Hey, it's Alan, and I just wanted to let you know that you can now listen to the ongoing history of new music early and ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime.Hey, it's Alan, and I wanted to share a show with you.
I think you're going to really like this.It's called Haunted Canada, and it's hosted by award-winning storyteller Nadine Bailey.It's perfect for the fall.This episode brings you something spooky in a place near and dear to many fans of Canada's game.
It's a tragic tale that takes place at the Hockey Hall of Fame and tells the story of Dorothy, the ghost that lives within it.Listen, if you dare.
Looming on the corner of Yonge and Front Street in Toronto, Ontario, is the iconic former Bank of Montreal. It is an impressive building that mesmerizes passers-by with its imposing presence.
But you're there for what's inside, a shrine to Canada's game.You're here to see the Great Ones jersey and take a glimpse at the silverware and trophies, including the Stanley Cup.
As you wander through nostalgic images, thinking of Timbits Hockey, encountering hockey idols, and cheering on your favorite team, you walk into the Great Hall and are mesmerized.
The stained glass dome creates a rainbow spectacle below, and then, from the corner of your eye, you see her. You scan over the second floor railing and your stomach drops.Your spine tingles.A woman with long black hair has just locked eyes with you.
But there's something not quite right about her.She senses you looking and then a scream gets stuck in your throat.You can only choke out a whisper. The woman disappears through the wall, then just as quickly reappears.
Your hockey fuel fantasies have now become a nightmare.You have just encountered Dorothy.I'm Nadine Bailey and this is Haunted Canada.Join me as we journey through the haunted hallowed halls of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
In the heart of Toronto's financial district stands the Hockey Hall of Fame, which formerly housed the head office of the Bank of Montreal in 1949 and served as a branch until 1982, when it closed for the last time.
Originally built in the Beaufort style in 1888 by architects Frank Darlene and S.G.Currie for $100,000, which would be around $3.3 million today.
The economic prosperity at the time was evident as the Bank of Montreal built one of Canada's most ostentatious and opulent buildings in downtown Toronto.
The facade has beautiful grand stonework, sizable rectangular glass windows with ornate columns between them, beautiful carvings and a stunning interior glass dome. Upon entering, visitors are transported back to a time of luxury and craftsmanship.
In the Great Hall is the 40-foot-high stained-glass dome which was designed with classical symbolism throughout, and features 24 fan panels depicting allegorical dragons guarding gold from eagles.
Surrounding it is a multitude of fruits and flowers, and in the center, there are eight circled bear emblems representing, at the time, the seven provinces and Canada.
The west wing of the building initially contained the manager's office, a boardroom, and a private apartment for the bank manager to use at his own discretion.And this is an important detail for today's story, so make sure to take note of it.
Those who visit are often filled with excitement as they're about to be surrounded by their passion for hockey and the memorabilia it houses.But if you take a minute and really sit in a quiet corner and take it all in, you might feel something else.
A melancholy sadness may even take over. From beyond the veil, a young woman may call to you as the Hockey Hall of Fame is where she now resides after losing her life tragically over 70 years ago.
And if you're brave enough, you may even call out her name.Dorothy.But don't be surprised if she answers back. Nineteen-year-old Dorothy May Elliott was a beautiful and vibrant young woman employed at the Bank of Montreal in the early 1950s.
She was independent and enjoyed working in the downtown Toronto area, making her own money and living her life.Dorothy lived in Etobicoke with her married sister Helen and would commute to Toronto every day to work as a bank teller.
She was a great employee who enjoyed talking to customers as they visited her desk daily to deposit or withdraw money.Her co-workers described her as always smiling and full of life.The life of the party, the most popular girl in the bank.
Dorothy probably had more than one secret admirer, as she was described as being a beautiful girl, tall and buxom, and that she looked like Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth.
And much like Hayworth's character in the movie, The Loves of Carmen from 1948, one day things took a tragic turn for Dorothy. On March 11th, 1953, Dorothea arrived at the bank before 8 a.m.
Her co-workers teased her for being so early, but she simply shrugged it off and smiled flatly.
The bank's longtime messenger later noted that this was much earlier than she was expected to be in, and that she looked pretty rough, probably had a night out.
and her coworker, Doreen Bracken, corroborated this statement and recalled Dorothea was wearing a blue knitted dress, but looked distressed and disheveled.
After greeting her coworkers, Dorothea walked past them and went upstairs to the women's washroom and seemed to stay up there for some time. The bank messenger saw her come downstairs for just a moment before returning to the second floor.
Unknowingly, Zita Rushbrook, another of her workmates, went upstairs to the second floor washroom just after 9 a.m.and rushed out screaming.The commotion was heard over the balcony that overlooked the main floor of the bank.
