Movie Box Review

Case No. 2004-005
Date: 9-25-04
Time: 10:00 pm
Weather:

Sun Data: X-rays – Normal; Geomagnetic Storm – Unsettled
Sunset: 7:34 pm
Sunrise: 7:33 am
Moon Data: Waxing Gibbous, 90% of moon illuminated
Moonrise: 6:29 pm
Weather: High 76º Low 59º
Visual Weather Check: Overcast

Equipment Used:
CellSensor™
Sony CCDTRV108 Hi8 Camcorder
Night Owl™ Explorer Night Vision Scope
Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer
Optimus Micro-35 Microcassette Recorder
Olympus VN-1800 Voice Recorder
Sony ICD-B7 Digital Voice Recorder
Nikon 90S OneTouch QD 35mm Zoom Camera

Paranormal Investigator: Dr. Rebecca Ray

Investigation Case: Waverly Hills Sanatorium - Louisville, Kentucky - September 25, 2004

INVESTIGATION 2004-005 PHOTOS
History of the location:

Louisville, Kentucky began its life as a city in May of 1778. At this time, the land was still part of the colony of Virginia, and it was Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson who signed the first Louisville town charter in 1780. Kentucky achieved statehood in 1792 when it became the first western star on the American Flag. Named for King Louis XVI of France in gratitude for French aid in the Revolution, Louisville grew slowly at first. It wasn't until 1828 when the population reached 10,000 that it got around to its official incorporation as a city. When the twentieth century began, Louisville's population had passed the 200,000 mark, a doubling in a single generation. In 1900, Louisville was still among the nation's twenty largest cities, twice as large as Los Angeles and Atlanta, and four times bigger than Dallas or Houston.

Although the Ohio River that the city sits on was a necessity for the growth of the city, it also was a source of problems. Louisville suffered through floods, malarial-type infections, and the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812. Unfortunately, this also made it ripe for the tuberculosis bacteria. This bacterium can attack any part of the body, but most usually attacks the lungs. During the first part of the Twentieth Century, it was the leading cause of death in the United States, and in 1900 Louisville, Kentucky had the highest death rate from tuberculosis in the country.

It seems that tuberculosis or TB (also known as Consumption) has always been with the human race. Evidence of TB has been found in the spines of Egyptian mummies and it is known that the disease was common in both ancient Greece and Imperial Rome. During some periods of history TB may have lessened its grip but it never entirely let go. For centuries health practitioners were unable to help patients afflicted with tuberculosis. Physicians in Rome recommended bathing in human urine, eating wolf livers, and drinking elephant blood. Many treatment regimens included fresh milk: human, goat, or camel. It was realized as far back as the 16th century that the disease was contagious, but besides blood letting of the patients or seeking an audience with the king to have him lay on healing hands, there was not much hope for sufferers. Over the years the treatments would change and could vary from country to country. Patients were told to rest or to exercise, to eat or to abstain from food, to travel to the mountains or to live underground. During all of this, TB claimed victims by the millions. At the end of the 19th century, Robert Koch found the microorganism Mycobacterium Tuberculosis was responsible for the disease, and this gave him a substantial enemy to fight. However, it would still be several decades before a cure was found.

Construction of what now stands as Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky began March of 1924. At the time, this was considered to be one of the most modern tuberculosis facilities in existence. In October of 1926 the sanatorium opened for patients featuring four stories of patient rooms, a cafeteria and kitchen, an operating room, and plenty of solarium porch space on each floor for the patients. On the fifth floor was the heliotherapy department where those suffering from tuberculosis of the bone would be treated with sunlight. There was also a roof top swing set for the children, a nurse's station, a kitchenette, and access to the elevator maintenance in what is now known as the “bell tower.”

Due to the continuing efforts of several scientists working around the world, Selman A. Waksman finally found an antibiotic in 1943. Streptomycin purified from Streptomyces griseus was first administered to a human on November 20, 1944 with remarkable results. Not only did the disease immediately stop its progression, but the bacteria also disappeared from the patient's sputum and he recovered fully. Due to this antibiotic, by the mid 1950s tuberculosis had been virtually wiped out from the Louisville area, and in 1961 Waverly Hills Sanatorium closed its doors as a tuberculosis hospital.

