Founder's Day
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Students dressed as skeletons for the Founder's Day parade
1300 plates
Founder's Day has included a variety of activities since the first celebration on April 29th,1866, Matthew Vassar's birthday. The images in this series document visits to the founder's grave, step-singing and the Song Contest, the faculty-student baseball game, parades, and various performances. Attendees of the baseball game, the parades, and the performances were encouraged to dress in costume, according to either a predetermined theme or individual whim. With some frequency, these costumes and performances were based on racist or stereotypical representations of marginalized groups, including blackface, redface, and yellowface. Similarly, the faculty play or skit show which was given on the evening of Founder's Day, included racist and stereotypical costumes and performances.
Content Warning
The Vassar College Archives within the Digital Library include some images, texts, and material items that are racist, xenophobic, or otherwise harmful. The Vassar Libraries have provided descriptive text and additional notes whenever possible to alert Digital Library users to these items. The Engaged Pluralism Initiative Race and Racism in Historical Collections Project Group is working with the library on contextualizing and facilitating community conversations about these materials. For more information see: https://library.vassar.edu/rrhc
Students dressed as skeletons for the Founder's Day parade
Class of 1925 marching to the song contest
Student wearing dark makeup and dressed as a pirate at the faculty-student baseball game
Students in costume at the faculty-student baseball game
Spectators and judges at the Founder's Day contests. One of the judges may be Professor Frances Gertrude Wick or Dean C. Mildred Thompson
Song contest
Class of 1927 marching to the song contest
Students in costume, two in what might have been intended to represent Romani dress
Class of 1919 marching to the song contest
Class of 1924 mounting the steps of Student's Building for the song contest
Student players from the faculty-student baseball game
Class of 1926 at the song contest
Students dressed as pirates at the faculty-student baseball game
Student team at the faculty-student baseball game
President MacCracken at the faculty-student baseball game
Class of 1923 performing in the song contest
Song contest
Students in costume
Class of 1925 performing on the steps of Student's Building during the song contest
President MacCracken speaking at Matthew Vassar's grave at the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, listened to by a contingent of visitors from Vassar
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