How did you celebrate Valentine’s Day 2009?
50 years ago Davidson College students honored the day with a most
happy and rare event: the arrival of women onto the campus for a dance.
The Davidsonian declared that “[t]he plans for the Midwinters dance weekend are now completed; and as this Friday the 13th comes to a close, over six hundred girls will be staying on or near the Davidson Campus… Belk Dormitory, with a normal capacity of 296, has been furnished to house four hundred and seventy-five girls, and the guest House, the Preyer Infirmary, and various homes in and around town will accommodate the girls also.”
The entrance to Belk and the other buildings were firmly guarded by town ladies; the male students were kept in the lobby while their dates were paged. “It was quite a fortress,” recall Leland Park ’63.
These girls were in for a treat: in 1959 for the first time the Davidson College theatre club, the Red and Black Masquers, presented a Midwinters play; the production was the three act comedy Room Service. Also, this Midwinters weekend was the first to have two different musical groups for the concert and two dances.
Dancing had come to Davidson College less than 15 years earlier. Previously, this Presbyterian college had forbidden such scandalous activities, and Davidson College fraternity dances were held in Charlotte. This system caused several problems. The time taken in driving to and from Charlotte disrupted the students’ academics, the consumption of alcohol was possible at these unsupervised dances, and the late night driving combined with alcohol also caused many car accidents. Finally, Davidson College became alarmed at the common habit of housing female guests in Charlotte hotels UNCHAPERONED.
During World War II, several dances were held on campus for the military units training here. Though Davidson College students were not permitted to attend, these dances helped break down the Presbyterian stigma against dances. On February 9, 1945 “the first legal dance on the holy ground of Morrison and Shearer was held… in the Alumni Gymnasium.”
Now students dance all the time on our now co-ed Davidson College campus, but when the students danced 50 years ago you can bet they savored it!
– Tammy Ivins, Archives Fellow
What fun to learn about the activities at Davidson. Keep the stories coming…
I received the following reminiscences today from Dr. Leland Park ’63. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
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“They did have Belk and other places for the girls to stay, and quite true doors except for the front of Belk, were locked. The ladies in town (including some of the maiden librarians) would pull duty there, round the clock.
The loud speakers were set up, and you’d ask the lady on duty to call your date and tell her you were here. So she’d get on the mike and say ‘Miss Jones, Room #xxx, Mr. Syme is here.’ Then you’d wait for her to come down, sometimes buying some Lance crackers from them while you waited.
I sorta remember that at one time the girls had to be back by a certain hour, for the well remembered phrase from Mrs. Rethal Moore, Supervisor of Dorms, was “The time to be in is perfectly reasonable, anything you want to do after 12, you can do before 12.”
At times the guys would arrange with folks in town for their dates to stay in homes. Dr. and Mrs. Davidson put up some, I’m sure. And as for the guys…oh my…the college would drop off 2 mattresses in each room of Sentelle, Cannon , Watts (maybe Little too), and you’d make arrangements to stay there with fraternity brothers.
Talk about a mess…..the regular beds, plus 2 mattresses on the floor, only a sink in the room, no closet room (they were literally 2×2’), and the showers/heads were down the hall for everyone. A mad dash it was in the evening to get there and in the morning to wake up and get ready for Sunday brunch.
As Tammy said, there was a formal dance on Friday, a concert Saturday and an informal dance Saturday night. The fraternities would rent places on the river (e.g. Hattie’s Cabin, Boyles Cabin, etc.) for the infamous ‘after parties.’ You came casual, a stereo was playing, [and] beer or liquor was served or BYOL, since it was not allowed on campus.
I didn’t drink in college so was the designated driver each time (someone else’s car). The trick there was to be sure and stop somewhere on the way back for the guys to go bury their liquor bottles, since it was against the rules to have that on campus, even in your car. Then they had the problem of remembering later where the stuff was stashed.
Sunday the housemothers always had elegant brunches at the fraternity houses, and everyone was dressed up with coat and tie. Then the dates would return to their colleges in the afternoon. Oh yes, sometimes you had to arrange with a campus buddy to have your date picked up at Queens or Salem or WC, and then for them to take them back; you contributed to the gas costs.
BTW, we had Saturday classes then, so you either used a cut for that day, or you and often your date went to class together….not exactly in great shape I should add. Didn’t often hit church that Sunday, tho’ some did (not I.) They DID have Sunday vespers, but folks saved a cut for that too….not heavily attended.”
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Thank you Dr. Park!