The building didn't stay closed long, however, as in 1962, the building was reopened as Woodhaven Geriatric Sanitarium. Finding specific information about Woodhaven has proven difficult, but numerous stories circulate about patient mistreatment including squalid conditions, bedsores, exposure, electroshock therapy and other unusual experiments. Some may be folklore, but some must be true as on July 25, 1980, Woodhaven was court ordered to close do to improper patient care. (Some sources site this date as in 1982)

This time, the building stayed closed. Everything was auctioned off and the doors were locked for good.

Amazingly from this time until the late 1990s, the main building remained virtually as it was, with some minor wear from time. However, in 1996, Waverly and the surrounding property were bought by a local Louisville man who had ideas all his own. In 1998, this owner began plans to demolish the building and erect a 150-foot tall statue of Jesus Christ and an adjoining Christian meditation center. After successfully demolishing all the buildings except the main hospital and the laundry room, he was stopped by an injunction because the building is on the National Historic Register's endangered list. Not one to let a little setback stop him, the owner went to plan B: let the building decay and get it condemned. He opened the building up to vandals; letting them smash out windows, porcelain toilets and sinks, and basically destroy anything they could get their hands on. Walls became covered in graffiti, doors were torn from their hinges, radiators were ripped out, and you name it. Rumor has it that he also fired his employees and refused to pay them, telling them to take what they could from the building for their final pay, forcing them to steal brass and marble. This wasn't enough, though. He next began digging around the foundation of the building to try to make the foundation crack. He dug as deep as 30 feet, but this building is solid concrete and is fire proof, so it isn't going anywhere, fortunately. Evidence of his digging can still be seen today.
HAUNTINGS

It was during this time that accounts of strange activities at Waverly started circulating through the city. Rumors of “satanic rituals” taking place within the walls of the building were whispered, but what I feel was really happening was closer to vagrants moving in and locals visiting for drug deals. But other stories started surfacing as well. Waverly began to get a reputation as actively haunted. Many trespassers shared similar stories of phantom children playing hide and seek, doors slamming, disembodied voices, lights coming on when there was no power to the building, and some even witnessed a hearse drive up and drop off coffins.

Halloween weekend, 1999, the owner held “The Awakening of Waverly Manor.” He reopened the lobby and the first floor east wing for tours, a Halloween party, and a concert with local bands.

Stories of ghosts at Waverly continued to surface, and amazingly, most of them are akin to what others have experienced. Many have seen a little boy playing with his ball on the third floor, many people have witnessed “shadow people,” and there has been a report of a woman running from the building with chains on bleeding from the wrists shrieking, “Help me! Somebody save me!”

By 2001, this owner had given up and decided to sell the 29-acre property to the present owners. Thankfully, these owners are dedicated to restoring Waverly to its splendor, and have already made amazing headway!

In July of 2001, Triage Entertainment, the production company behind Fox television's “Scariest Places on Earth” decides to film an episode at Waverly and the Louisville Ghost Hunters Society was asked to participate as historians and guides. Although some of the moments on the show are “done up” for television, not all of it is, and it is worth watching if you have a chance!

Starting in October of 2001, and every year since, the current owners have had a Haunted Hospital attraction to raise money for the restoration of the building. If you are interested in more information about this, visit here: http://www.iscareu.com/waverly/

There have been a few private investigations at Waverly with comparable findings such as apparitions, pin lights, shadow people, “glittering” lights, cold spots, footsteps, doors closing or the sounds of doors closing, food odors, and electronic voice phenomena including some researchers claiming to have been told to “get out.” Others have reported objects falling on them, or unknown presences touching, pushing, or tripping them.

Room 502 seems to have taken on a life all its own through the years. Depending on whom you get your story from, the legend may vary, so I'll tell you a few, then tell you what my research shows. Room 502 was a nurses station, this we know. Legend has it that it was the scene of two suicides by nurses. One hanged herself in 1928, while the other jumped out of the room's window at an unknown time. During the time of the hanging suicide, it is said that there were mentally ill TB patients staying in the two rooms on the roof. Rooms 502 and 506 were the nurses' stations that oversaw these patients' rooms in 18-hour shifts. These patients had to go to a half door at the nurses' stations to get their food and medicine or to use the restroom that was adjacent to the nurses' station. When the nurse hanged herself, these patients had to continue to walk around her hanging body to use the restroom until the next nurse showed up for duty. Allegedly, the nurse was 29, unmarried, and pregnant. As to why the second nurse killed herself, I've never heard, nor could I find any record of it. However, I did find that the hanging suicide did take place, but not inside room 502, but in the foyer area directly outside of the room. Supposedly the documentary “Spooked” will have more details on this when it comes out.

