The Hull House Museum

Posted: 04.11.2025 | Updated: 04.11.2025

There’s a historic building in the even more historic city of Chicago that has been a significant contributor to the American immigrant experience. 

We’re talking about the Hull House. If you’re unfamiliar with the history behind it, it was one of the first social welfare programs designed for immigrants at a time when xenophobia was on the rise and immigrants were rife for exploitation in America. 

However, apart from its status as a historic landmark, it’s achieved the notoriety of a different kind. These days, it has a reputation as being one of the more haunted buildings in Chicago. Rumor has it that the ghost of the founder of the Hull House herself still walks these halls. 

Keep reading on to learn just who this ghost could be, what she might be doing there, and which other ghosts roam this haunted museum. After you’re done, we’re sure you’ll want to learn even more about haunted Chicago. The best way to do that is by booking an in-person ghost tour with us at Windy City Ghosts.

Is the Hull House Haunted?

Oh, decidedly, yes. Locals familiar with the Hull House will tell you to walk gingerly if you’re keen to explore the old building and legends like the Devil Baby whose story still stands out today as especially grim and terrifying.

Hull House History

The history of Hull House in Chicago is very much the history of the American immigrant. Founded in 1889 by prominent reformers and activists, Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, it represents a fascinating turn of culture in America. 

Addams came from an extremely wealthy and privileged family. After higher education and reading about the world’s ills exposed her to the woes of those less fortunate than her, she resolved to do something about it. 

At the end of the 19th century, America was experiencing a major immigration boom due to economic opportunity and the high need for labor in the States. This meant that, unfortunately, many immigrants who had just arrived in America experienced more than their fair share of discrimination, harassment, exploitation, scams, and crime. 

The Hull House operated as a sanctuary from all of that. It provided housing for poor and new immigrants coming to Chicago and offered them amenities like free childcare, job training, and healthcare. Hull House would also offer connections to local trade unions, cultural events, and English and citizenship classes, making those new immigrants well-prepared for life in the States, both socially and legally. 

It would go on to play a major role in child labor laws, juvenile justice reform, adult education, the women’s suffrage movement, and the peace movement. And while the original Hull House is no longer in operation, it has inspired countless offshoots and imitators that continue Addams’ original mission. Today, the original mansion building and dining hall remain open as part of the Hull House museum.

Hauntings at the Hull House

Of course, a legacy of goodwill and social reform aren’t the only things Hull House has left behind. Over the years, many different rumors and stories have sprung up. Each one tells a different tale, but they all arrive at the same conclusion: the Hull House building is haunted by ghosts today. 

These ghost sightings and rumored paranormal activity are said to be strongest in the nursery room and the dining halls, where people experience a wide variety of creepy phenomena, from invisible bodies bumping into them to overhearing whispered voices in empty chambers. 

Perhaps, these two rooms attract the most ghostly attention because they represent the most lively and social places when Hull House was in active operation. Maybe these ghosts just want to keep the party going in the afterlife! 

There’s also one particular ghost that is seen more corporeally, and that is the ghost of Jane Addams herself. Said to wander the halls today, still dressed in her turn-of-the-century garb, Addams continues to keep a watchful eye over her historic legacy. 

Some say that she may be the same ghost as the Lady In White – a ghost who haunts Hull House – while others say that the Lady may be an unrelated woman named Millicent. Catching more than a fleeting glimpse of Addams is rare, although signs of her are said to still remain in the building after she’s “clocked out” of her night watch shift. 

If one goes towards an area that her ghost was previously inhabiting, it’s said that the temperature in that spot – and only that spot – will drop dramatically. Even during the summer, those “cold spots” will feel like you’re standing with a tee shirt on in the Arctic. 

The Devil-Baby

However, mysterious ladies aren’t the only ghosts said to be haunting the Hull House. In fact, we haven’t even mentioned the house’s most famous ghost story yet. That is the story of the Devil-Baby, and this one dates back all the way back to when the Hull House was still in operation. 

The story begins with an immigrant woman who was married to a man’s man. In fact, he was such a man’s man that he hated the idea of having anything but sons. As life is wont to do, it didn’t go according to plan for him, and he had daughter after daughter. 

After his sixth daughter was born, he swore that he’d rather have the Devil’s baby than another daughter. Evidently, the devil heard his wish for his seventh daughter was born with satanic features like cloven hooves and even horns on her head. 

The baby was said to have been brought to Hull House – a great shame for its family – and it was hidden away from prying eyes. However, rumors inevitably spread, and people lined up around the blocks for hours, trying to get a glimpse of the supposed monster. 

Was it just a tall tale?

Jane Addams herself denied that the house ever hosted such a child but whether that was her true belief or whether she was just protecting the secrecy of the family is up for debate. To her dying day, she dismissed it as a tall tale at worst and a way for women to bond over the failures of their husbands, at best. 

 “Save for a red automobile which occasionally figured in the story, and a stray cigar which, in some versions, the newborn child snatched from his father’s lips, the tale might have been fashioned a thousand years ago,” she said, in response to the numerous variations of the tale she had heard over the years. 

Haunted Chicago

Maybe you’ll also be able to get a glimpse of Jane Addams if you’re brave enough to visit the Hull House on your next trip to Chicago. Just make sure not to bring up the tale of the Devil Baby to her when you do – she’s said to still be a bit testy on that particular subject! 

If you liked this story and want to learn similar tales, check out our Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. They spotlight other offbeat ghost stories all over the United States. Checking our blog is another good way to stay up-to-date with all the latest ghost stories and haunted spots in Illinois. 

If you want to explore Chicago ghosts up close, a ghost tour with Windy City Ghosts is the best way to do that. Our guides are knowledgeable and enthusiastic and can provide even more information on the area. 

Sources:

• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hull-House
• https://www.hullhousemuseum.org/about-jane-addams
• https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-hauntings-jane-addams-hull-house/