May Day

Students celebrate May Day in 1919

As the end of the school year approached, May and June brought with them a slew of traditions meant to provide students with fun and camraderie between the classes. The first of these was May Day, which is Simmons' longest-running tradition. The first May Day was celebrated in May of 1912. The sophomores, who orchestrated the festivities, began the day by getting up early in the morning and hanging “May baskets” on the seniors’ doors. Later the same morning, the sophomores would parade through the halls of the dormitories singing various traditional college songs to wake the seniors. The senior class president was crowned the “Queen of May” and she and her court would be entertained by the sophomore class dancing around the maypole. The festivities concluded with a breakfast of strawberry shortcake served out on the lawn.

May Day Breakfast, c. 1950

As with most traditions at Simmons, May Day went through several changes over the years. The tradition seems to have varied somewhat from year to year, although this impression may be due simply to inconsistent reporting.

Between 1919 and 1920, May Day was divided into two parts. In order to allow the entire college to participate in the celebration, the freshman class began hanging the “May baskets” on the doors of their sister class, the juniors. This came to be called “Freshman May Day,” and in later years was referred to as the “May Party.” The sophomores continued to perform the rest of the activities and even added a skit, usually from Shakespeare, that was performed for the Queen and her court before the maypole dance. This part of the tradition became “Sophomore May Day,” and later became known as the “May Breakfast.”

Maypole dance on May Day, c. 1967

Freshman May Day was discontinued around 1957 or 1958. At about the same time, performance of the maypole dance was assumed by the Modern Dance Club. The planting of the tree ceremony did not begin until around 1940. The tree, and sometimes flower planting, was presided over originally by the Queen of May, but fell to the President of the College in the 1970s, with the discontinuance of the appointment of the Queen. For a time in the 1970s and 1980s, the class gift, a gift given to the College by each Class upon graduation, was presented on May Day.

Today, May Day is once again celebrated by the sophomores in honor of the seniors and includes flower crown making, a strawberry-themed brunch, singing, the maypole dance, and speeches.