One of the more odd occurrences at Waverly is the bizarre functioning of equipment, especially electromagnetic meters (EMF meters). Realistically, these meters should not even sound unless something magnetic has been encountered, and since Waverly has had no power to the building since the mid 1980's when the poles were knocked down and the wires removed, these meters should remain quiet while in the main building at Waverly. Paranormal investigators and ghost hunters also use EMF meters as a form of “ghost detector” as it is a widely held theory that ghosts or spirits are a form of energy that disrupts the natural electromagnetic fields when they are present. These meters pick up on this disturbance, and though it is not 100%, it is a good indicator that something may be present.
If I could digress a bit, another group that has been doing some research at Waverly has conducted experiments on the shadow people and have proven that they have mass. These anomalies trigger motion detectors! This is just another step in proving the energy theory since it is known that energy is mass.
Back to the EMF meters and other equipment, these electrical disturbances in Waverly have been reported to drain generators, melt equipment from the inside, and short out mobile phones.

In 2004, the movie “Death Tunnel” was filmed on location at Waverly. It is said it is based on local lore, legends, and history. I have not seen the film, but considering the main characters are five sorority girls, I have a feeling it is going to follow a bit of the typical horror film formula. This film is set for release some time in 2005. At the time of the filming of “Death Tunnel,” the filmmakers also made a documentary about Waverly Hills called, “Spooked.” Information about both of these can be found here: http://www.deathtunnel.com
THE BUILDING

Waverly Hills is private property, and trespassing is against the law. There are security guards on site 24 hours a day, and the owners live on the property as well. Do not trespass, don't even think about it. If you wish to visit Waverly, contact the Louisville Ghost Hunters Society for their next available tour.

To look at the outside of the building, the only damage you can see is the missing windows. Almost every window is missing from the building. Only on the Morgue wing have windows been replaced, this is the area currently being used as the security outpost.

Built in the “boomerang” or “batwing” style to keep the wind moving through the solarium, Waverly is uniquely shaped, with just the morgue wing coming out to what was known as the “body chute.” I'll get into that more in a bit.

Still located on the first floor of the building is the lobby, solarium and patient rooms, offices, medical labs, x-ray and dark room, a nurses station, a salon/barber shop, a dentist office, a library, the breaker and transformer rooms, cold rooms for meat and other food storage, an old electric/stone/water potato peeler (many believe it to be a meat grinder, its not), maintenance offices with a light indication system to let workers know if a cooler or transformer went out and needed repair, the north wing morgue.

On the second floor north wing is the kitchen area. This kitchen had the capacity and equipment to feed 500 people and a ventilation system that could completely change the air temperature every three minutes. Also on this wing were the bakery and the dining rooms. Serving 2,100 meals daily, the main cafeteria had the capacity to seat 328 employees and/or patients at one sitting and could be expanded to seat 448. One minor surgery/treatment room was located on the second floor as were a chapel, solarium and patient rooms, one kitchenette, one dinette, and two nurses stations.

Occupational therapy was held on the third floor, but otherwise it was basically the same as the others with one minor surgery/treatment room, solarium and patient rooms, one kitchenette, one dinette, and two nurses stations.

On the fourth floor, which many report to be the most haunted, were major surgery and the recovery rooms. Also located here was a waiting room, one minor surgery/treatment room, solarium and patient rooms, one kitchenette, one dinette, and two nurses stations.

What is referred to as the fifth floor is really just a few offices and some rooftop space. It was reserved for the heliotherapy department that treated TV of the bone with sunlight. Children with this disease had a swing set to play on while they received treatment. In these offices there was a very small nurses station and a kitchenette.

