Rhode Island School of Design - Portfolio Yearbook (Providence, RI)

Page 31 text:

partments of the school contributed specialized talent to this extrava- ganza “A School of Design in the Making.” Several days later the student body gave an informal dance on the stage of the new auditorium. Each student invited a guest and dancing was to the music of Les Brown’s Orchestra. On May 13 members of the Costume Department presented “Floating Fashions,” a fashion show on the Colonial Lines “Comet.” The performers sailed to New York and back and the production took place while the boat was tied up at the New York pier. ‘This show, the first performance of its kind, modeled the latest fashions before a large assembly which was honored by the presence of Mayor LaGuardia . A Student Picnic was held at the school Farm on May 14. Everyone brought a picnic lunch. Free “cokes’’ and ice cream were served. ‘There was informal dancing. Baseball, volley ball and numerous other games were played and the events were climaxed by a treasure hunt in which everyone participated. On June 12, the Arnold House at 42 Waterman Street was pur- chased by the school for an additional girls’ dormitory. ‘This pleasant house was filled with occupants the following fall and is still popular with the girls, although it is now one of three. During the month of June the Freshman Exhibition, made up of the best work done in the Freshman Foundation Course during the cur- rent year, was shown in the lobby of the Waterman Street Building. 4

Page 30 text:

Freshman Year On Monday morning, September 23, 1940, the Freshman class, consisting of one hundred twenty-five members, registered. High-lights of Freshman week were an assembly of the entire class in Memorial Hall on Tuesday, an outing at Cranberry Hill Farm on Thursday and the Freshman reception and tea in the Main Gallery of the Museum on Friday. By this time the students had become acquainted with one another and knew many of the faculty members. On the Friday before Christmas recess the entire school assembled in the main gallery of the Museum and sang Christmas carols while seated around the large Christmas tree. Silent Night, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Jingle Bells and many other old favorites were sung. The first high-light of the new year was the all-college weekend, held on January 17, 18, and 19. It consisted of “The Horror Hop”, a dance sponsored by the Sophomore Class on Friday evening in Memorial Hall; a Winter Carnival at Cranberry Hill Farm on Saturday which featured the crowning of the snow queen, Miss Barbara Eastman of the Junior Class. On Sunday afternoon an open house was held for all the students and their friends, at the Farm. On January 24, the Costume Design students presented a fashion show in the Waterman Street Building, to which the entire student body was invited. Inspirations from other countries were highlighted in clothes reflecting influences of South America and the militaristic nations. During the Spring Recess, students took their annual New York trip. Approximately twenty-five freshmen with forty upper-classmen accompanied by Miss Wilkins, Miss Holt, and Mr. Hurd of the faculty left Providence Monday, March 31, aboard the S. S$. Comet. Among the features of the four-day visit in New York were trips to the Museum of Costume Art, the Planetarium, the Natural History Museum, Wall Street, La Guardia Field, a banquet at the Cocoanut Grove, and some leisure time for shopping and visiting. On the seventeenth of April the new Auditorium Building was dedicated and on April 22 and 23 a pageant, an original production depicting the birth and development of the school was given then as the climax of a six-day festival which celebrated the building’s dedica- tion and revealed some of the possibilities of its use. Virtually all de- 28

Page 32 text:

Sophomore Year On September 29 a meeting of the Sophomore class was held. Plans were made for the new school year and the following class officers were elected: President, John Armstrong; Vice-President, Marjorie Lang; Secretary, David Duncan; and Treasurer, William Mahoney. The class was further divided this year as each student entered the department for which he had been preparing throughout the freshman year. ‘This same autumn a series of Defense courses, designed to train defense industry workers, were begun and there was a large enrollment in each. The Thorne Collection of Miniature Rooms, shown by the Mu- seum from October 1 to November 30, was of great interest to the students, particularly to those in the architectural, interior design and textile departments. On October 18 the “Trek’’ Club was organized. ‘This club planned and sponsored most of the school’s social events and was very popular with the entire student body. ‘This year there were two Hallowe’en dances; one a formal dance in the new dormitory and the other a “Vic” dance in Memorial Hall with service men from Hills- grove as guests. On November 8, “Sadie Hawkins Day” was held at Cranberry Hill Farm. ‘The girls invited the boys, who even now were becoming scarce and if their invitations were accepted, they tagged the boys with baggage checks on which both their names were painted in large letters. Picnic lunches and vegetable boutonnieres were supplied by the girls. On November 27, the Chinese Play, “Lady Precious Stream” opened the series of plays sponsored by the museum and entitled “Some- thing Old—Something New.” Beautiful and accurate Chinese cos- tumes were designed and executed by the costume department. During this month , because of impending war conditions, the Museum stored most of its treasures in a bomb-proof underground vault. On Sunday, December 7, Pearl Harbor was attacked and the fol- lowing morning an assembly was immediately called. ‘The entire school listened to President Roosevelt’s speech in which he formally declared war upon Japan and Germany. ‘This was followed by a brief message from Doctor Farnum and the singing of the Star Spangled Banner by the entire assembly. ‘This assembly was the turning point in the history of both the class and the whole school. ‘The boys began to enlist, both 30