Coe College Events: Colonial Ball

"Coe History: the First Hundred Years" divides its events tab into three categories: annual traditions, disasters,  and special events.  Currently there are six Coe events covered on the website, surprisingly Flunk Day is not one of them.

An annual tradition from 1911-1961 was the Colonial Ball.  The ball celebrated George Washington's birthday with an all female banquet and dance in colonial period costume.  Over the years the celebration evolved to include toasts, George  Washington (an honor similar to a homecoming queen) and dance performances.  If you did not catch it when mentioned above this was a ladies only event with half the attendees dressing in colonial styled drag.

While some may find it odd that men were not included in this celebration, the young ladies apparently preferred an all-female dance, as evident in this Cosmos article describing preparations for the 1921 Colonial Ball: "Once a year the men of the College find that they are not indispensable. The fair damsels plunge into an orgy of costume and date making about which, if questioned, they reply sweetly that the mere man is not in on this." 

To read the full article on the Colonial Ball go here.

~Sara Pitcher, Archives Assistant