17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Friday, December 13, 1912: Our Literary Society met today. I didn’t take part this time. The kids got their parts off pretty good. Don’t have to go back to school again for two weeks. I’m so glad.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Wow, they had a long school break for the holidays a hundred years ago.
Grandma really enjoyed being a member of the Literary Society at her school. Across the last few months I’ve struggled to figure out exactly what the Literary Society did. At first I thought it was a book club—but more recent diary entries, including this one, suggest that they put on some sort of program.
I think that maybe I’ve figured it out. I found an article in the December 1912 issue of Ladies Home Journal called “The Rural School at Christmas.” It discusses how the rural school is often the center of social activities during the holiday and contained several suggestions.
One suggestion described activities a girl’s club could do. I think that the girl’s club described in the magazine sounds very similar to the Literary Society at McEwensville High School.
A Club for Girls
During the Christmas month this club looks up all of the literature and music bearing on Christmas. Christmas stories are told and Christmas songs and hymns practiced.
Ladies Home Journal (December, 1912)
Worried about missing school and then happy to be out for two weeks. How times change :-).
They have changed! Grandma probably knew that there would be lots of work on farm if she wasn’t in school 🙂
a lovely practice
What a lovely tradition! And it sounds like your grandma “got off” reading her part at the club meeting and now looking forward to sleeping in for the holiday. 🙂
It was always nice to be able to relax during school breaks!
Sounds like a lot of fun finding stories and songs appropriate to the season and then putting on a performance. We used to have Christmas concerts at school, but the teachers always decided on the program. This sounds like the students have lots of input creating a way to present what they found and what interests them.
It does sound like the students had a lot more control over the program. . . which seems kind of nice.
I hope she got a part!!!
Sounds like fun. I wonder why things like that have gotten out of fashion. It makes me think of Little Women and the “Pickwick society” (I think that is the name of their little theatrical society)
Sometimes I think that we’ve lost something important over the years.
Ditto – I agree.
Hi. I wonder if Helena ever took part in a Christmas concert at school. She sounds happy to be off for two weeks. I’d like that myself!!! jane
Me, too.