May Day Festivals in America, 1830 to the Present

Allison Thompson is a writer, historian, and folk dance leader and musician. (She was the student dance leader for the Elizabethan May Day festival held at Earlham College in 1977.) She lives in Pittsburgh.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgments     Introduction: “I’m to Be Queen of the May, Mother!”      Part I: May DayTHE MAKING OF MERRIE MAY1. Celebrating May Day in England before 1800      2. The Making of May Day in Merrie England      3. John Ruskin and the Whitelands College May Queen Festival      4. Merrie May Day in the New World      SETTING THE STAGE FOR PERFORMANCES5. Physical Education for Girls and Young Women      6. “As the Child Plays, So Will the Adult Perform”: Progressive Reformers and the Playground Movement      7. The Educational, Hygienic, Civic, and Moral Benefits of Folk Dance      8. The Pageant and Festival Movement      9. The Urban Child’s May Day      THE COLLEGE MAY DAY FESTIVAL10. The Making of the College Girl of 1900      11. Origins of the College May Day Pageant      12. The Play’s the Thing—College May Day Pageant Themes      13. Corydon in Arcadia—Men and May Day      14. Maypole Dances and Drills      15. Crowning the College May Queen      16. The May Queen Unthroned      MAY DAY FESTIVALS OF TODAY17. May Day as Labor Day, Loyalty Day, Law Day, Child Health Day, and Lei Day      18. Celebrating an Old English May Day Today      Conclusion: “The Merriest Day of All the Glad New Year!”      Part II: The College FestivalsAgnes Scott College      Albright College      Auburn University      Bates College      Berea College      Bluffton University      Brenau University      Brown University      Bryn Mawr College      Bucknell University      Carleton College      Case Western Reserve University      Chatham University      Colby College      College of Wooster      Columbia College      Converse College      DePauw University      Duke University      Earlham College      Elmira College      Goucher College      Grinnell College      Grove City College      Hollins College      Hood College      Indiana University      Iowa State University      James Madison University      Judson College      Kansas State University      Kent State University      Lebanon Valley College      Mary Baldwin College      Meredith College      Miami University      Mills College      Mount Holyoke College      Muskingum College      Newcomb College, Tulane University      New Mexico State University      Oberlin College      Oklahoma State University      Oregon State University      Pennsylvania State University      Randolph College      Rockford College      Rollins College      Russell Sage College (The Sage Colleges)      Salem College      Scripps College      Simmons College      Skidmore College      Smith College      Sweet Briar College      Trinity University      University of California at Berkeley      University of Charleston, West Virginia      University of Colorado      University of Denver      University of Idaho      University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign      University of Kansas      University of Maryland      University of Minnesota      University of Missouri      University of New Hampshire      University of Puget Sound      University of Richmond (Westhampton College)      University of South Carolina      University of Tennessee      Ursinus College      Valdosta State University      Wartburg College      Wellesley College      Wells College      Westminster College      Wilson College      Winthrop University      Chapter Notes      Selected Bibliography      Index

“a model of organization and scholarship, with each well-researched chapter building on the previous to paint a clear and logical portrait of May Day celebrations...fascinating insights...well-researched and well-written, packed with information and illustrations...you must read this book”—Society of Folk Dance Historians.