November 5, 2024 • 17 mins
Explore the darker side of Iowa City ...
A somber statue - once a golden bronze - is now the subject of countless curses, hauntings and general misfortune.
Few dare to meet it’s soot embalmed gaze; those that due invite sickness, dreadful curses and even death.
This - at least - is the reputation of Iowa City's Black Angel.
Works Cited:
https://www.iowa-city.org/weblink/0/doc/1481292/Electronic.aspx#:~:text=There%20are%20also%20a%20few,re%2D%20minder%20of%20her%20sins.
https://notebookofghosts.com/2023/07/08/the-black-angel-of-iowa-fact-fiction/
https://vocal.media/horror/iowa-the-black-angel
https://adventuresincemeteryhopping.com/2024/03/29/iowa-city/
Noah and Noodles here!
We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.
Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.
Follow each adventure visually at:
https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Cruisin' down the street.
I wonder where this road wouldlead.
So many possibilities.
Care to share what you think.
Oh moon dolls, what do you see?
Back road odyssey.
(00:25):
A solemn figure lurks in theshadows of Oakland Cemetery.
Few dare to meet itssoot-embalmed gaze.
Those that do invite sickness,dreadful curses and even death.
This, at least, is thereputation of the Iowa City
(00:45):
Black Angel.
To the solemn graves near alonely cemetery, my heart, like
a muff muffled drum, is beatingfuneral marches.
Charles Baudelaire.
(01:07):
Long ago the Black Angel was notthe menacing, shadow-laden
presence its modern reputationsuggests.
In fact it was beautiful,emitting its shining gold
throughout the comparativelyrustic Oakland Cemetery in Iowa
City.
Sitting here, 102 years afterthe placement of the statue to
(01:28):
its now iconic location, whathappened?
What is the real story behindIowa City's haunted Black Angel?
My dog Noodles and Iinvestigate.
I'm driving to the statue now.
From what I've heard from thepeople that I've driving to the
statue now, from what I've heardfrom the people that I've
talked to, most people who go toOakland Cemetery see it as a
(01:50):
kind of pilgrimage, not to seeloved ones, not to walk around
in a beautiful cemetery, but tostand in front of the black
angel statue to see it in person.
So many stories often reallyidstories, if you really look into
the story have sprung up aroundthis statue since its placement
in this cemetery in 1912.
(02:13):
I've got so many questionsgoing through my head right now
but, as always, let's startsimple.
Looking past the many reporteddeaths, curses and hauntings now
associated with the statue, howdid the Black Angel come to
exist?
What's the human story behindits sculpting?
(02:34):
I am not supernatural, I amjust myself, andre the Giant.
Anything supernatural isusually grounded in some degree
of normality, some seed ofhumanity.
(02:57):
The very supernatural story ofthe Black Angel is no different.
Our story begins with agrieving mother.
Teresa and her dear son, eddie,moved to Iowa City from their
native Bohemia in 1887.
Their time together is, by allaccounts, wonderful, wonderful,
(03:19):
but brief, brief.
Eddie dies of meningitis inIowa City at 18 years old.
His body is laid to rest in thethen sparse Oakland Cemetery.
A singular cement stump isplaced above his body, a sign to
all passing that a life belowwas cut short.
(03:40):
The quote Teresa chooses to beinscribed upon her son's
memorial reflects this idea.
To bid adieu.
Do not weep for me, dear mother.
I am at peace in my cool grave.
(04:15):
The loss of a son is so oftentied to the site of that loss.
With the death of Eddie, iowaCity, its people, small
buildings and nearby farmsbecome a dark reminder, both of
what was taken away and whatcould have been, a reminder too
close and too constant for agrieving mother.
(04:37):
So Teresa leaves town in searchof relief, distraction, hoping
to forget In time.
She settles in Eugene, oregon,and marries Nicholas Felderbert,
who was, by most accounts,incredibly nice and seems to
have kept the memory of her lostson hidden, or at least
(05:00):
suppressed, deep within her mind, but in a continuing trope
throughout the life of thisgrieving mother.
Good things never last,neverlast Nicholas, her new
husband dies suddenly in 1911.
(05:22):
And with this death a coldreality seeps back in my boy, he
got sick and die.
My husband, he got sick and die.
Now I am sick and soon I tooshall die.
Now I am sick and soon I tooshall die.
(05:43):
Teresa, in an interview toBlanche Robertson of the Des
Moines Register.
Where, then, after the death ofher husband, is Teresa to go,
except back to the remains ofher son, which she'd neglected
for years?
