As the weather begins to turn colder, and October looms on the horizon, Halloween traditions are set to begin at Benet. “Nightmare on Maple Street” is only a month away, so there is no better time to uncover the mysteries surrounding the fourth floor of our school.

Welcome to a new series of the Benet Herald: “Benet Investigates,” where each column will explore the hidden truths of our school and its history.

Uncovering the mysteries of Benet’s fourth floor requires a journey through its long and storied history. On November 15th, 1898, Benedictine monks established the St. Joseph Bohemian Orphanage, which was created to serve young, Eastern European children from the Archdiocese of Chicago. Originally, twelve children lived at the orphanage and were cared for by the monks of St. Procopius Abbey and the sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery. Students received an education in everything from specialized business training to embroidery, but the orphanage lacked stoves, fuel, adequate bedding, decent food, and any stable source of income. Still, the orphanage continued to grow over time and eventually constructed a bakery, laundry, chapel, print shop, and extensive dormitory (now known as Benet Hall) to house many more students. As time progressed, the orphanage began to take in children referred by the Juvenile Court of Cook County, which put a strain on its resources and faculty. In 1956, the orphanage closed and the building evolved into Benet Academy.

But do remnants of the orphanage still exist? Any Benet student who has walked by the smokestack or the small cemetery on campus would know that history surrounds the school, and ghosts of the past are never quite forgotten. The smokestack, seen from the library windows, once powered the boilers of the main building. It used coal and oil to pump out hot water that fed into the building’s radiators and kept everything warm. The cemetery sits slightly west of the baseball field and quietly remembers the young children and students who died of illness in the early 20th century.

And what about the mysterious fourth floor? Do ghosts roam the halls and watch over current Benet students? It depends on who you ask. In the 2020 blog article “Remembering Lisle,” a local Lisle author mentions that urban legends persist about Benet’s history. This unnamed author interviewed Father Jude D. Randall, O.S.B., a Benedictine monk of St. Procopius Abbey and a long-serving former president of Benet Academy. Fr. Jude was asked about ghost sightings specifically and replied, “Oh yeah, for years there have been reports… People seeing something upstairs or down the hallway …” Former Benet students have corroborated these reports, claiming that they saw faces in fourth floor windows and heard strange sounds coming from the attic of Benet Hall. Each October, Benet students host “Nightmare on Maple Street” and warn of shadowy figures walking near the tree line by the graves in the cemetery. Even Benet’s own Class of 2021 Herald writers found that “a 57.5% majority of Benet students have had a ghost encounter themselves.” While this all might seem far-fetched, 1994 Benet graduate Jennifer Levy explained, “There were always rumors about ghosts on the fourth floor, seen from street view. I can’t say for certain that the ghosts are real, but I do know that too many things happened that I couldn’t explain.”

The fourth floor now houses religion classes, offices, and stairwells for busy students hurrying to get to their next class on time. The halls of Benet now feel entirely routine, but those rushing stairwells hold a quieter, older footprint, where the past still waits just out of sight.

Bibliography:

“Benet Academy & Lisle Railroad Mysteries.” Remembering Lisle, www.remembering-lisle.com/Benet%20Academy%20&%20Lisle%20Railroad%20mysteries.htm.

Brill, Katie. “Benet Hall Turns 100.” Benet Herald, 23 Mar. 2020, benetherald.benet.org/2676/school-news/benet-hall-turns-100/.

Cieplak, Mattie. “Benet’s Little Orphan Annie.” Benet Herald, 29 Oct. 2020, benetherald.benet.org/2810/fa/benets-little-orphan-annie/.

“Fr. Jude D. Randall, O.S.B. Obituary.” Powell Funeral Directors, www.powellfuneraldirectors.com/obituary/FrJude-RandallOSB.

Mallin, John A. “St Joseph Bohemian Orphanage and Chapel.” johnamallin.com/project/st-joseph-bohemian-orphanage-chapel/.