Wellesley College - Legenda Yearbook (Wellesley, MA)

Page 15 text:

iS9i In ' 79 the two years ' experience in writing programs for an increasing number of co-operators brought forth the triumph of art which adorns the preceding page. Its com- bination of simplicity and symbolic grandeur is re- markable for a specimen of early art. The repre- sentative tree, appropri- ately aged and scrawny, has still vigor enough in its sapless boughs to re- spond to the May breath, and shake from its only limb the bending, bud- ding, blossoming Tree Day characterizations — almost hidden by the ex- uberance of their foliage. The chapel tower rises suggestively in the dis- tance. The cover opened, and still the wonder grew. Freshmen, Soph- omores, Juniors and Se- niors spout and sing to their respective tree, each rivalling the last, till ' 82 ends in a lyric burst which would have been impossible under the present Credit System. ' 79 is evidently tinged with thoughts of the coming days, as it invokes and bids adieu to the marvelous plant, pruned to the growth of any blossom by the gardening hand of ' 80. The evident popularity of this performance resulted in a pruning of under- graduate parts the following year, and ' 80, set off by the modest exercises of the awed and inofficious Freshmen, appeared, the unrivaled mistress of the scene; kindly, but firmly, allowing Juniors and Sophomores to act as a back- ground. And thus is the memory of ' 80 kept alive with us. To this very day Juniors and Sophomores add to the beauty — or otherwise, oh, ' 98! — of the occasion, by their presence only. But ' 81, not to be ex- celled in making history, be- held on its great Day a fur- ther step in the evolution process. ' 82, aggrieved ' at the humble part forced up- on it, took unto itself the liberty of attracting atten- tion in other ways than speech, and decided upon a costume prophetic of that day when the flood tide of Art and Beauty reached its height in the representation of Domestic work by ' 98. They appeared in cotton garb as the Calico girls, of whom Mr. Durant so often spoke, and may, with honor, look upon themselves as the originators of a custom which forms one of the brightest and most beautiful spots in Wellesley days.

Page 14 text:

Tree Day T TNDER the spreading branches of the above program one ' s thoughts — if one has them — drift back lazily, unless one is on the LEGENDA Board, to the time when the song and dance of Tree Day was not one of the regularly edited posters of the College, looked forward to with mingled feelings of an- guish by the Seniors, ennui by the Jun- iors, malice by the Sophomores and ecstatic bliss by the Freshmen. Before the days when party politics procured prominent places ; and Freshman partic- ipation was made part of the academic schedule in gym. work ; before the days when the present complex pageant of symbolism and color was with difficulty evolved from seething class meetings. Twenty years ago this spring, when most of us either were not, or scarcely were, the hallowed classes of ' 79 and ' 80 were listening open-mouthed to the first proposition for a tree day, the suggestion of Mr. Durant. A short time afterward, the ceremony took place ; ' 79 planting its tree by the library, ' 80 by the dining room — each class adjourning in turn to the site of the other. There being but two classes and their sites within venience was occasioned, and the ceremonies of monotony in service, or lassitude in an dience. With the genius of ' 80 just be ginning to bud, what service could have been monotonous, what audience wearied ? and as during our own memories we recall its magic touch in the red cone blossom of ' 79 ' s tree, so we hear with little sur- prise of the eggs found resting there, upon its first appearance. With it appeared the famous trowel around which much of the ceremony clustered — the rest was as to tree direct, in verse and song. The wit of both parties was reserved — with difficulty — for their Class days, which were celebrated at a separate date. In ' 78 the new class, ' 81, gave its quota to the ceremony, thus producing a triple effect which could not have failed to be impressive in spite of the lack of cos- tume and processional. Song there was in plenty — but of dance — no whisper. •sight of each other, little incon- followed each other with no hint

Page 16 text:

frequently furnished a most ' 90, with its tendency toward originality, added the touch which modernized the day, by celebrating it a month later in the year. Up to this time it had been celebrated in May — much to the discomfort of those Class Beauties who insisted upon appearing in the gauzy effect of fairyland or in the tissue paper attire of the flower. The weather, never too accommodating, frigid front, so that the con- fusion occa- sioned by col- lecting news- papers for fac- ulty feet, shawls i— «- V for the shoul- ■Vi nei iwf S d e r s , to say nothing of the generally de- moralizing ap- pearance of a few hundred red noses, made the change in date a matter of public rejoicing. But ' 90, feeling that this was not enough in the way of philanthropy, took a deep breath, and laid upon the shelf forever the model of the program, which up to this date had presented the calm and serene emblem of the day, in all its glory of youth and spring. The advance she made in this line we here represent, adding, with apologies to her artist, that the best thing about it was the precedent of change it estab- lished, which ' 91 followed with no hesitation. Since then the form of both program and ceremony has been subject to little alteration. The Senior exercises, varying with the character of the class, are intellectual, or artistically symbolic, as the case may be — rarely both. (Is this another height to climb, ' 98 ?) Fresh- man exercises grow yearly more effective in both color and action ; ' 99 bravely en- deavoring last year to maintain the stand- ard set by ' 98, the year before; and though infancy and its amusements of hoops, rattles and babes in the swinging chair, can hardly be compared to the great drama, at once an intellectual masterpiece and a marvel of grace and beauty — worked out through the game of whist — one must take into account the exceptional character of those who took part in the latter event and deal gently with their followers. Juniors and Sophomores, though still subordinate in action, are by no means inconspicuous, and are in danger of be- coming a rival attraction of the other classes. Last year, when the masterpiece of conception by ' 98 appeared upon the scene, no eye was for leaving it, no ear was open to aught but its occasional bursts of wit. The color effect, so harmonious in its radiance, so daring in its brilliancy, fascinated all beholders, while the grace and originality of the cos- tumes practically blighted all future Tree Days. We are public spirited. We do not want it ' said that the ascent of Tree Day will have found its highest and most beautiful expression in ' 98. For the