Contents

Collection Overview

Historical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Search Terms

Dances and Recreation Files, 1881-[ongoing]

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Christine Merrill.

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 2003

Historical Note

The tradition of dances and recreation at Smith is longstanding. From social gatherings, teas, and parties in the 1880s and 1890s, to the hosting of "Supper Dance" Weekend from the 1920s through the 1940s, to the present day traditions of Friday Teas, Winter Weekend, Spring Weekend and Rugby Prom, Smith has seen its fair share of parties.

While much of the information regarding the gatherings cannot be found in the folders, many of the photographs tell their own stories.

There is a plethora of information about the Supper Dance. Preceded by 'walk arounds" in the 1880s, when the Glee Club was founded in 1888, it hosted a yearly spring concert, which gradually evolved into Spring Dance and Supper Dance. Organized by a student committee, the dance was open to the entire college, with each house hosting its own dance and hired bands. Because Smith women are "unusually smart as well as unusually attractive, and . . . their hospitality is rightly famous" according to an article for LIFE magazine, the Supper dance was unusually popular and especially well anticipated by male guests. As their hosts, Smithies paid for their weekend and were allowed to cut in on couples and choose their dance partners. The weekend consisted of Friday classes, dancing lasting the greater part of Saturday with a break for dinner, and Sunday activities. The dance was so famous as to attract photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt of LIFE magazine to take pictures for an article about the Supper Dance in 1937. The Supper Dance continued until the 1940s, probably when wartime took its toll.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

Information found in the files is incomplete and contains mostly photographs, dance cards and invitations.

Photographs can sometimes tell their own story such as with the "Superdance USA" of 1981, with its succession of 4 photographs. However, many photographs are vague and do not communicate who, when, where or why. Present day dances and recreations are unaccounted for.

Information about the Supper Dance can be derived from the many press releases about the event.

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