subject: Historical Drama
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Pageant Exhibition Panel - Directions
description- – Directions for the Lancaster Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July Pageant Exhibition created by the Thayer Memorial Library in Lancaster, Massachusetts. The exhibition contains 29 photographs with descriptions and history of the five historical episodes performed during the Lancaster 1912 Fourth of July Pageant. The five scenes performed in the pageant were the Early English Fete, 1575-1625; the Settlement of Lancaster, 1650; the Massacre by the Indians, 1676; the Departure of the Minute-Men, 1775; and the Reception to Lafayette, 1824. The date of the Pageant listed on the directions is incorrect - the actual date was July 4, 1912.
- – DIRECTIONS. Hang the pictures in order according to their numbers, using two hooks for each picture. In repacking put in in the same order, No. 29 at the bottom and No. 1 on top, face to face, with the brown papers between. Place these directions over No. 1, and the heavy pasteboard over all. Pageant at Lancaster, Mass., July 4, 1913.[Stamp: Woman's Education Association Boston]
- – Lancaster (Mass.)--History--Drama
- – Historical drama
- – Fourth of July celebrations--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – Library exhibits--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – 1912-1930?
- – Thayer Memorial Library
- – From the archives at the Thayer Memorial Library, Lancaster, Massachusetts. http://thayermemoriallibrary.org
- – image/jpg
- – Image is of the directions that were sent with The Pageant at Lancaster, Massachusetts, July 4, 1912 Exhibit created by the Thayer Memorial Library
- – English
, Text
Pageant Exhibition Panel 29 - The Audience at the Lancaster Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July pageant
description- – A photograph of the audience at the Lancaster, Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July pageant. The Pageant was divided into five historical episodes, including the Early English Fete, 1575-1625; the Settlement of Lancaster, 1650; the Massacre by the Indians, 1676; the Departure of the Minutemen, 1775; and the Reception to Lafayette, 1824. The director of the pageant was Joseph Lindon Smith. About 400 amateur performers participated. It is estimated that 4000 people attended the pageant with about 1200 people seated in the bleachers alone. The day of the pageant began at 3:30 in the morning with a group called"the daybreak patrol"that drove around Lancaster and played musical instruments and turned on water hoses to wake people up. The play started at 10 am and lasted for two and a half hours. The photograph is mounted on heavy cardboard and has text describing the activity and history depicted in the photograph.
- – Lancaster (Mass.)--History--Drama
- – Historical drama
- – Spectators--Pictorial works
- – Fourth of July celebrations--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – Library exhibits--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – 1912-07-04
- – Thayer Memorial Library
- – From the archives at the Thayer Memorial Library, Lancaster, Massachusetts. http://thayermemoriallibrary.org
- – image/jpg
- – Image is the twenty-ninth photograph in the Lancaster Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July Pageant Exhibition created by the Thayer Memorial Library.
- – English
Pageant Exhibition Panel 28 - The Pageant Actors
description- – A photograph of the actors who participated in the final episode, the Reception to Lafayette, of the Lancaster, Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July pageant. Known participants are: Standing - Miss Virginia Keyes, Miss Mary Morse, Mrs. H.H. Fuller, Miss Annie Harris, Mrs. E.V.R. Thayer, Eben C. Mann, Dr. C.C. Beckley, Lester Griswold, John Hair, Sarah Treadway, Guy Hawkins, Lyman B. Sanborn Jr., Natalie Thayer, Rev. Abbot Peterson, Edith Parker, Mabel Safford, Katherine Parker, Helen Hawkins, Mrs. Walter Stiles, Mrs. Eben Fuller, Mrs. Lester Griswold, Dorothy Erskine, Miss Esther Morse, Edith Montgomery, Amanda Fortin, Ruth McLaughlin, Dorothy Sanborn, Bessie McGee, Bessie McLaughlin, Katharine Starbuck, Helen McGee, Conway Parker, Josphine Morse, Mrs. S.H. Erskine, Miss Louise Chickering, Mrs. H.H. Hosmer, Allan G. Buttrick; Sitting - Sally Bascom, Anna Fuller, Hazel Turner, Gertrude Temple, John Malone, Harriet Parker, John McLaughlin, William Monahan, Richard Mahan, Elizabeth Gordon, Charles Starbuck Jr. George McGee, Madeline McGee, Stewart Carr, Haven Parker, Frank McLaughlin, Harry Fuller, Charles McLaughlin, richard Farnsworth, James McLeod, Clara Francis, Mary Flannagan. The photograph is mounted on heavy cardboard.