As the sounds of the screaming could be heard, the bank messenger sprung into action and ran upstairs, bursting through the door to find a horrific scene.Slumped in a Windsor chair was Dorothea May Elliott.
It seems that the 19-year-old had quickly taken the bank's .38 caliber revolver that was hidden in a drawer in case of emergencies.She then went upstairs to the washroom where she shot herself in the head.
We didn't hear a shot, remembered co-worker Doreen Bracken.The bank messenger immediately called for help. And when it arrived, he and an ambulance attendant carried Dorothea down the stairs to an awaiting ambulance that took her to St.
Michael's Hospital.She died 22 hours later. Doctors were amazed that she had lived so long, reported the Toronto Daily Star.The Toronto Telegram reported that an attractive young brunette may have been despondent over a love affair.
The next day, newspapers stated that she had harmed herself over losing her boyfriend who had left Toronto for a job overseas.
This sort of narrative, I hope, wouldn't happen today, as we have a deeper understanding of people's mental health struggles. Sadly, back in the 1950s, a woman's potential heartbreak was used to sell papers.
And heartbreak may have been at the center of Dorothea's anguish, but her boyfriend wasn't the cause.Her co-workers knew the real story. They alleged she was having an affair with the bank manager, who was a married man.
The same one who had access to the apartment on the second floor of the bank.Dorothea's tragic death shocked her co-workers and community.And although there were allegations of an affair, it wasn't the only explanation for her untimely death.
Over the years, many fascinating and upright, bizarre theories began to surface.
Some of these off-the-wall theories included that Dorothea had been stealing money from the bank, and when she was discovered, instead of risking being arrested and going to jail, she took her own life.
An even more outlandish tale, which is like something out of a Hollywood movie, had Dorothy supposedly helping members of the IRA, the Irish Republican Army.
The organization sought out to end British rule in Northern Ireland, thereby facilitating Irish reunification and bringing about an independent republic encompassing all of Ireland.
Somehow, the story was that the IRA had been plotting and planning to rob the Bank of Montreal to help fund their army back in Ireland, and that they had recruited Dorothea to help them.
If that isn't far-fetched enough, another theory was brought forth by a psychic who came forward to say that she had had a vision, that Dorothea had discovered a plan in which the bank manager, the chief of police, and a local judge were all conspiring together and embezzling money that was specifically set aside to help local farmers.
How did that lead to Dorothea's death by her own hands?Well, your guess is as good as mine.As you can imagine, all these theories gave locals something to gossip about.
But the story that remains and persists to this day is that Dorothea had fallen in love with the married bank manager. The two had hidden their affair by secretly meeting in the bank manager's apartment on the second floor.
Dorothea was young and thought that this was real love and fell head over heels for the older man only to eventually realize that he was never going to leave his wife.
The realization caused her to become distraught and overcome by heartbreak and sadness that she took her own life. There seems to be some validity to this account of events of Wednesday, March 11, 1953.
Doreen Bracken was the last person to see Dorothea alive, and in 2009, she recounted this story in an interview with the Toronto Star newspaper.
She remembered Dorothea as a beautiful, tall and sophisticated woman and recalled that tragic morning when she arrived for work at 8 a.m.and was shocked to see that Dorothea was already inside the bank.
She and her co-workers thought that this was odd as Dorothea didn't have to be there that early. Doreen also remembered that Dorothea was wearing a blue knitted dress.
And although she was always impeccably dressed and well put together, that morning she wasn't.
It stood out to Doreen as odd, but she had a busy morning ahead of her and had to get the bank ready to open and sadly didn't check on Dorothea to see what was the matter.
It's something that Doreen regrets to this day because by now you know what happened.Dorothea was found slumped and mortally wounded on a Windsor chair in the bathroom.
In that Toronto Star article, the bank messenger, identified as Len Redwood, said he helped transport her downstairs to the ambulance on that same Windsor chair.
The dark wooden chair, typical in offices in the 1950s, and this chair would remain in Len Redwood's possession.For many years, it lived at the family's cottage as a morbid piece of history.And it wasn't the only thing that remained.
Dorothea May Elliott's story became part of the bank's sad history, and it is believed that her spirit is still trapped in the building where she tragically lost her life.
After her death, the second floor women's washroom continued to operate in the bank for many years.But strange, unexplained occurrences began to appear on a regular basis.
Former employees, including Doreen and Len, who knew Dorothea in life, often recounted that after her death, lights flickered on and off, doors opened and closed when there was nobody around.
and even more disconcerting is that they remember feeling that someone was always next to them, watching them, even after the bank was empty of customers.That wasn't all.
