{"id":19459,"date":"2015-05-01T08:00:36","date_gmt":"2015-05-01T16:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wpmu.library.oregonstate.edu\/osu_archives\/?p=19459"},"modified":"2015-05-01T08:00:36","modified_gmt":"2015-05-01T16:00:36","slug":"moms-weekend-a-historical-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/scarc\/2015\/05\/01\/moms-weekend-a-historical-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"Mom’s Weekend ~ a historical recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This weekend will mark the 91st<\/sup> iteration of Oregon State\u2019s Mothers Weekend, but the event hasn\u2019t always taken the shape it does now, in fact it wasn\u2019t called Mothers Weekend until 1947.<\/p>\n

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Brochures and programs referred to it as Woman\u2019s Day although yearbooks typically called it Mothers Weekend as early as 1928, likely because it fell on the weekend of Mother\u2019s Day. The first of these weekends took place back in 1924 when it was simply called Woman\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

The event had been put on by the League of Women and the idea had been presented to President Kerr by the Dean of Women at the time, Kate Jameson who said later that her idea was \u201cto take just one day and devote it to women themselves\u201d. That one day featured a women\u2019s track meet, singing and a banquet for the 200 mothers who attended. By the early 60\u2019s that number had grown to over 2000 mothers and the festivities now included flower shows, fashion shows, drill team competitions and even turtle races.<\/p>\n

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The first Woman\u2019s Day featured a theme of \u201cWomen\u2019s Opportunities\u201d and later themes of the decade would include women in the fine arts, women of achievement, pioneer women and mothers. The Associated Women Students group began hosting Woman\u2019s Day shortly after the day\u2019s inception and began installing new officers on that weekend every year. The event soon featured pledges towards women\u2019s honorary groups as well as sororities, honors towards these groups also became part of the celebration.<\/p>\n

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Dances, theater acts and musical performances became a routine part of Woman\u2019s Day by the mid 30\u2019s and eventually the mothers of male students were added into Mother\u2019s Weekend.<\/p>\n

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In 2015 the holiday has expanded to fill three days full of events including animal shows, concerts, open houses, sports tournaments and more. No matter the time period, the goal of showcasing Oregon State and celebrating the mothers of its students has been consistent and this weekend will be another chance for beaver fans to celebrate the school and their family.<\/p>\n

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Want to see more pictures of moms? Check out the Mom’s Weekend \/ May Day set in Flickr!<\/a><\/p>\n

Sources Used<\/strong><\/p>\n