1918 SIU performance hall where the university president died on stage in 1935
1100 Lincoln Drive, Carbondale, IL 62901
Research updated June 2026
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All Ages
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$$
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Campus building with accessible entrances; interior seating
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Est. 1918 · Southern Illinois University History · Death on Stage 1935 · Carbondale Performing Arts
Southern Illinois University constructed Shryock Auditorium in 1918 as the primary performance and assembly space on the Carbondale campus. The building was named for Henry William Shryock, who served as SIU's president and was a central figure in building the institution's profile in the early twentieth century.
The defining event in the building's history occurred on April 13, 1935, when Shryock died suddenly while addressing an audience from the auditorium's own stage. The precise circumstances of his death — whether cardiac or otherwise — are not detailed in the sources consulted, but multiple accounts confirm he collapsed and died during a stage appearance at the building that bore his name. The irony of dying on stage in an auditorium named for him has kept the story in circulation for nearly ninety years.
The auditorium remains SIU's principal indoor venue for concerts, lectures, and university convocations. It hosts the university's major events calendar and is accessible to students, faculty, and the public during scheduled programming. WSIL-TV, the local Carbondale television station, has covered the building's paranormal reputation in regional news segments alongside other SIU campus sites.
Sources
The connection between Henry William Shryock's 1935 death and the phenomena at the auditorium bearing his name is the most historically grounded ghost attribution in Carbondale's haunting tradition. The ghost is called 'Henry' by those who work in and visit the building, the name linking directly to the documented historical event.
The self-activating stage light is the phenomenon cited most specifically. Witnesses report a single light switching on without anyone at the control board — an effect that, in an environment with extensive electrical infrastructure for stage production, carries more significance than a residential light blinking on its own. Objects going missing and reappearing is a secondary report, consistent with decades of use by rotating casts, crews, and student staff.
A shadowy figure near the stage and the sounds of footsteps in empty areas of the building round out the documented accounts. Castle Perilous Games, which operates Carbondale ghost tours, includes Shryock as a stop and cites the Henry legend as its centerpiece. WSIL-TV's local news feature confirmed the building's status as one of the more widely discussed haunted sites in the SIU community.
Notable Entities
Attend a concert, lecture, or performance at Shryock Auditorium, the historic centerpiece of the SIU Carbondale campus. The building is also a stop on Carbondale ghost tour routes, cited for the stage light that switches on by itself and the shadowy figure reported near the stage — attributed by local tradition to Henry William Shryock, who died suddenly here on April 13, 1935.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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