Is Helen Peabody ghosting us?

Regardless of whether you believe in ghosts, Helen Peabody’s legacy is haunting

By Miami University

September 30^th, 2025

Every year in the weeks leading up to Halloween, people start asking to hear ghost stories involving Miami University. One of their favorites features Helen Peabody, the first principal (aka president) of Western Female Seminary, better known today as Western College.

Even those who never attended Western or Miami know about Miss Peabody’s ghost.

Keeping with the spirit of the season, bestselling author Leanna Renee Hieber ’01 has co-written a new nonfiction book released yesterday, America’s Most Gothic: Haunted History Stranger Than Fiction.

She has dedicated one of the chapters to Western’s eternal headmistress. During her research in Walter Havighurst Special Collections in Miami’s King Library, Leanna came across a common thread that she shared in her book.

“Helen Peabody demands respect or she will haunt you. Because this is now codified lore, it means students will test it. Particularly male residents of Peabody Hall.”

People walking into Peabody Hall by the front door are greeted by the portrait of Helen Peabody, taken around 1855, when Miss Peabody arrived in Oxford to become principal of the new Western Female Seminary, later renamed Western College for Women.

A formidable force, Miss Peabody didn’t hate Miami men, Leanna assures us. She was merely frustrated as she wanted to keep Western women focused on their studies. Miss Peabody was quoted as saying more than once, “Miami men are always troublesome.”

America’s Most Gothic is important to Leanna and her co-author, Andrea Janes, because they want to share the hearts and beliefs of the women they’ve profiled.

In Miss Peabody’s case, she began her tenure in 1855 when few laws protected women — no domestic abuse laws, no right to vote, no rights for property, and often no bodily autonomy rights. Miss Peabody’s goal was to cultivate women’s minds and educate them thoroughly before sending them out into a world where they would have little say, Leanna explained.

Miss Peabody was known to be controlling of her environment, and she expected absolute greatness of her students because she believed in them. As a result, anything that distracted her pupils irritated her, especially the men across the street at Miami.

So when and why did this real person with a very real history get caught up in ghost lore? Was it when Peabody Hall and Western became part of Miami University in the 1970s, with male students moving into her building?

As Leanna has chatted with people about her book, other Miami alumni have shared their own story interpretations. Most have the same throughline of don’t disrespect her portrait or something will happen to you. There is another set of lore, though, that revolves around building renovations.

Peabody Hall today.

Peabody Hall and Helen Peabody are intricately intertwined. If there were no building, would the ghost stories fade away?

Leanna Renee Hieber ’01, author, actress, and ghost tour guide, will discuss how the classic tropes and atmosphere of Gothic literature affect how we tell ghost stories during the Oct. 16 Miami University webinar featuring her new book, America’s Most Gothic — Haunted History Stranger than Fiction. Highlighting the Miami/Oxford chapter, she will share more about Helen Peabody during the noon webinar.