MOTHERS HAVE PLAYED CRITICAL ROLE AT ILLINOIS STATE
Mother’s Day Was Big Celebration on Campus for Years
By Tom Emery
Today is Mother’s Day, a time to celebrate the importance of motherhood in our lives. At Illinois State, the holiday was cause for major celebration in past eras.
Though celebrated in pockets in previous years, Mother’s Day became an official holiday since May 9, 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as a day to honor the nation’s mothers.
Many of today’s familiar gift ideas for mothers were also popular in the early days of the holiday. On May 10, 1928, the Vidette, the campus newspaper, ran an advertisement for McKnight & McKnight, a business in Normal who touted themselves as “booksellers, publishers, and printers.”
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For Mother’s Day, the ad suggested that “you send her one of the following: a greeting card with appropriate sentiment; a framed motto; a box of candy; [or] a good book.”
In 1931, the Vidette ran a fake letter chock full of satirical humor for Mother’s Day. The wry letter, from a pretend mother down on the farm, closed with “thanks for the Mother’s Day card. You should have erased the price tag, though.”
On a more serious note, the university held annual celebrations of Mother’s Day in grand style. Starting in 1920, Mother’s Day services were a rite of spring at Illinois State, and were often part of a weekend packed with activities. The services were usually conducted by a visiting minister.
Often, Mother’s Day was honored on campus a week ahead of the actual holiday, as the Vidette noted in 1948, “in order that students may be free to go home” on the day itself.
In 1951, four major events highlighted the observance of Mother’s Day. The Vidette reported that “festivities in honor of Redbird Moms will begin” on Friday, May 4 “with the thirty-second annual Stunt Show,” in which four student organizations “will join with faculty to present skits.” A “faculty stunt” concluded the show. Tickets for the evening were sixty cents each.
On Saturday, “the parents of university students” were the special guests at the “Gold-Diggers Ball,” sponsored by the Women’s League. One feature of the dance was the “comic corsages” that were made by the female students for their escorts. Then there was the annual Mother’s Day service on Sunday afternoon, followed by a reception for students, faculty, families, and friends in Fell Hall.
Another part of the celebration in 1953 was the sophomore cotillion. That year, the Vidette reported that “invitations for the Mother’s Day weekend [were] sent to all parents of ISU students, and the students [were] urged to personally invite their parents to the observance.”
Celebrations of the holiday could also be heard over the local airwaves in 1948. In the days before WGLT, the campus radio station, the on-air program list for Wednesday, May 5 on WJBC that year included a “Mother’s Day Program” at 4:30 p.m.
Mother’s Day also took on added meaning with a campus landmark. The bell to Old Main, which was removed when the tower was taken off the building in 1946, was erected as a memorial on the Quad in 1955.
The Vidette reported on Sept. 21, 1955 that the bell would be rung on special occasions, including Homecoming, Founder’s Day, Christmas, Commencement – and Mother’s Day.
The festivities continued into the 1960s, with the tradition of hosting Mother’s Day celebrations a week before the real holiday. As the Vidette wrote on April 30, 1964, “mothers will have the opportunity to celebrate their special day twice, one at home and one with sons and daughters at ISU.”
Activities for the 1969 celebration, which was themed “An Old Fashioned Mom’s Day,” included the stunt show, a coffee hour, an ice cream social, and tours of the WGLT studios and Felmley Greenhouse.
The Mother’s Day celebrations at Illinois State eventually faded from view. But generations of future mothers, who studied at the university in their early adulthood, or current mothers, whose children have walked the Quad and the many campus buildings, have left their imprint on Illinois State.
Tom Emery is a freelance writer and researcher from Carlinville, Ill. who is the proud son of his own mother, Janice. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.
