#mountholyoke2018

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Congratulations @mtholyoke Class of 2018! Your "great grandmother class" -- the Class of 1918 -- wishes you all the best from the Archives! Here are photos of the Class of 1918 on their graduation day and at their 50th Reunion. As new @mhcalums, we look forward to welcoming you -- Class of 2018 -- back to campus in the years to come.

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This week we're sharing @mtholyoke Laurel Parade history in advance of Saturday's 2018 Laurel Parade activities. And, if you're on campus, you can come over to Dwight Hall and see the Laurel Parade exhibit curated by student assistant Samantha Snodgrass, Class of 2018. Now on to the history...

There have been several years when students did not carry laurel. In 1923 and 1924, mountain laurel became scarce and could not be picked. In 1925, laurel returned to the ceremony but was bought from a florist. In 1970 and 1971, students chose to carry signs protesting the Vietnam War rather than a laurel chain.

Pictured here are Class of 1924 students holding ribbon instead of laurel due to a need for laurel conservation in Massachusetts, and seniors in the Class of 1970 holding Peace signs.

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All this week we'll be getting ready for @mtholyoke graduation and reunion activities! If you're on campus this coming weekend, come on over to Dwight Hall to see our new exhibit about the history of Laurel Parade. This lovely show was curated by student assistant Samantha Snodgrass '18, who, along with her classmates and many, many alums, will be participating in this year's Parade on Saturday morning. 

Shown here is a photograph of the first laurel ceremony in 1900, in which the president and vice-president of the senior class carried wreaths of laurel. They are followed by a line of their classmates who processed together to founder Mary Lyon's grave on campus. At her grave the wreaths were hung on the gate posts and then the seniors sang a College song. The ceremony wasn't called Laurel Parade at this time, but simply called the Grove Exercises. 

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At the conclusion of the @mtholyoke Laurel Parade a song is always sung at founder Mary Lyon’s grave, though the song of choice has varied through time. In the early days it was often a song written by a class member or one of the College songs. 

The Class of 1978 decided to sing “Bread and Roses,” a song adapted by Mimi Farina from a poem written by James Oppenheim, which is said to have been a slogan for women during a 1912 textile mill strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Singing “Bread and Roses” has remained part of the Laurel Parade tradition to this day, and the words will ring out again this coming Saturday morning! Pictured here are @mhcalums members of the Class of 1978 in their Laurel Parade, holding a banner with the words “The common woman is as common as a common loaf of bread and will rise.”