Once back in Iowa City, thesite that brought her such grief
years ago, her thoughts turnwhere else?
(06:05):
But to death, not only of herown fast-approaching departure,
but the deaths of her son andnow her husband.
One can imagine her standingabove the small tree stump
marking her son's body, thinkingmorbid thoughts as the rain
quickens.
His life was short.
(06:29):
She might whisper, but hismemory must not die with me.
She would commission a grandstatue amongst the modest graves
.
There is no exquisite beautywithout some strangeness in the
proposition Edgar Allan Poe.
(06:51):
Teresa then hires aChicago-based bohemian sculptor
to erect this grand monument.
She makes only one request tothis sculptor to erect this
grand monument.
She makes only one request tothis sculptor the stump now
marking Eddie's grave must beincorporated into the finished
sculpture.
And so time passes.
(07:17):
Teresa waits, so time passes,teresa waits, the sculptor
scopes On November 21st 1920, aflat car hauls in an eight-foot
massive statue depicting apondering angel pointing towards
(07:38):
the sky.
It's beautiful to all that seeit, but it's peculiar.
You see where most angelstatues are positioned with
their heads and wings uplifted,symbolizing an ascent to heaven.
The angel sculpture in thiscase has a face that looks
downwards towards the ground,with its wings not uplifted.
(08:02):
Oddities aside, the statuearrives slowly to its plot of
land in Oakland Cemetery.
The angel, then, encased in abeautiful golden bronze, looms
above the surroundinggravestones and memorials,
including, to Teresa's horror,her son's entirely
unincorporated stump, which hadstayed far away from the shining
(08:28):
statue.
It's this day, marked bydisappointment, that festers in
Teresa's mind until her death onNovember 18th 1924.
It is this day again that marksthe beginning of what would
become the Black Angel.
The stories of curses, deathsand ailments around the statue
(08:51):
all begin when Teresa's ashesare buried underneath the angel
statue.
She was so displeased with.
That very night.
After Teresa's ashes arescattered underneath the statue
and her sparsely attendedfuneral disperses, a storm rages
throughout Iowa City.
(09:12):
The next morning, residentsnear the statue wake to see,
(09:32):
among the fallen tree branches,leaves and debris, a single
solemn figure, once sobeautifully golden, cloaked in
black.
That is at least one of whatwould become many origin stories
(09:54):
behind the statue's mysterioustransformation.
All right, I am at the cemetery.
It's a nice day, a beautifulday, some would say.
So I'm going to walk around alittle bit before we get to the
statue.
Anyone that knows me knows I'mnot a big fan of scary
(10:16):
situations, but this story wastoo interesting to pass up With.
That said, here's my questionwhen it comes to curses, hexes,
hauntings, the supernatural ingeneral, is it the belief in
these things that make them areality?
Is it the very reputation ofanything supernatural that makes
(10:39):
them more likely to seemsupernatural?
Let's say I go with my friendsto the Black Angel statue at
night, half expecting forsomething to happen.
Am I more likely then toexperience something out of the
ordinary because I'm looking forit?
Or if I have a sickness later,a weird feeling later or during
(11:03):
my visit to the statue, is itonly because of my expectation
for that to happen?
Or is it, as a lot of peoplebelieve, that there's something
to the rumors of anysupernatural object or place
it's interesting to think about?
For now, as I make my way tothe Black Angel, it'll be good
for us to know at least some ofthe wild stories and beliefs
(11:27):
that have for so long shapedthis statue's eerie reputation.
If I am an angel, paint me withblack wings and rice.
Angel, paint me with blackwings and rice.
(11:48):
We start with the seeminglyprimary reason for its
reputation Its sudden change ofcolor from a brilliant gold to a
matted midnight black.
Some say Teresa was throughouther life an evil woman and that
her sins once buried tainted thestatue, changing the statue's
hue.
Some say a single lightningbolt struck the statue, turning
(12:10):
it black.
Yet others, as time passed,offer alternative, seemingly
unrelated tales explaining thecolor change.
A popular story tells of apriest burying his own son
beneath the statue.
The angel then turns blackbecause the priest himself had
committed the murder leading tohis burial.
(12:32):
Another report describes theday a man erects the statue over
his recently deceased wife.
It then turns black because ofher continued infidelity.
Whatever the case, the blackangel quickly becomes a beacon
for many myths, rumors andcurses that extend far beyond a
(12:53):
simple color change.
Anyone who kisses the angel,it's said, will die instantly.
