An entertaining article somewhat misleadingly titled "Sage Maidens of Cornell University" appeared in Demorest's Family Magazine in January, 1891. Cornell was one of the first universities to become coeducational (in 1870) and the campus life of female students was of general interest. Cornell's class of 1890, with about a dozen female students, is pictured at left; click to enlarge.
The article, written from a fairly feminist (for the nineteenth century) perspective, makes it clear that while "Sage maidens" is a pretty turn of phrase, not all of the female students at Cornell lived in Sage Hall (completed in 1875), and that in any case, neither building nor female students were isolated from the campus as a whole. The building contained classroom space as well, and male and female coeds (the article makes a point of using the term for men as well!) studied together and socialized together rather extensively. Including, of course, dancing!
Three different groups of dances were described in the article. Let's start with the female-hosted "hops" held in Sage Hall itself:
"With the return of the students begins that round of gayeties, that series of concerts, receptions, banquets, and balls, which lend such a charm to Cornell life, and in which all the students take delight...of these there are some which are of such pronounced importance that they must receive a passing notice...Among them are the hops at Sage. The young ladies giving these send invitations to certain of their gentlemen friends, and that the number may not, necessarily, be too limited, it has become customary, on these occasions, to increase the dancing space by using the large botanical lecture room, in addition to the parlors. Differing from the state of things existing at certain ladies' colleges, -- Vassar for example, -- at Sage, as in all Cornell society, round dancing predominates, almost exclusively."
A "hop" could mean a less formal dance, but the description of the "military hops" below makes it clear that however informal the setting, the dancers still dressed up. Compare this with the way the same term was used in the mid-nineteenth century to describe events at West Point.
The parlors in Sage Hall were fairly large, but they would have had to remove, or at least push back, the furniture and carpets and miscellaneous items. Here's a photo of one; click to enlarge:
The stated difference in dancing from women's colleges is interesting. It's difficult to tell how widespread it was for women to be able to lead round (couple) dancing during this period, though it certainly was not unheard of in the nineteenth century. Perhaps the Vassar women didn't have the skill or just didn't care to dance in closed position with other women.
Next, the "military hops":
"These, two, are full-dress parties, and the committee, consisting of the principal officers of the battalion, add brilliancy to the scene by appearing in the gay military costume. About two of these hops are held each term, in the armory or gentlemen's gymnasium. In response to the general invitation which is always sent to Sage, a few of the young ladies are usually in attendance chaperoned by the matron; but the majority of the Cornell girls accept individual invitations, or, in other words, accompany young men. On these occasions the ladies scarcely emerge from the dressing-room before they are surrounded by the male students, and their dancing-programmes are in great demand. It is usually about nine o'clock when the orchestra, consisting of ten or twelve pieces, strikes up and the promenade begins. Waltzes, polkas, schottisches, and lanciers follow each other in rapid succession; and it is only when the hands of the clock indicate the approach of the hour of one, that the strains of "Auf Wiedersehen" around the eighty or ninety couples to a realization of the fact that the time for departure is near."
Cornell sent all of its male students through military training at this time, and I'm not sure whether the officers here were student cadets or the officers of the local military unit. But finally, we have some hint of the dance programme beyond "round dances almost exclusively"! There's nothing surprising here except perhaps that polka features in the trio of popular round dances. My impression, though I haven't looked into it in depth, is that polka was less popular than the waltz and schottische at the end of the century. The "lanciers" was, of course, the Lanciers or Lancers quadrille, endlessly popular both in its basic form and in many late-century American variations.
More interesting to me is the size of the ball. Clearly they must have invited women from outside Cornell, since the dozen or so women in each class, even if every single one attended, would not have been sufficient to make up eighty or ninety couples and fill the armory space. It's interesting that the women attended both as part of couples and unaccompanied, chaperoned by the matron. And presumably these hops happened only on weekend nights, since dancing until one in the morning would not have been very conducive to attending early-morning classes!
More exciting still, there were junior and senior balls -- what we would today call proms:
"But surpassing in elaborateness and splendor all other social events at Cornell, are those celebrated affairs the junior and senior balls. Many of the Cornell girls attend them, but, on these occasions, ladies from abroad are always present in considerable numbers. The shimmer of beautiful dresses, the flash of jewels, the blaze of electric lights, the perfume of flowers, the crash of music,--all tend to produce a dazzling effect. More brilliant than ever were the last balls, those of 1890: the boxes, or booths, with their velvet curtains, were a new and additional feature; never on previous occasions had the Cornell colors--the cornelian[sic] and white--shown more conspicuously; never before were the buntings, muslins, Chinese parasols, banners, and trophies more artistically arranged; and never in preceding years had a second orchestra been among the features, adding to the effect by rendering the "concord of sweet sounds" more continuous."
Here is the armory as decorated for the 1890 junior ball; click to enlarge:
It's too bad we can't see the colors, but the bunting on the ceiling is obviously red and white, and I think those are the boxes or booths at right. The attendance of women from outside Cornell is no surprise, but that some were "from abroad" -- not to mention the "flash of jewels" -- makes the wealth and social status of at least some of the students apparent.
Two orchestras were not unusual in this period; often one played the dance music alternating with the other playing promenade music. This may have been the case here, or the students may have had too much energy for promenading and simply wanted nonstop dance music. It would be interesting to see whether any dance cards from this period are held in Cornell's archives!
And finally, after supper each day,
"...if nothing more exhilarating presents itself, callers, chapter-meetings, or dancing in the gymnasium will serve to occupy any leisure hours which the student may have."
I wonder how they ever got any studying done!
The original article, which appeared in Demorest's Family Magazine, No. CCCXXI, Vol. XXVII, No. 3, January, 1891, pp. 139-145, is worth reading in full for its detailed description of day-to-day life at Cornell, but it is far too lengthy to transcribe. It may be found online at Google Books. The quotations and images above are taken from this article.
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