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Simmons College Archives

Simmons College Traditions . . .
Then and Now

MAY DAY

The first May Day at Simmons College was celebrated in May 1912. The sophomores, who orchestrated the festivities, began the day by getting up early in the morning and hanging "May baskets" on the seniors' doors. Later the same morning (six o'clock), the sophomores would parade through the halls of the dormitories singing various traditional college songs to wake the seniors. The senior class president was crowned the "Queen of May" and she and her court were entertained by the sophomores dancing around a maypole. The festivities concluded with a breakfast of strawberry shortcake served out on the lawn.

As with most traditions at Simmons, May Day went through several changes over the years. The tradition seems to have varied somewhat from year to year, although this impression may be due simply to inconsistent reporting. Between 1919 and 1920, May Day was divided into two parts. In order to allow the entire college to participate in the celebration, the freshman class began hanging the "may baskets" on the doors of their sister class (the juniors). This came to be called "Freshman May Day" and in later years was often referred to as the "May Party". The sophomores continued to perform the rest of the activities and even added a skit, usually from Shakespeare, that was performed for the Queen and her court before the maypole dance took place. This part of the tradition was called "Sophomore May Day" and later came to be called "May Breakfast."

Freshman May Day seems to have been discontinued around 1957-58. At about the same time, performance of the maypole dance wasJuly 11, 2006ly 1960's, the planting of a tree or flowers was added to the festivities. The tree/flower planting was presided over originally by the Queen of May, but with the discontinuance of the appointment of a Queen and performance of the skit some time in the 1970's, this role fell to the President of the College. For a time in the 1970's and 1980's, the class gift, a gift given to the College by each class upon graduation, was presented on May Day. Today, May Day once again is celebrated by the sophomores in honor of the seniors and consists of the maypole dance/ceremony, the tree/flower planting, and of course, the strawberry shortcake breakfast.

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Page updated: July 11, 2006

July 11, 2006