Any girl kissed below thestatue at midnight will die
within six months.
Touching the angel at midnighton Halloween means death in
(13:15):
seven years.
To truly know, it's often said,you have to be there.
I'm standing in front of theblack angel.
I'm not one to tempt fate, evenif I'm hesitant to believe in
most things that can't really beproven.
So I'm standing a good fivefeet away from its base as I'm
(13:36):
talking right now, and let medescribe what I see.
So my first reaction is thatit's large.
It's a big statue, but alsoit's weathered.
You can see the stump that hadsince been moved, along with
Teresa's son from its originallocation and, yeah, there's a
solemnness to it.
And the surrounding area.
(13:56):
And, yeah, there's a solemnnessto it and the surrounding area.
Here's my question.
Standing in front of the BlackAngel, it's going to seem basic,
but stick with me.
How do things acquirereputations?
Is it how interesting the storybehind it is?
Is it where it's located?
When it was made?
Is there a grain of truth toany of these stories told?
(14:17):
All I know and all I can sayhere now, looking at the statue,
however it got here, whateverreputation it has today,
accurate or not, the Black Angelstarted with something deeply
human A mother and the death ofher son.
(14:38):
Most will insist, includingmyself, that the color of the
once golden black angel iscaused by nothing more than the
oxidation of bronze beingexposed to the elements.
But here's the core of thisstory.
Does this fact take away fromthe allure of the statue?
(15:04):
The thousands of curiouspilgrims visiting Oakland
Cemetery, the many stories ofcurses and very real accounts of
the unexplained around thestatue suggest otherwise.
Of the unexplained around thestatue, suggest otherwise.
As for me, I walk away from mypersonal visit to the Black
(15:31):
Angel in Iowa City's OaklandCemetery entirely convinced of
the statue's normalcy it is notcursed, hexed or otherwise
supernatural in any conceivableway.
Right, it's Noah here.
(16:05):
Hey everybody, thank you forlistening to Backroad Odyssey.
I appreciate every minute youspend listening to the show, so
obviously when you go to visitthe Black Angel you won't spend
that much time there.
I'd recommend it.
It's a very cool story.
The statue itself is cool, butthat'll take an hour and Iowa
City has so much more to offer.
(16:25):
Just like Iowa in general, theBlack Angel inspired a
restaurant of the same name.
There's many breweries.
I might do a Van Life Diariesjust about Iowa City and what
you should do there.
So stay tuned for that.
But otherwise, if you enjoy thework that we put into the show
all of the research taking aminute to rate, review and maybe
subscribe if you enjoy Really,really helps Noodles and I
(16:48):
continue to put the work thatwe'd like to in, so really
appreciate that.
Be good to each other.
Where to next?
Cruisin' down the street.
I wonder where this road wouldlead.
So many possibilities.
Care to share what you think.
Oh moon dolls, what do you see?
Back road odyssey.
(00:25):
A solemn figure lurks in theshadows of Oakland Cemetery.
Few dare to meet itssoot-embalmed gaze.
Those that do invite sickness,dreadful curses and even death.
This, at least, is thereputation of the Iowa City
(00:45):
Black Angel.
To the solemn graves near alonely cemetery, my heart, like
a muff muffled drum, is beatingfuneral marches.
Charles Baudelaire.
(01:07):
Long ago the Black Angel was notthe menacing, shadow-laden
presence its modern reputationsuggests.
In fact it was beautiful,emitting its shining gold
throughout the comparativelyrustic Oakland Cemetery in Iowa
City.
Sitting here, 102 years afterthe placement of the statue to
(01:28):
its now iconic location, whathappened?
What is the real story behindIowa City's haunted Black Angel?
My dog Noodles and Iinvestigate.
I'm driving to the statue now.
From what I've heard from thepeople that I've driving to the
statue now, from what I've heardfrom the people that I've
talked to, most people who go toOakland Cemetery see it as a
(01:50):
kind of pilgrimage, not to seeloved ones, not to walk around
in a beautiful cemetery, but tostand in front of the black
angel statue to see it in person.
So many stories often reallyidstories, if you really look into
the story have sprung up aroundthis statue since its placement
in this cemetery in 1912.
(02:13):
I've got so many questionsgoing through my head right now
but, as always, let's startsimple.
Looking past the many reporteddeaths, curses and hauntings now
associated with the statue, howdid the Black Angel come to
exist?
What's the human story behindits sculpting?
(02:34):
I am not supernatural, I amjust myself, andre the Giant.
Anything supernatural isusually grounded in some degree
of normality, some seed ofhumanity.
