MILWAUKEE — In Milwaukee, there is a ghost haunting a theater. It's not just the Riverside Theater. You can find the human remains of this ghost under the stage of the Skylight Music Theater. his name is Clair Richardson, and he has been known to cause some pretty mysterious happenings inside the theater over the past 30 years.
Richardson founded the Skylight Theater in 1959 by Cathedral Square before it moved to the Third Ward in the early 90s.
“He said when I die I want to be buried beneath the stage so that whatever happens in my theater happens over my dead body," Michael Unger, the artistic director of the Skylight Music Theater, said.
There is a shrine dedicated to Richardson beneath the stage. It consists of his urn, his tie, a rose, a picture of him, a light that is constantly shining on him, and a shot glass of whiskey that always needs to be filled otherwise mysterious things can happen.
“And two computers went down completely simultaneously the sound computer and the video computer and we were about to go to air so we ran downstairs we checked the shot glass it was empty so we quickly refilled it, found some new computers, and then the show went on on time and as scheduled," Unger said.
Before every show, stage managers have to check that the whiskey glass is still full. Sometimes the whiskey evaporates, so it has to be refilled.
The story of Clair Richardson is an example of the types of stories you can hear from American Ghost Walks. It’s a company founded in Milwaukee by Allison Jornlin that hosts haunted tours throughout the city. It has been so successful, that American Ghost Walks has expanded to 30 cities in 7 states and Puerto Rico.
“I can’t say that it’s not spooky and at times scary, but it’s not a haunted house. No rent-a-ghoul has been hired to jump out at you," Jornlin said.
Her walking tours celebrate local history, people, and folklore. Jornlin extensively fact-checks each story. Tour guides bring thick binders with newspaper articles and photos on each ghost walk.
“Ghosts do not perform on demand, and that’s not really the purpose for the tour. It’s to help you see the city in a different way. It’s to help you appreciate those who have gone before," Jornlin said.
Some stories are historical like the sinking of the Lady Elgin boat in 1860 in Lake Michigan or the Third Ward Fire of 1892. Others are more folklore like lake monster sightings.
“Back in the 1890’s the country was awash with these types of stories," Jornlin said.
There were multiple lake monster sightings in Milwaukee and even in the Milwaukee River in the Third Ward.
“It was actually local fishermen who first noticed that there was a lake monster haunting our shores," Jornlin said.
American Ghost Walks started in 2009. Ever since she was a child she was interested in ghosts and local haunts. Her mom would the family listen to Richard Crowe tell stories of haunted Chicagoland locations. Later in life when Jornlin was a teacher, she would research local ghost stories during her summer breaks. She and her brother started hosting ghost tours shortly afterward. In 2019 after receiving a lot of positive feedback, she quit her teaching job to pursue American Ghost Walks full-time as a 'professional weirdo' as she called herself.
"And a lot of these stories that we tell are about historical incidents and the paranormal goings-on that went along with them," she said.
The company prides itself on doing its own research and finding new stories. American Ghost Walks doesn't make up stories for effect.
"We're out here uncovering real history and celebrating local folklore," Jornlin said.
The company has been able to expand so much given its reputation among customers and its competitors. If another tour group is closing, Jornlin will pay for the rights to tell those stories.
"We have paid over 100,000 to other tour operators around the country to compensate them fairly for their intellectual property," Jornlin said.
The alternative would be stealing ideas kind of like how comedians have been caught using other comic's jokes.
Jornlin is breathing life into these forgotten stories and there is no better time to dive into Milwaukee’s history of haunts than Halloween.
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