- – Lancaster (Mass.)--History--Drama
- – Historical drama
- – Actors--Pictorial works
- – Fourth of July celebrations--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – Library exhibits--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – 1912-07-04
- – Thayer Memorial Library
- – From the archives at the Thayer Memorial Library, Lancaster, Massachusetts. http://thayermemoriallibrary.org
- – image/jpg
- – Image is the twenty-eighth photograph in the Lancaster Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July Pageant Exhibition created by the Thayer Memorial Library.
- – English
Pageant Exhibition Panel 27 - The Minuet dancers
description- – The dancers who danced the Minuet in the final episode, the Reception to Lafayette, of the Lancaster, Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July pageant. The photograph is mounted on heavy cardboard and has text describing the activity and history depicted in the photograph. The text for this image has been transcribed.
- – Pageant at Lancaster, Massachusetts, July 4, 1912 THOSE WHO DANE THE MINUET AT THE RECEPTION TO LAFAYETTEMrs. Harmar Morse Mr. Harmar Morse Miss Mabel W. Safford Mr. Henry B. SampsonMiss Agnes Thayer Mr. George F. Morse, Jr. Miss Helen M. Hawkins Mr. Lester R. GriswoldMiss Nora F. Thayer Mr. Henry H. Fuller Miss Edith Parker Mr. Lyman B. Sanborn, Jr.Miss Natalie Thayer Mr. Guy C. Hawkins Miss Sarah C. Treadway Mr. Edward F. Safford
- – Lancaster (Mass.)--History--Drama
- – Dancers--Pictorial works
- – Historical drama
- – Fourth of July celebrations--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – Library exhibits--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – 1912-07-04
- – Thayer Memorial Library
- – From the archives at the Thayer Memorial Library, Lancaster, Massachusetts. http://thayermemoriallibrary.org
- – image/jpg
- – Image is the twenty-seventh photograph in the Lancaster Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July Pageant Exhibition created by the Thayer Memorial Library.
- – English
Pageant Exhibition Panel 03 - Entrance of the Colonists
description- – Colonists arriving to settle Lancaster during Episode 2, Settlement of Lancaster, in the Lancaster, Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July Pageant. Lancaster was settled sometime around 1653. In the picture, the colonist walk in a long, strung out line, carrying their belongings in baskets. The identified participants were Gertrude Blood, Amreau Blood, Bessie McLaughlin, Mary Flannagan, Ruth McLaughlin, Katherine Powers, Emma Avery, Madeline Brydon, Robert McRell, Jessie Hair, Bessie Munn, Hattie McGee, Mary Burke, Marie King, Anna Coughlin, Frank McLaughlin, Mrs. Foster Sawer, Mrs. Lester Griswold, Donald Griswold, Rev. Abbot Peterson. The photograph is mounted on heavy cardboard and has text describing the activity and history depicted in the photograph. The text for this image has been transcribed.
- – Pageant at Lancaster, Massachusetts, July 4, 1912 EPISODE II. SETTLEMENTThis scene is in part typical of the beginnings of any of the inland towns of New England founded in the seventeenth century, but it also includes incidents which belong especially to Lancaster. We are to suppose that it takes place some time between 1643, when an Indian trading-post was established here, and 1653, when Lancaster received township rights by grant of the General Court. We know, from allusions in a later deed, of the purchase by Lancaster Proprietors of eighty square miles of land, for twelve pounds, from the friendly chief, Sholan. No copy of the deed is known to exist; but there is a tradition in the Houghton family, which may have reference to this transaction, that for certain lands bought of the Indians two black bulls and a gallon of rum formed a part of the purchase price, - a picturesque detail which has been utilized.John Eliot, the Apostle to the Indians, frequently visited Lancaster, or"Nashaway,"as it was called in these earlier years. In 1648 he writes:"Showanon[Sholan] the great Sachem of Nashaway doth embrace the Gospel&pray unto God, I have been four times there this summer,"and, two years later laments that, owing to his absence, some of the Nashaway Indians have been emboldened by Satan to return to their superstitious rites. The hymns here introduced are versions of the 126th and a part of the 24th Psalm from the"Bay Psalm Book."printed at Cambridge in 1640. Appropriate contemporary tunes have been selected. The quaint names assigned to the minor characters in this scene are not fanciful, as might be supposed, but are drawn from the vital records of the town. Some, however, below to a later date than of this episode.
- – Colonists--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – Lancaster (Mass.)--History--1640-1660--Drama
- – Historical drama
- – Fourth of July celebrations--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – Library exhibits--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – 1912-07-04
- – Thayer Memorial Library
- – From the archives at the Thayer Memorial Library, Lancaster, Massachusetts. http://thayermemoriallibrary.org
- – image/jpg
- – Image is the third photograph in the Lancaster Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July Pageant Exhibition created by the Thayer Memorial Library.