(02:57):
The very supernatural story ofthe Black Angel is no different.
Our story begins with agrieving mother.
Teresa and her dear son, eddie,moved to Iowa City from their
native Bohemia in 1887.
Their time together is, by allaccounts, wonderful, wonderful,
(03:19):
but brief, brief.
Eddie dies of meningitis inIowa City at 18 years old.
His body is laid to rest in thethen sparse Oakland Cemetery.
A singular cement stump isplaced above his body, a sign to
all passing that a life belowwas cut short.
(03:40):
The quote Teresa chooses to beinscribed upon her son's
memorial reflects this idea.
To bid adieu.
Do not weep for me, dear mother.
I am at peace in my cool grave.
(04:15):
The loss of a son is so oftentied to the site of that loss.
With the death of Eddie, iowaCity, its people, small
buildings and nearby farmsbecome a dark reminder, both of
what was taken away and whatcould have been, a reminder too
close and too constant for agrieving mother.
(04:37):
So Teresa leaves town in searchof relief, distraction, hoping
to forget In time.
She settles in Eugene, oregon,and marries Nicholas Felderbert,
who was, by most accounts,incredibly nice and seems to
have kept the memory of her lostson hidden, or at least
(05:00):
suppressed, deep within her mind, but in a continuing trope
throughout the life of thisgrieving mother.
Good things never last,neverlast Nicholas, her new
husband dies suddenly in 1911.
(05:22):
And with this death a coldreality seeps back in my boy, he
got sick and die.
My husband, he got sick and die.
Now I am sick and soon I tooshall die.
Now I am sick and soon I tooshall die.
(05:43):
Teresa, in an interview toBlanche Robertson of the Des
Moines Register.
Where, then, after the death ofher husband, is Teresa to go,
except back to the remains ofher son, which she'd neglected
for years?
Once back in Iowa City, thesite that brought her such grief
years ago, her thoughts turnwhere else?
(06:05):
But to death, not only of herown fast-approaching departure,
but the deaths of her son andnow her husband.
One can imagine her standingabove the small tree stump
marking her son's body, thinkingmorbid thoughts as the rain
quickens.
His life was short.
(06:29):
She might whisper, but hismemory must not die with me.
She would commission a grandstatue amongst the modest graves
.
There is no exquisite beautywithout some strangeness in the
proposition Edgar Allan Poe.
(06:51):
Teresa then hires aChicago-based bohemian sculptor
to erect this grand monument.
She makes only one request tothis sculptor to erect this
grand monument.
She makes only one request tothis sculptor the stump now
marking Eddie's grave must beincorporated into the finished
sculpture.
And so time passes.
(07:17):
Teresa waits, so time passes,teresa waits, the sculptor
scopes On November 21st 1920, aflat car hauls in an eight-foot
massive statue depicting apondering angel pointing towards
(07:38):
the sky.
It's beautiful to all that seeit, but it's peculiar.
You see where most angelstatues are positioned with
their heads and wings uplifted,symbolizing an ascent to heaven.
The angel sculpture in thiscase has a face that looks
downwards towards the ground,with its wings not uplifted.
(08:02):
Oddities aside, the statuearrives slowly to its plot of
land in Oakland Cemetery.
The angel, then, encased in abeautiful golden bronze, looms
above the surroundinggravestones and memorials,
including, to Teresa's horror,her son's entirely
unincorporated stump, which hadstayed far away from the shining
(08:28):
statue.
It's this day, marked bydisappointment, that festers in
Teresa's mind until her death onNovember 18th 1924.
It is this day again that marksthe beginning of what would
become the Black Angel.
The stories of curses, deathsand ailments around the statue
(08:51):
all begin when Teresa's ashesare buried underneath the angel
statue.
She was so displeased with.
That very night.
After Teresa's ashes arescattered underneath the statue
and her sparsely attendedfuneral disperses, a storm rages
throughout Iowa City.
(09:12):
The next morning, residentsnear the statue wake to see,
(09:32):
among the fallen tree branches,leaves and debris, a single
solemn figure, once sobeautifully golden, cloaked in
black.
That is at least one of whatwould become many origin stories
(09:54):
behind the statue's mysterioustransformation.
All right, I am at the cemetery.
It's a nice day, a beautifulday, some would say.
So I'm going to walk around alittle bit before we get to the
statue.
Anyone that knows me knows I'mnot a big fan of scary
(10:16):
situations, but this story wastoo interesting to pass up With.
