Name/Title
Two Thousand See May Queen Crowned (1935)Entry/Object ID
2023.083Tags
Ward-BelmontScope and Content
A 1935 newspaper clipping from the Nashville Banner on the annual May Day festivities at Ward-Belmont and the crowning of the May Queen. 2,000 spectators were on campus for the festival, which included the classical maypole dance and a series of ten other dances. Miss Virginia Lynn Shaw of Tupelo, Mississippi, was crowned the May Queen. Other students mentioned are Miss Antoinette Treadway of Williamstown, Massachusetts, the college maid who crowned Shaw; Virginia Lee Smith, high school maid and one of the queen's attendants; and Louise Douglas and Ellen Bowers, pages. Barbara Ann Estes was the crown bearer. Shaw and her two attendants were brought to the "throne" in the center of campus in a carriage drawn by two white horses.Context
The annual May Day Festival was described as "the highlight of the social year at Ward-Belmont" (Milestones, 1945). The festivities involved dancing, processions, the crowning of the May Queen and her court, and the traditional May Pole Dance. The Lady of the Hall, Harpeth Hall's highest honor, evolved from the May Queen ceremony.
Virginia Lynn Shaw Stanley (née Shaw) was born on July 7, 1915 in Red Bay, Alabama. She moved to Tupelo, Mississippi while in elementary school, and went on to attend Ward-Belmont, Vanderbilt University, and the Washington D.C. Conservatory of Music. In addition to being the 1935 May Queen, she was also Miss Tupelo in 1932 and the Red Cross Service Volunteer “Float Queen” in 1940. Shaw was heavily involved in her church and community service, married twice, and had one son, one daughter, one stepdaughter and stepson, one grandson, four step-grandsons, and three step-great-grandchildren (as of 2006). She passed away after a brief illness on September 5, 2006, at the age of 91.Collection
Harpeth Hall School ArchivesLexicon
Search Terms
Ward-Belmont, 1935, May Queen, May Day, May Festival, Nashville Banner, Newspaper, Article, Virginia Lynn Shaw, Virginia Shaw Stanley, Antoinette Treadway, Virginia Lee Smith, Louise Douglas, Ellen Bowers, Barbara Ann Estes