- – English
Pageant Exhibition Panel 02 - May Pole Dance
description- – The May pole dance performed during Episode I, Early English Fete, in the Lancaster, Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July Pageant. The May Pole dancers, with flowers in their hair, dance around the pole holding the ribbons. The May Pole dancers were all girls from the Lancaster Industrial School for Girls in Lancaster. Meanwhile, the men in white caps and the woman all in white were Morris Dancers who also performed during the Episode. The identified Morris Dancers were Helen E. Brown, Lyman B. Sanborn, Jr., Edna Hardy, John Mahan, Ruth [Pilling], Walter J. Burke, A. Daniel Heald (blank, Marion C. Brown, Ethel Schumacher, Beatrice Tedford, Beatrice Lewis, Blank, Dorothy Erskine, Helen Rowell.The photograph is mounted on heavy cardboard and has text describing the activity and history depicted in the photograph. The text for this image has been transcribed.
- – Pageant at Lancaster, Massachusetts, July 4, 1912 Early English Fete, 1575-1625Synopsis Villagers enter the scene, ready for the sports and pastimes of the May-games; they visit the booths and are presently joined by a group of girls dressed alike; these are the May-pole dancers.Then come in the morris-dancers, followed later by a group of milkmaids. The Lord and Lady of the May, Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and their group, consisting of Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlett, and the others, now come into the scene, and all are ready for the games to begin. As a foil to the merriment and holiday spirit, a group of Puritans stalk solemnly across the field, looking with reproving eyes at all they see.A knight and his lady, with a small following, enter from the left and receive salutations from the company. The dances begin, when the knight seats his lady.In the middle the May-pole dancers, on the right the morris and on the left the milkmaid group. During the dances the villagers engage in various sports: throwing of quoits, wrestling, single-stick, running races, and other games, and at the same time Robin Hood and his merry men show their skill in archery.
- – Folklore
- – Historical drama
- – Maypoles--Folk dancing
- – Fourth of July celebrations--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – Lancaster (Mass.)--History--1575-1625--Drama
- – Library exhibits--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – May Day
- – 1912-07-04
- – Thayer Memorial Library
- – From the archives at the Thayer Memorial Library, Lancaster, Massachusetts. http://thayermemoriallibrary.org
- – image/jpg
- – Image is the second photograph in the Lancaster Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July Pageant Exhibition created by the Thayer Memorial Library.
- – English
Pageant Exhibition Panel 01 - May Pole and Morris dancers
description- – May Pole and Morris dancers performing in Episode I, Early English Fete, in the Lancaster, Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July Pageant. In the far back to the right, Robin Hood and his Merry Band can be seen taking part in the merriment. Set in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, though, the activities performed on May Day were frowned upon, and the puritans, seen walking on the edge to the right, can be seen showing their displeasure by glaring at the performers.The photograph is mounted on heavy cardboard and has text describing the activity and history depicted in the photograph.
- – Pageant at Lancaster, Massachusetts, July 4, 1912 Episode I. The Prologue: Early English Fete.In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries there was a distinct set of sports known as the May-games. It was customary for citizens of all estates to go out into the woods after midnight preceding the May-day to cut down the May-pole, adorn it with branches and flowers, and bring it into the village, where they danced around it and performed other pastimes all day long. Bishop Latimer wrote:"Coming to a certain town on a holiday to preach, I found the church door fast locked. I tarried there half an hour and more, and at last the key was found, and one of the parish comes to me and says,"Sir, this is a busy day with us, we cannot hear you; it is Robin Hood's Day.' I was fain, therefore to give place to Robin hood."In the May-games Robin Hood presided as Lord of the May and Maid Marian as Lady of the May. His companions were those famous in his ballads, who always accompanied him on his adventures. There were tests of archery and morris-dances. In the morris-dance, which was considered an essential feature of May-day, the hobby-horse or a dragon made a part of the dance with Robin Hood and his companions. - Abridged from"Folk Festivals,"by Mary Master Needham.
- – Folklore
- – Historical drama
- – Maypoles--Folk dancing
- – Fourth of July celebrations--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – Lancaster (Mass.)--History--1575-1625--Drama
- – Library exhibits--Massachusetts--Lancaster
- – May Day
- – 1912-07-04
- – Thayer Memorial Library
- – From the archives at the Thayer Memorial Library, Lancaster, Massachusetts. http://thayermemoriallibrary.org
- – image/jpg
- – Image is the first photograph in the Lancaster Massachusetts 1912 Fourth of July Pageant Exhibition created by the Thayer Memorial Library.
- – English
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