That said, here's my questionwhen it comes to curses, hexes,
hauntings, the supernatural ingeneral, is it the belief in
these things that make them areality?
Is it the very reputation ofanything supernatural that makes
(10:39):
them more likely to seemsupernatural?
Let's say I go with my friendsto the Black Angel statue at
night, half expecting forsomething to happen.
Am I more likely then toexperience something out of the
ordinary because I'm looking forit?
Or if I have a sickness later,a weird feeling later or during
(11:03):
my visit to the statue, is itonly because of my expectation
for that to happen?
Or is it, as a lot of peoplebelieve, that there's something
to the rumors of anysupernatural object or place
it's interesting to think about?
For now, as I make my way tothe Black Angel, it'll be good
for us to know at least some ofthe wild stories and beliefs
(11:27):
that have for so long shapedthis statue's eerie reputation.
If I am an angel, paint me withblack wings and rice.
Angel, paint me with blackwings and rice.
(11:48):
We start with the seeminglyprimary reason for its
reputation Its sudden change ofcolor from a brilliant gold to a
matted midnight black.
Some say Teresa was throughouther life an evil woman and that
her sins once buried tainted thestatue, changing the statue's
hue.
Some say a single lightningbolt struck the statue, turning
(12:10):
it black.
Yet others, as time passed,offer alternative, seemingly
unrelated tales explaining thecolor change.
A popular story tells of apriest burying his own son
beneath the statue.
The angel then turns blackbecause the priest himself had
committed the murder leading tohis burial.
(12:32):
Another report describes theday a man erects the statue over
his recently deceased wife.
It then turns black because ofher continued infidelity.
Whatever the case, the blackangel quickly becomes a beacon
for many myths, rumors andcurses that extend far beyond a
(12:53):
simple color change.
Anyone who kisses the angel,it's said, will die instantly.
Any girl kissed below thestatue at midnight will die
within six months.
Touching the angel at midnighton Halloween means death in
(13:15):
seven years.
To truly know, it's often said,you have to be there.
I'm standing in front of theblack angel.
I'm not one to tempt fate, evenif I'm hesitant to believe in
most things that can't really beproven.
So I'm standing a good fivefeet away from its base as I'm
(13:36):
talking right now, and let medescribe what I see.
So my first reaction is thatit's large.
It's a big statue, but alsoit's weathered.
You can see the stump that hadsince been moved, along with
Teresa's son from its originallocation and, yeah, there's a
solemnness to it.
And the surrounding area.
(13:56):
And, yeah, there's a solemnnessto it and the surrounding area.
Here's my question.
Standing in front of the BlackAngel, it's going to seem basic,
but stick with me.
How do things acquirereputations?
Is it how interesting the storybehind it is?
Is it where it's located?
When it was made?
Is there a grain of truth toany of these stories told?
(14:17):
All I know and all I can sayhere now, looking at the statue,
however it got here, whateverreputation it has today,
accurate or not, the Black Angelstarted with something deeply
human A mother and the death ofher son.
(14:38):
Most will insist, includingmyself, that the color of the
once golden black angel iscaused by nothing more than the
oxidation of bronze beingexposed to the elements.
But here's the core of thisstory.
Does this fact take away fromthe allure of the statue?
(15:04):
The thousands of curiouspilgrims visiting Oakland
Cemetery, the many stories ofcurses and very real accounts of
the unexplained around thestatue suggest otherwise.
Of the unexplained around thestatue, suggest otherwise.
As for me, I walk away from mypersonal visit to the Black
(15:31):
Angel in Iowa City's OaklandCemetery entirely convinced of
the statue's normalcy it is notcursed, hexed or otherwise
supernatural in any conceivableway.
Right, it's Noah here.
(16:05):
Hey everybody, thank you forlistening to Backroad Odyssey.
I appreciate every minute youspend listening to the show, so
obviously when you go to visitthe Black Angel you won't spend
that much time there.
I'd recommend it.
It's a very cool story.
The statue itself is cool, butthat'll take an hour and Iowa
City has so much more to offer.
(16:25):
Just like Iowa in general, theBlack Angel inspired a
restaurant of the same name.
There's many breweries.
I might do a Van Life Diariesjust about Iowa City and what
you should do there.
So stay tuned for that.
But otherwise, if you enjoy thework that we put into the show
all of the research taking aminute to rate, review and maybe
subscribe if you enjoy Really,really helps Noodles and I
(16:48):
continue to put the work thatwe'd like to in, so really
appreciate that.
Be good to each other.
Where to next?
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.