in the tradition of sharing a good story....) a College road that runs past the institution and passes a cemetery.  There, a 'white woman' has been seen by generations of people....

The informant told me the story "has been told for many years."

Marilyn A. Hudson, Historian and Storyteller....