In the basement of the building there are elevator maintenance, access for the laundry building, crawl spaces for pipe maintenance, and an unidentified room containing a fire door.
THE BODY CHUTE

What is now called the “body chute” is actually a tunnel that leads from the hospital to the railroad tracks at the bottom of the hill. Originally, this was built as nothing more than an underground tunnel to ship coal and food/produce up the hill to the hospital more efficiently. However, as the deaths continued to rise, the staff thought of another use. One side of the tunnel is concrete steps, while the other side consisted of a motorized rail and cable system. Eventually, this is where the bodies of the dead would be placed on gurney tables and lowered to the bottom of the tunnel where hearses would picked them up for funeral arrangements. This tunnel was totally enclosed from the morgue wing of the hospital insuring that the patients would not see how many bodies were leaving the hospital to keep up their morale. Doctors discovered early that mental health in patients is just as important as physical health. At one point in time, Waverly had approximately one death an hour, and it is known that at least 63,000 people died at the hospital.

This tunnel is approximately 500 feet long, and has air vents every few feet to let in light and fresh air. It has been said that the tunnel was large enough to hold all the patients and staff as a bomb shelter during both World Wars if needed.
MY EXPERIENCE

Wow, where to start? I went to the 2004 Mid-South Paranormal Convention with fellow P.A.I. member Kelli Patrick on September 25, 2004 for the overnight investigation at the Waverly Sanatorium.

Our investigation started around 10pm in the cafeteria on the second floor. We'd recently been split into our groups, and were listening to Dale Kaczmarek speak on ghost photography when several of us suddenly felt extremely cold. I commented that my backpack felt like ice, and we all began looking for a source of a breeze, but could find none. The leaves on the trees outside were still. A few minutes later, the same feeling of cold came over us again, and again we were looking about for a source of this chill but found nothing. As we were looking, four of us happened to be looking towards the hallway windows and doors as a blond woman in a gown holding something over her mouth passed in front of one of the windows. She appeared to have a glowing effect to her, but what threw me the most was that she only passed in front of ONE of the windows, not the doors, or any of the other windows. All of us immediately commented, “Did you see that?” and one of our group ran to the hallway to find her, but there was no one there. My adrenaline was up! It was going to be a great night! None of us had our cameras at the ready, it happened so fast, but it was the kind of thing that I don't need to prove to anyone. I know what I saw.

When Dale was finished with his presentation, the official investigation started and our group went to the “body chute” first. It is an interesting place, not at all what I expected from what I'd been told or read. It is almost a peaceful place. While we were in there, we heard what sounded like the gate being slammed behind us several times, but when we'd check on it, the gate was always open just as we'd left it. At one point, we heard several voices talking right outside the gate, but when we went to explore, no one was there.

Next, we went to the Courtyard area. While we were there, this area had been decorated with fake tombstones and a coffin for the annual haunted house, so it seemed kind of silly to me, but I definitely had the feeling someone was watching from the third and fourth floor windows, but I never saw anyone there. Another member of our group took several photos, and a curtain was moved in one of them. We are still waiting to see if this was a person or not.

Then we returned to the second floor. Wow. With all the other people gone, and our lights shut off, the shadow people are clearly visible. I know what you may be thinking… but seriously. It's not like one or two, these “people” are everywhere in this building. They are like shadows that pass up and down the hallways, in and out of doorways, look out of windows, and it is just like someone is there. They actually move and break the moonlight. I'd never seen anything like it. At one point, they were literally all around us. I also witnessed pinpoints of light, and what I'll call “sparklers” for lack of a better term. I'd never seen anything like either of those before either. The “sparklers” were like bursts of glitter being tossed in the air with amazing light on them. I saw things like this on both the third and fourth floors as well. Also on the third and fourth floors we heard footsteps coming towards us when no one was there, and doors slamming.


Courtesy of Dr. Rebecca Ray: Waverly Hills Sanatorium - September 25, 2004

Mary?

Although not taken during our investigation, I am posting this photo here. It was taken by Christopher Saint while on location scouting for the film, Death Tunnel. www.deathtunnel.com This documented ghost photograph will be featured in the documentary, SPOOKED, The ghosts of Waverly Hills. www.spooked.org
"I was starting to head up the death tunnel, when a real bad feeling came over me, it was so heavy, I felt very sick. So I clicked my camera in front of me, and trucked up that tunnel and I swear there was something behind me. It was the most twisted feeling that anyone could have."
When Saint saw his photo, he was shocked to find what looks like little girl from the third floor of the building that some call "Mary." Mary is said to be playful, running up and down the hallways playing hide and seek with trespassers, but Mary's descriptions state that she has no eyes.
As you look at the original photo, it was taken from the bottom of the tunnel shooting up. The anomaly is on the right side, showing her left side profile. You can see her hollow eyes and "pixie" nose.

