Fjelstad Hall- Dolorita Larson
Dolorita Larson, known affectionately as Dolly to students, past and present, was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Vern Larson. She was born in New Richmond, WI, and moved to Canby, MN in 1932 [1]. She was a junior attending Concordia College in 1953 and was listed as a Business Education Major. Yearbook entries show she was an active student involved in several Lutheran organizations, the Nu Sigma Rho sorority, and a member of the band [2]. Her junior year, however, is far less involved than the previous two years, as the records of 1953 show that she dropped out of most of these groups, though she was a member of the Ski Club [3].
As the legend goes, it was stress from upcoming finals that caused her to commit suicide, though there is no record of her leaving a note or indicating why she had committed suicide to anyone, before or after. There is also ambiguity as to where, exactly, she died, though all stories agree it was by hanging. The attic chapel of Fjelstad is one theory, as the room has been closed to student access since the early 1950s. Many ascribe Dolly's death as the reason. Others believe she was in her dorm room at the time. A remodel of the building in 1984 makes the exact location of her room unknown, and as there were rooms in the now-renovated basement, it is possible her room no longer exists at all [4].
The strange events in the building began shortly after and were attributed to Dolly haunting the building in which she had died. Students staying in Fjelstad have claimed to have objects, particularly jewelry, moved around their rooms, doors opening and shutting without reason, and the volume on radios, and later iPod docks, changing at random. Girls staying nearer to Dolly's old room, though where it was is never specified, have said they occasionally hear their names being called by an unfamiliar female voice. When they go to look for the caller, there is nobody there. Mysterious orbs, often claimed to be ghostly manifestations, have been seen near the attic chapel, another reason some believe Dolly died there [5].
Despite all of this, she is typically seen as a benevolent spirit and few complain about her presence.
Dolorita Larson was an actual student and her death is something that can be conclusively linked to campus. She is the only well-known ghost of Concordia with such details and thus her story at least contains credibility. Her fellow spirits, two unknown female spirits and Al Gershbach, have no known information. The ghost of Hoyum does not even have a full myth; her story is an almost perfect replica of Dolly's. It's a telling trend that the only female ghosts were suicide victims and their reasons were being overcome with their own emotions.
Citations
[1]“Dolorita Larson Obituary.” Canby News, January 30, 1953.
[2] Concordia Yearbook, 1952. Concordia College, 1952.
[3] Concordia Yearbook, 1953. Concordia College, 1953.
[4] Concordia College Archives, Ghost File. Vic Quick “Research Assignment,” December 6, 1996.
[5] Mikki Eken. “Ghosts haunt campus.” Concordian, October 29, 2004.