Cornhuskin' Timeline
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| 1994 Light Up Toys from Class
Package Photo Source: Meredith College Archives |
1956 Tractor Picture Photo Source: Meredith College Archives |
| 1945: Cornhuskin’ was introduced by Doris Peterson to honor
the freshman class. The first Cornhuskin' was held on Tuesday October
30, 1945 and was called a Husking-Bee Party. The events in the first
Cornhuskin’ included chicken-calling, hog-calling, and corn shuckin’.
Due to its close proximity to Halloween, the main theme for Cornhuskin’
began as a costumed Halloween event for all students. 1951: Activities moved into the new auditorium in Jones Hall, which was finished and opened in 1949. 1957: This was the first year that the Sophomore Class was allowed to have a theme. Two new events were introduced - pie eating and cow milking. The students had to create their own “cow” to milk. 1958: Every class was allowed to choose a theme for their events. 1959: The Do-Nut Contest was introduced for this year only. It consisted of doughnuts hanging by a string which had to be caught in the participant’s mouth. 1960: The time-honored tradition of apple bobbing was introduced! Apple bobbing entails using your mouth to get as many apples as you can out of a water-filled tub. 1964: Participation Points are introduced and awarded for each class’ participation. 1965: The Meredith Athletic Association became known as the Meredith Recreation Association. It still conducted the same activities originally described in the 1947-1952 handbook “[aiding] in playtime activities besides sports, Palio, [and] Corn-Huskin’ Bee”. 1966: Cornhuskin’ has variously been described as Cornhusking Bee, Corn Huskin’ Bee (two words), Cornhuskin’ Bee, and then finally simply Cornhuskin’. In 1966 the word “bee” was dropped from the title of Cornhuskin’. 1971: The event of Cornhuskin’ went from a one day event to an entire week. 1976: Due to past events that were dangerous or harmful to students, conduct rules were introduced for the weeklong event. An example of one of these rules included: no throwing water from the breezeways of the dorm. This rule originated from an incident where students threw hot water over the breezeways at students walking below. Click here to read some interview quotes about these rule changes 1995: The main Cornhuskin’ event and the parade were moved from Thursday night to Friday night. 1998: Since Meredith was without a president this year the Tuesday night tradition of the President’s raid was unable to take place. In honor of the competition theme, a replacement activity was introduced: Capture the CORN - a cornhuskin’ twist on the age old game of "capture the flag." |
| Sources: The Meredith College yearbooks, 1951-1980’s. The Twig, October 1945 - October 1979. Robinson, Carolyn Covington. The Vision Revisited: A History of Meredith College, 1971-1998. Raleigh, N.C.: Meredith College Press, 1999. Johnson, Mary Lynch. A History of Meredith College. Raleigh [N.C.]: Meredith College, 1972. Student Handbook, Meredith College, Raleigh, North Carolina 1947-1952. The Meredith Herald, Nov. 1997, Nov. 1998. Britt, Suzanne, and Chip Henderson. Images: A Centennial Journey. Raleigh, N.C.: Meredith College Press, 1991. Bostedo, Kristen. “Capture the Corn Brought to Week’s Activities for First Time”. Meredith Herald. Vol. XV, Issue 11 pg. 2. Text items from the Meredith College Archives pertaining to Cornhuskin’. |