Staff would often hear moaning and crying coming from the second floor women's washroom.These occurrences terrified bank employees, especially the women, who often refused to use the second floor washroom.
This caused quite a problem for the bank, and eventually they had to add another washroom in the basement.
With the bank's tragic past, it definitely would have been a scary place to work for anybody, but it seems that the staff got used to the many odd occurrences and went about their day.
After all, it seems that although Dorothy, as she's affectionately known, is often present, yet she has yet to harm anyone. The bank eventually closed in 1982 and sat empty for many years until the new tenant took over.
In 1993, the Hockey Hall of Fame moved in and Dorothea was there to greet them.Her ghost is still making her presence known to the hockey fans. Staff in the iconic building often hear footsteps in the great hall when it's empty.
These footsteps have been described as women's high heels. On other occasions, lights within displays will flicker on and off.Staff and visitors have reported a sense that someone is watching them or standing close to them.
Yet when they look around, there's never anybody there.Even more terrifying is what happened to Joanne Jordan, a Toronto musician. The harpist actually saw the ghost standing by the second floor railing looking down into the great hall.
Joanne Jordan had been hired to play at an event in the bank a few years before it became the Hockey Hall of Fame.
She was playing the harp, enjoying the beauty of the Great Hall's dome and the magnificent stained glass just above her, when she spotted a woman standing by the railing, just staring down at her.
Joanne was shocked and told the Toronto Star about it. I remember it so vividly because it's one of those things you'll never forget.
At the time, Joanne wasn't aware of the building's permanent resident, and that's when she learned of Dorothea May Elliott's tragic tale.After that, and in the years to come, any time Joanne had to play her harp at the historic building,
She made sure to never go up to the second floor by herself because she said that it's just too spooky up there.Joanne is right to avoid it as she's not the only one to encounter the Hockey Hall of Fame's ghost.
Jane Rodney was the hall's coordinator of Resource Center Services, and in a 2009 article, she recounted her own terrifying experience.
One busy summer afternoon, as the Hockey Hall of Fame was filled with visitors, she was disturbed by the sounds of a child's screams echoing throughout the great hall.
When she went to investigate, she found a young boy pointing at a wall and screaming, don't you see her?Don't you see her?The boy was terrified and just kept pointing at the wall.Yet, no matter how much Jane looked, she couldn't see anything.
When the boy calmed down, he was asked again what he was pointing at.The frightened boy stated that he had just seen a woman with long black hair and that she was going through the wall in and out, in and out of the second floor washroom wall.
Many believe that the young boy had an encounter with Dorothy and that she was making her presence known the only way she knew how. by appearing and then disappearing through the wall.
Rob Hines, who worked at the Hockey Hall of Fame as a special events supervisor, had his own very scary encounter.And he's still spooked by it to this day. Early one morning, Rob was overseeing his staff as they were getting ready for an event.
He entered the kitchen through a narrow area behind the second floor conference room to retrieve some coffee pots.Rob said that he suddenly felt an overwhelming feeling that someone was watching him.
Then he felt an unknown force compel him to enter the conference room. When Rob walked into the room, he saw that one of the chairs was turning all by itself.And then the chair began to move across the room towards him until it reached his hand.
Rob told the Toronto Star that, I'm rather skeptical about ghosts, but I just freaked out and I ran out of there. The historic building housing the Hockey Hall of Fame is a tourist attraction for hockey lovers worldwide.
But trapped beneath the living and the dead is the ghostly presence of Dorothy, or Dorothea May Elliott.She continues to wander through the landmark building, reliving her tragic death over and over again.
Should you visit or hear footsteps in the hallway when there's no one there, see lights flickering on and off, or encounter a ghostly apparition, don't fret too much.Remember, it's the spirit of Dorothy looking to connect from the darkness.
Take a few deep breaths and greet her with kindness.She might have died of heartbreak.Wish her well and be on your way. Thank you for joining me this week on our journey through the Haunted Hockey Hall of Fame.
Haunted Canada is sponsored by Eminem Ghost Tours.I will link it in the show notes.Haunted Canada is hosted and written by me, Nadine Bailey.Production and sound design is by Rob Johnston with help from Ralston Kufur.
Our senior producer is Dilya Vasquez. If you would like to support this podcast, please follow and share.And if you can give us a like and a five-star written review, that is always appreciated.
Also, you can follow me on our different social media platforms, or if you have a ghost story, haunting, or true crime that you would like for us to cover on this podcast, please email me through the website hauntedcanada.com.
Thank you from all of us at Haunted Canada and CuriousCast.Have a good night, everyone, and stay haunted.
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