History Happened Here . . .
MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS
May Day celebrated spring, regeneration, and youth. Beginning in the 1920s, Tusculum hosted May Day celebrations for students and the broader Greene County community. High school seniors enjoyed free admission, while other students and adults paid 25 cents and 35 cents, respectively.
Participants of the 1931 May Day events at Tusculum, taken outside Welty-Craig Hall. Digital Library of Appalachia.
May Day activities included events like tennis matches, swimming competitions, music performances, pageants, senior plays, and a dance around the May Pole.
May Pole Dance at Tusculum, in the green between Haynes Hall and Welty Craig (now a parking lot). Digital Library of Appalachia
Tusculum’s student body voted for a May Day court, including a King and Queen of Youth. The winners would dress in wedding-like attire. Women selected for the court wore long white dresses, sometimes accessorized with flowers and a veil, while the male members of the court wore nice suits.
A 1920s May Day Queen poses for a photograph on a platform under a canopy.
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Site Contributors:
Sydney May, Student, Tusculum University