Stevens' Fire Ball

An audio telling by John Burton of the Farmville-Prince Edward Historical Society can be found here.

The story of Dr. Edith Stevens, for whom the nursing building is named, is another great tragedy. On Halloween of 1945, Stevens was experimenting in one of her classes in the basement of East Ruffner (now The Rotunda) when something went horribly wrong. A fire broke out, and Stevens guarded the students as they made their escape. She put herself out in a fountain near the building and was taken to the hospital, but her injuries were too severe, and she passed on.

In life, Stevens was great friends with Leola Wheeler whom Wheeler Residence Hall, which neighbors Stevens Hall, is named for. There is a monument to Wheeler in the courtyard between the colonnades and the Chi tunnel at Longwood. It is said that when her dear friend’s monument is unkept, Stevens becomes angry and manifests her spirit into a ‘ball of fire’ which hovers either above the front door of Stevens Hall or in its attic window.