Mary? Inverted

Another interesting thing about this photo, is that it appears to be two photos. When it is turned upside down, three robed figures appear. Some think these figures look foreboding, but I saw them more as nurses, or nuns.
Both this photo and the original definitely show super-charged paranormal energy of some kind.
Christopher Saint's feelings on taking this photo are, "This photo has changed my life, her haunting image standing in front of me in the Death Tunnel, I will remember forever. The feeling of overwhelming sadness and loss, a bottomless pity reverberates her screams on my EVP recordings."
To see either the original or the inverted photograph in its entirety, click on the enlargement.

Courtesy of Paranormal Activity Investigators Report; Dr. Becky Ray
http://www.ghost-investigators.com/photographs/photographs.php?inv_num=19

Joined: 25 Jun 2003
Posts: 2

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 7:58 pm Post subject: Waverly Hills TB Sanatorium
I live in Louisville, KY and Waverly Hills (More commonly called Waverly Manor) is bar far one of the most haunted places on earth. During the tuberculosis scare it was a place to send TB patients and many died of TB/suicide/unkown reasons. I've been here and it is ridiculosly scary. It was on foxfamily's World's Scariest Places, and is being considered for MTV's Fear series. The official website is www.waverlyhillstbsanatorium.com/. I will be investigating it in the near future but i think you guys could do a MUCH better job than I considering I am only starting out. There is a chute where they would slide 100's of dead bodies down a day to keep the patients from seeing all their colleagues die. There is also the story of the nurse who hung herself because of the depressing atmosphere. I have talked to some security guards and have been told that when doing their morning walk everyday they can smell breakfast being cooked in the kitchen but the no one is ever cooking and the kitchen is completely trashed and vandilized/unusable. They also told me that one security guard was on duty by himself late one night and out of no where a Hearse drives up and pulls up to the crematory part of the building and two men in white suits get out open the door to the creamatorium (there is no door there anymore) and wheel out 2 bodies on a stretcher, put them in the hearse and drive off. I think this site is very worthwhile.
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justsimple



Joined: 28 Mar 2003
Posts: 1301
Location: East Tennessee
Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 11:46 pm Post subject: Re: Waverly Hills TB Sanatorium
Wow, I'd give about anything to go with! How do you get permission to go in there? Will you be spending the night? *sighs, shakes head* THAT would be a GREAT hunt!



Edie

_________________
It's not the voices in MY head that bother me, it's the ones in YOUR head that do.
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LPE1



Joined: 25 Jun 2003
Posts: 2

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2003 6:47 pm Post subject: umm
its very hard to get in...u basiclaly have to sweet talk the guards into letting u in. Every now and then they give tours of the place for 20 bucks a head. I went earlier in the year for a school photography project, and got in good with the guards then. My friend who went with me is looking into getting on the security staff there and is always talking the the gurads online. But an interesting note is that many of the pictures I took for school contained orbs. It was broad daylight too. Where are you from? We might be able to get u in with us. As far as what our plans are once we investigate...I don't know. Like I said its very rundown and unsafe so the owner might not want us there overnight (for insurance purposes). I believe the tours are for 2 hours and as far as I know thats all we might be able to get...but I think that would be enough...I mean this place is THAT haunted. We're working on a website once I get it up I'll post a link and stuff but we're always lookin for people with similar interests to join us on hunts. There is a message board somewhere that people share their Waverly experiences at...i'll post that link sometime too...once i remember it. We're called Louisville's Paranormal Exerience by the way. Hince my name LPE1
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justsimple



Joined: 28 Mar 2003
Posts: 1301
Location: East Tennessee
Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2003 11:30 pm Post subject: Re: umm
We're way up in the hills just north of Knoxville TN. It'd be just a little more than a quick trip up there.



If you're on the tour, could you slip away easily, and set up the gear where it's quiet? As long as you weren't there more than a couple of hours, and managed to leave when the group leaves...



I'll put this one on my list of weekend trips! Thanks for the info!



