The Resurrection Mary Hitchhiker Tradition

Record summary

Resurrection Mary is the name given to a reported young female hitchhiker associated with Archer Avenue southwest of Chicago and Resurrection Cemetery. The best-known versions say that a driver picked up a girl near a dance hall, who disappeared before reaching the cemetery or was later identified with a grave there. Reports are commonly placed in the 1930s, but documentation and chronology are uneven. The lead is valuable for comparing roadside apparition narratives, local geography, automobile culture, and legend formation. Researchers should distinguish named witness reports from later standardized folklore.