{"id":9131,"date":"2024-05-02T14:49:49","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T14:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/specialcollections\/?page_id=9131"},"modified":"2024-05-02T14:49:49","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T14:49:49","slug":"the-evolution-of-pageantry","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/specialcollections\/the-evolution-of-pageantry\/","title":{"rendered":"The Evolution of Pageantry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Curated by Lydia Bennett ’24<\/strong><\/p>\n

The May Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1925<\/strong>, the school began the May Festival as a dance-based social pageant. The school themed most festivals around adapted folk traditions. The May Day committee invited Rhode Island high school senior girls as honored guests, and gave them tea after the pageant. The committee crowned a senior \u201cMay Queen\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
1928 May Day Pageant program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During World War II<\/strong>, students practiced stringent wartime living. The May Festival continued during the war. RISC became a de facto<\/em> women\u2019s college, as men trained in the \u201caccelerated war program.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Pamphlet detailing the Accelerated Program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Pamphlet detailing the new opportunities for women during the war<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Women continued the college newspapers and yearbooks, and took on community roles previously held by men.<\/p>\n

The Gristette<\/em> yearbook was published from 1944-46 with an almost exclusively female staff.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Introduction (Gristette 1945)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Introduction (Gristette 1945)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Select newspaper clippings from former student Jeanne Freeman Williams (1940-1944) show that the Rhode Island State forest fire service trained women to fight fires.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Freeman scrapbook: “State College girls become fire fighters”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Women\u2019s athletics also took the forefront. Basketball and Field Hockey expanded due to high rates of participation.\u00a0 As reported in the 1945 Gristette<\/em>:\u00a0 “Other classes have made creditable records, but our participation in the recreational activities was outstanding.\u00a0 The award system of the Women’s Athletic Association was initiate when we entered as Freshmen.\u00a0 With this new incentive every girl found time to engage in and enjoy the sports that were offered” (see quote<\/a>).<\/p>\n

An unidentified student donated a photograph book documenting women’s athletics during this period, especially\u00a0 basketball, including practice<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
(Unidentified student scrapbook, box 13)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It also featured the March 9th, 1946 game against Pembroke College (Brown University\u2019s women\u2019s college), which ended in a tie. (3\/18\/46 Beacon<\/em><\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Rhode Island vs Pembroke 1946 (Unidentified student scrapbook, box 13)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The WAA also organized a women\u2019s field hockey Play Day tournament, inviting the University of Connecticut, Regis College (Massachusetts), Wheaton College (Massachusetts), and Bridgewater State Teachers College (Massachusetts). President Woodward rolled the ball to begin the tournament.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
(Unidentified Student scrapbook, box 13)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Women continued to run and participate in pageantry. By 1942<\/strong>, the Women\u2019s Student Government Association and Women\u2019s Athletic Association ran the May Festival. The pageant honored the leaders of women\u2019s organizations on campus. During the war, the pageants reflected campus patriotism. The 1945 pageant celebrated the formation of the UN and looked towards a future of world peace. Pageants after the war reverted to the common prewar folk themes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
May Day 1945 Invitation (May Day Programs folder)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

May Day 1945 Program front and back (May Day Programs folder)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
May Day 1942 capped the presidents of school women\u2019s organizations (The Grist, 1942)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
May Day 1951 (1951 Grist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Miss URI: The pageant is individualized and fades out of student view<\/strong><\/p>\n

By the 1960s<\/strong>, the pageant became part of Open House and Parents Day. The student body vote crowned the winner \u201cMiss URI: Queen of Open House and Parents Day\u201d in a ceremony on the quad. This new form of the pageant focused on university pride, using symbolism tied to the university.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Miss URI 1964 candidates (list<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
(1954 Grist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
(4\/25\/62 Beacon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
(1965 Grist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By the late 1960s<\/strong>, the inter-fraternity council took over the pageant and made Miss URI a quieter indoor pageant (1969 Grist<\/a>). The council still holds Miss URI to-date.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Miss URI 2011 Robin Bonner won Miss Rhode Island and advanced to Miss America (1\/27\/12 Cigar)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The winners of Miss URI took on advocacy causes (9\/28\/12 Cigar)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As part of Spring 2024 HIS 477 project<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Curated by Lydia Bennett ’24 The May Festival In 1925, the school began the May Festival as a dance-based social pageant. The school themed most festivals around adapted folk traditions. The May Day committee invited Rhode Island high school senior girls as honored guests, and gave them tea after the pageant. The committee crowned a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4861,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-9131","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4861"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}