Edie

_________________
It's not the voices in MY head that bother me, it's the ones in YOUR head that do.
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tinkerbel218



Joined: 28 Oct 2003
Posts: 1

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2003 8:09 am Post subject: reply
I read your comment and as one of the security guards up there, nobody is allowed up there, but I will be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have about the tb hospital and send you pictures of the place if you would like. In fact that place is really haunted, I personally and a couple of other security guards have encountered some scary things happening. The hospital when you walk in to it you think of just an old building when in fact it is one of the scariest and most haunted places around, but as you walk through and get to the fourth floor you start to feel things happening all around you and you will get spooked. BEWARE OF THE FOURTH FLOOR.



All the sayings about this place are not just rumors or myhts they are 100% true if the right people are telling you the truth.



Take my word for it.
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bfinch



Joined: 30 Oct 2003
Posts: 1

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2003 11:01 pm Post subject: ??
so there is no way to get in?? are they doing tours tmw night? they could make a killing
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stinkycheez



Joined: 07 Apr 2004
Posts: 10

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 5:18 am Post subject: Re: ??
duuuude!! guess what. i live a couple of roads from the tb hospital! GO ME!



and the so called "body chute" is actually a coal chute! my guitar teacher knew somebody that worked in the tb hospital. they said that coal would be slid out the chute for the train. you know the set of train tracks along dixie highway? (well, you would only know about them if you lived around here) that's where the coal was dropped. near the tracks.

and people are staying the night there this summer. they know the owner. Tina something.... i forgot her last name....



did you know that the tb hospital was actually a nursing home from 1967 to 1980? 1980 was when the building was finally shut down for good.



another story about the tb hospital is that sometimes you'd see a woman running out the front screaming and crying and her arms flailing with bloody wrists...



and they open the tb hospital for about a week every year around halloween i still haven't been there though... *damn*



and when my guitar teacher was little, him and his friends would go into either the main building or the building where the black tb patients were housed, and they went up a bunch of steps with a big metal door at the top, and then he decided to pound no the door 3 times. then somebody on the other side did the same thing. creepy. cool, but creepy.



would you like me to see if i can think of any other info about the tb hospital? i might be able to go on for a long time
Edited by: stinkycheez at: 4/7/04 6:20 am

http://www.ghostpix.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=5941&sid=b22db7de5b4aeca85ab7f29d047bdc86

2004
--------------
* Renovation of the laundry building continues.
* Another upgrade to the building... windows have started to be replaced.
* The movie "Death Tunnel", was filmed on location at Waverly Hills Sanatorium. Story is based on local Legends, lore, & hauntings. Set to be released in Halloween 2005.
* The documentry "Spooked" also filmed at Waverly by the same production company as the movie "Death Tunnel". The documentary explores local legends, lore, history, and hauntings. Due to be released in Halloween 2004?
* Halloween - Waverly is reopened again for tours & a haunted hospital attraction. Proceeds go to renovation of the Waverly building & property.

Copyright © 2003, 2004
Waverly Hills Memorial & Historical Research Group

Yeah, I have many crazy story's about stuff that has happened to me and other ppl I know up there. In 96 or 97 , I went up there with family and friends and took a video camera. We caught some amazing things on film. We have orbs, and this strangse mist/smoke. I have seen that in some pic. on Keith's site. The best of all was a ghost! An old man in the tower. He is transparent,but he is visual. He turns and look's right at us when were filming him. Spooky!!! Many other things. I will post other story's on your site. I love that place. I have been going up there since I was a little girl. But none here recently.
Also I was wanting to know if you have ever heard of a man named Peter Moscow?
He's speaks with ghost and records there voice's on tape. My mom talked to him first when he was a guest on a local news show early in the morring. She talked with him about the ghost that is in our home. A previous owner killed himself here and his sprit remains. Many of strange things have happened here also with him. But now we are kind of used to him and we just give him his space.lol. Well you can write me back any time you want, I would like to talk to you more about things. Thank you for your time. -


