The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports today that producers from SyFy Channel's "Haunted Highway" program will be coming to Iowa City early next year to learn more about Iowa City's Black Angel statue, located at Oakland Cemetary:
Mystery has surrounded the statue — which marks the grave of Czech immigrant Theresa Dolezal Feldwert, her 17-year-old son Eddie and her third husband, Nicholas Feldwert — from turning black over the years to the angel’s posture to the life of Dolezal Feldwert, who commissioned the statue. Stories have been passed down in the community since the statue was erected in 1912.
There are tons of stories about the Black Angel statue. The biggest one that I remember says that any non-virgin who touches the statue after dark will die instantly, but there are
other urban myths about the Black Angel statue:
Many students and surrounding residents of Iowa City visit the statue. The biggest night of attraction is Halloween where students and residents gather around the statue, some test their luck by touching or kissing the statue. It is said that if one touches or kisses the statue they will be struck dead, unless that person is a virgin. It is also rumored that if a pregnant woman walks beneath the statue’s stretched wings that she will miscarry.
The Press-Citizen shared some other urban myths about the Black Angel statue:
Any girl kissed near the Black Angel in the moonlight will die within six months.
If a girl who is innocent of men and the world is kissed in front of the angel, the angel will return to its original color, and the curse that turned it black will be lifted.
Touching the angel at midnight on Halloween means death within seven years.
Anyone who kisses the angel will die instantly.
Every passing Halloween causes the angel to turn one shade darker as a reminder of all the people she has killed.
In other words, there are lots of myths (and conflicting myths) about the curse of the Black Angel. So there should be lots for SyFy to explore when they investigate the Black Angel statue and her curse.
One last thing. When I first heard about SyFy coming to Iowa City and Oakland Cemetary, I was reminded of a
local arrest from two summers ago involving the Black Angel statue. In June 2010, a young man named Brian Holst Jr. was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and assaulting a peace officer after police tried stopping Holst from dancing on the Black Angel statue:
Officers called to the cemetery at 11:43 p.m. Friday found Holst dancing on the cemetery's famed "Black Angel" statue. Police said Holst became aggressive and began pushing and physically fighting with officers immediately after they arrived. Police said they had to use a Taser stun gun on Holst to get him under control. The officers weren't hurt in the incident. Iowa City Police Sgt. Denise Brotherton said it’s fairly common for police to be called to the cemetery's "Black Angel" statue, especially with the growing popularity of vampire TV shows and movies. “It’s become kind of a draw,” Brotherton said. “Most people do things around it, but not on it.”
According to Iowa Courts Online, it looks like the changes of assaulting of peace officer were eventually dismissed and Holst was eventually convicted of interference with official acts and place on unsupervised probation.
