Doc Benton Legend

Title: Doc Benton Legend

Informant info: SuHyeon Kim is a ’19 currently enrolled at Dartmouth College. She is from Daegu, Republic of Korea, and is hoping to do a double major in Government and Economics. She is currently the chair of BSLS (Big Sister, Little Sister) and works for the McLaughlin snack bar.

Type of lore: Verbal, Tradition, Legend

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Social / Cultural Context: Informant was interviewed alone at Dartmouth College. The informant was asked to retell any Dartmouth Outing Club rituals she knew.

As an international student from Daegu, Republic of Korea, coming to Dartmouth was SuHyeon’s first time coming to the United States. Although she is proficient in the English language, SuHyeon is not used to the American culture that coming to college came to her as a big transition. In the process of the transition, she participated in the Dartmouth Outing Club trip, the Organic Farming section. Although she could not recall other rituals associated with the DOC, she could clearly remember the Doc Benton legend. She heard of the legend with all the other tripees on her last day of the first year DOC trip at the Lodj from a trip leader, whom she does not know the name of.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Item:

This is a story annually told to first year DOC trip tripees on the last day night of their trips. Everyone is gathered in front of the Lodj to be told a story about Doc Benton, who is a doctor gone wrong, rumored to murder people. This folklore’s biggest feature is that it has nearly never have been documented nor written down. The only time it was written down was for a scholarly journal, according to the Dartmouth Outing Club Wiki. Another feature is that at the end of the story, the trip leaders surprise and scare the tripees by screaming at the climax.

Informant’s comments: SuHyeon stated that as she is recalling the general plot of the legend, she is not sure about the details of the plot.

Collector’s comments:

Tags/Keywords:  Benton, Dartmouth Outing Club, legend, scary story, prank

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