I got my pictures back today and I am absolutely THRILLED! I dont know how well they are going to scan....they are ofcourse dark, so I dont know if you will be able to se what everyone who has looked at them will see. In one, there looks like there is something at the end of a dark empty hall. In another, there seems to look like someone at the end of a flight of stairs...and the other is the best...I tried very hard to keep all people out of my pictures. I only wanted to capture whatever the film would see. In the room where they did the arts and crafts....there is soemeone standing to the vey far left hand side of the picture. I thought that maybe someone had stepped into the picture. After letting about 10 diff people look at it, they all said the exact same thing.....it looks like a little girl, maybe 10 - 12 years old and she has on a either a sleeveless (or very short sleeve) bluish colored dress or gown. It stops right above the knees or right at it. She has her arms hanging down, byt crossed in front of her and she appears to be holding onto something. I kept looking at this pic off and on all day.....then it dawned on me like a load of bricks....could this be mary? I am not sure of Mary's age....but it would fit really well....a young girl, and of in all places, the arts and crafts room? It is very plain to see, but you cant make out a face. The hair seems to be shoulder length. I thought and thought back to that night, and there was NOONE there in a blue dress or blue shorts with a matching blue shirt that I can recall. I will try to get them scanned if you would like to see them. I hope to go back in October as well, Thanks so much!

This account of the Brooch is a chilling, yet heartwarming true story about an experience that a lady named Victoria L. Hall had when she was a young child visiting the sanatorium when it was Woodhaven Geriatrics Center.


As a young child I was always eager to help others. While in grade school at St. Paul's on Dixie Highway a group of my friends and I formed a little after school-club. We would make little trinkets and cookies for the sick and shut-in.One fall day we had made arrangements to visit the Old Waverly Hills Sanatorium. During the early 60's the TB hospital had been turned into one of Louisville's first nursing homes.
As we entered the massive building we all huddled together. At first it was startling.
The air in the building was musky and bursting of stale urine. As we moved along the shadowy and dungeon like corridors crying and ear-piercing moans filled our ears.

Unprepared with what we had heard and smelled a couple of the girls ran from the building. Guardedly the last two of us took hands and began to peer over half doors into ominous and dingy rooms. Even at the young age of 11 or so our hearts were touched. To this day I can still conjure up the sounds, sights, and odors of years long ago that I encountered in that building.

Some of the people were lying on beds. Others huddled in corners. Suddenly turning around the other girl had run and I found myself all alone in the shadowy and fear-provoking corridors.
As I turned the corner I peered over the half door at a teeny frame of a lady huddled in a corner. She was naked, but quickly moved toward me. Frantically I backed away from the half door.
Without any forewarning she reached over the half door grabbing my sweater. The room and halls were cold with a draft that swirled around my legs. I pulled away from her, but not before she grabbed my sweater again. I soon realized that she wanted my sweater and without hesitation I quickly pulled it off handing to the skeleton like figure.

Like a flash she moved across the room grabbing a cardboard box. Opening the box she frantically dug through it searching for something. She stood up and tossed something shiny over the door. Clicking down the hall I couldn't imagine what it might be. Scouring the floor I found a beautiful pearl brooch. I quickly picked it up and laid it back on the half door. Through the whole event the lady never spoke a word, but her piercing green eyes spoke a thousand words to my heart. Several times I placed it back on the half door and repeatedly she tossed it over the door towards me.

I soon understood that it was her gift to me for giving her my sweater. I certainly wanted nothing in exchange for my gift. She would not accept the broach back no matter how many times I put it back on the half door. She simply continued to pick it up and throw it towards me. I remember kissing the brooch in front of her and walking away. My heart had been touched by an act of love and appreciation that to this day some 40 years I have never forgotten. I can still see the microscopic lady huddled in the corner wrapped in my sweater. Over the years I wondered about her. Who she was, did she have family?
I know that from that day forward I was propelled into a destiny of compassion and caring for others in a way that only God could refine over the years as I journeyed through life.

When I saw the Waverly website and talked with Ron I knew that through that experience others would be touched by this story.

Are you wondering whether I have the brooch today? I don't know how over the many years of moving and growing and life itself, but I do!

It's as beautiful today as it was to a young girl of 11years old with wide sparkling eyes as she left such a sorrowful place with her treasure.

I wear it often and have had many people comment on it and so it opens a conversation whereby I can share such a cherished experience.

The journey of that day started me on a wonderful nursing career of many years allowing me to cherish and love the suffering and dying in ways I don't think I would have ever been able to do.
Please feel free to email me and share with me your story or questions.

God bless,

Victoria L. Hall

Courtesy of The Brooch by Victoria L. Hall