The Rise of Campus Dramatics (Part II): Plays and Pageants

While the earliest campus presentations were staged as entertainment for visits by state dignitaries, increasingly, other sources of student entertainment began to sprout up at the State Normal and Industrial School (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro). Recitals were planned by music professor Wade Brown, who also assisted the campus Literary Societies in staging elaborate operettas.



The Little Minister, 1910

The Literary Societies were created in 1893 as social organizations that focused the energy of the student body on debates, dramatic productions, and social activities. In the early years, there were only two Societies (Adelphian and Cornelian), but as the school’s enrollment grew, two additional organizations were added (the Dikean in 1918 and the Aletheian in 1923). Involvement in plays and pageants were a popular benefit of belonging to a Literary Society and the students enjoyed participating in theatrical events that allowed them to dress in ornate costumes.

In the early years, the students at the all-girl State Normal played both male and female roles in the productions. Following 19th century conventions, the school’s Lady Principal, Sue Mae Kirkland, would not allow the girls who held the male parts to wear pants. Instead, they wore long black skirts. By at least 1910, as seen in still photographs of the production of The Little Minister, students were allowed to wear black bloomers instead. It was not until 1911 that the students could wear pants on stage.

In most part, the school plays were held in the auditorium or “chapel” of the Main Building (now the Foust Building). When the Students’ Building was completed in 1902, each society had a separate meeting room and an auditorium, which included a stage for debates and productions. Yet, not all performances took place inside. A staging of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, performed by the Ben Greet Woodland Players, was given at the outdoor theatre in Peabody Park. This venue was comprised of a wooden stage fronted by a sloping ground, which acted as seating. The theatre was also one of the locations used for the school’s elaborate May Day festivals, the largest of which took place in 1912 and 1916. 

May Day Heralds, 1916



These May Day celebrations, organized by drama professor Mary Settle Sharpe, featured an Old English theme and included large parades with horse-drawn floats, colorful dances, and creative “tableaux vivants.” In 1912, the students presented three plays at several different areas of the campus, which were repeated during the day, enabling 3,000 observers to partake in all of the entertainments. The 1916 May Day event was even larger than the first, again featuring Shakespearean plays performed by elaborately costumed students.



To Arms for Liberty, ca. 1918



As interest in campus theatre grew, the Dramatic Club was formed between 1912 and 1913, to allow girls with a particular interest in theatre to participate more fully in campus productions. Incorporating both a general manager and a business manager, as well as an active membership, the new group performed Booth Tarkington’s The American at the 1913 Commencement exercises. Additionally, special performances such as To Arms for Liberty, which included the students representing the Allied nations as well as American farmers, Red Cross workers, and Liberty Bond representatives, were produced to raise money for World War I mobilization efforts. Yet it wasn’t until 1921, with the arrival of Raymond Taylor, that campus dramatics flourished.

The next installment of The Rise of Campus Dramatics will feature the establishment of the College’s Playlikers group and the hiring of Raymond Taylor, who would become a major figure in campus theatre until his retirement in 1960.

Campus Literary Societies

Today's post was written by Kristen Thomas, a senior history major. Kristen interned in Special Collections and University Archives during the Spring semester, and constructed both a physical and online exhibit (http://library.uncg.edu/collection/exhibits/Campus_Literary_Societies.aspx) on the history of campus literary societies. Here, she writes about the founding and activities of these organizations.

Today, there are dozens of student groups to choose from on campus. But, back when The State Normal and Industrial School (now known as UNCG) was first founded, there was no such thing as campus organizations. That changed when President Charles McIver discovered a group of students had created their own sorority in secret.

Adelphian Society performance, 1913

Sororities had already been banned on campus, with McIver believing that they would lead to students feeling left out. McIver’s goal was to make sure all students could be included, emphasising his democratic approach to education. However, there were many who wanted a sorority-like group on campus. So McIver decided to create the Literary Societies.

He charged two students, Mary Arrington and Alice Green, with organizing these groups with the help of certain faculty members. They decided that the student body would be divided in half, each belonging to one of the societies. They were sorted at random, with names being drawn from a hat.  Once the students had been grouped, they settled to finding a name. The group created by Arrington was named the Adelphian Society and the one by Green the Cornelian Society.

Each society created their own secret initiation rites and rituals, which were only known to the members of the group. For a while, even many of the officers were kept a secret. Despite the secret nature of the societies, they did come together in order to produce plays, debates, and simple luncheons, sometimes in honor of the other society. For the first 25 years they were on campus, they facilitated much of the activities outside of the classroom.

Aletheian Society initiation, 1940

In 1918, the campus had grown to such a size that the two societies were becoming too large to function as they did before. A third society was chartered, with members being pulled from the already existing societies. They became the Dikean Society and adapted smoothly into campus life. A fourth, the Aletheians, was added in 1923. Both societies created their own rituals and secret initiations, and functioned much like the Cornelian and Adelphian societies.

By the 1930s, the influence of the societies has waned as other groups had taken shape on campus, such as the Student Government Association and the YWCA. They still held an important role as social groups and the election of marshals, a function they held until their disbandment.

As time went, the students began to group themselves more by class than by societies. Many felt that the societies had grown too large to continue to serve the campus effectively and participation had waned in favor of other groups. In 1953, after a vote was taken across campus in favor of disbandment, the presidents of all four groups formally agreed in a letter submitted to the university to bring the end of the societies.