Little Theater (Rutgers University)

The building, currently named the Little Theater, serves primarily as a satellite building for the theater department today and has been around since early 1918 when the New Jersey College for Women was founded. This college was renamed Douglass College in 1955 and then renamed again in 2007 to the name people know today as Douglass Residential College, which is one of the Rutgers New Brunswick campuses. This building used to be named the Dramatic Arts Building, but the name has shifted, though the building looks relatively the same now as it did during these earlier days. 

Starting in 1925, Jane Inge began a career as director of the theater, which functioned as the main theater building for the NJ College for Women. She worked here until the late 1950s when she made a name for herself as a tenacious and dominant person and an immersed member of the community. She lived in an apartment on the top floor of the building, frequently visited the dining hall, and even showered in the now-drained and abandoned Jameson Hall swimming pool.

Yes! Back in the day, these dorms often had swimming pools in the basement, but they were abandoned due to high amounts of drowning deaths, with a girl mysteriously drowning in the case of the Jameson Pool. Jane was known to flicker the lights of the stage area on and off to get the attention of the actors rehearsing for their play. Many reports have noted that the lights still flicker during rehearsal, although an electrician was called to fix any potential problems. The only thing was… the electrician said the electric system was perfect and did not need repairs. Jane still haunts the young actors she never got a chance to direct herself, and students on this tour should be wary if they ever make their way to the Little Theater or the basement pool of Jameson Hall.

Another terrifying aspect of this haunted theater is that the theater students were quite adamant about a second ghost lurking around the basement in addition to Jane. This ghost is a little girl who messes with the faucet in the basement women’s bathroom. Actors reported that this ghost had turned on the faucets during a rehearsal upstairs. However, this time a facilities member said it was likely a water pressure issue and not a ghostly occurrence. The actors seemed pretty assured, and this place most definitely has all the creepy vibes, especially the women’s bathroom in the basement. One thing is for certain, if you believe in ghosts, then make sure to keep your guard up in these spots, if not the entirety of the Little Theater.

Duvert, E. (2019, October 19). Haunted rutgers. Rutgers University. https://www.rutgers.edu/news/haunted-rutgers 

Jessica. (2020, October 31). The Best Little Theater in Rutgers – Douglass Little Theater. Rutgers Rarities & Unexplained Phenomena. https://rutgersrarities.com/2020/10/31/example-post-2/ 

Meier, A. (2013, October 31). Ghost legends continue to haunt Rutgers campuses. The Daily Targum. https://dailytargum.com/article/2013/10/ghost-legends-continue-to-haunt-rutgers-campuses 

Rutgers Photos. (n.d.). https://kenlew.com/collections/Rutgers/images/index6.html