May Day Queen Tiara
May Day celebrations were common during the first 50 years of the University. The annual crowning of the campus May Day Queen became an important event starting in 1929. The May Day Queen, typically a senior elected by her classmates, participated in parades ceremonies, and in later years, was the primary feature attraction of May Day activities.
In 1940, the official May Day Queen Tiara was presented to a young woman who was meant to represent the best aspects of her sisters in her school – Virginia Ambrose. Though a few ladies chose to wear a flower crown in the next years, the tiara reappeared in 1947 and continued to be worn until the May Day celebrations ended in 1955.
Supplemental Materials
May Day dress
Loose photos from May Day Pageant of 1912 scrapbook
