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First in a three-part series on May Day happenings of yesteryear.
May is here again. We old-timers reach back into our psyches and pull out memories of long-ago May Day festivals.

Because May Day isn’t celebrated in the schools as it was in the good old days, I want to rouse the memories of some and enlighten others about what made May Day special.

May Day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. Feb. 1 was the first day of spring, but May 1 was the first day of summer. The summer solstice of June 25 (now June 21) was midsummer.

Nations throughout the world celebrate May Day many ways, but in America it is best known for its school skits, works of art, dancing, singing, crowning of the Queen of May and the traditional wrapping of the May Pole.

In the next few weeks, I am going to let you visit some May Day festivals at High Point’s two Negro schools starting in 1932.

Why 1932? That was the first year I could find information about a May Day festival at a Negro school, reported only in the Colored News section of the local paper.

1932: Leonard Street
Leonard Street School held its May Day program in the school auditorium in 1932. Festivities began with the fairy queen festival with dances, games and stunts. A processional consisted of the Fairy band, butterflies, queen, maid of honor, attendants and Brownies and Fairies who danced to amuse their May Day Queen. Young girls performed stunts of diving over the body, through each other’s arms, over chairs, rolling over each other’s backs, all without a single error. The students wore elaborate costumes made by parents and teachers. The program was directed by Lillian Merritt, Julia Hall and Vivian Graves.

1934: Leonard Street
Once again, the May Day exercise was in the auditorium. I wonder if all May Day exercises in our early history were indoors. At least we know they started indoors and gravitated outdoors. Seventh-grader Evelyn Drake was Queen of May. Students performed many aesthetic dances taught by Mrs. L.S. Merritt, who was in charge of the program.

1937: Fairview Street
The theme of the annual celebration at Fairview Street School was “Springtime” by Catherine Snodgrass. Children were dressed in various colored outfits representing spring flowers. Daisy Portee was crowned Queen of May while sitting on a throne decorated in colorful spring flowers and plants. The children participated in the following narratives: Capture of the Proserpina; the Message From Jupiter; and Proserpina Crowned Queen.

Leading characters were Proserpina, Daisy Portee; Pluto, James Stokes; Cupid, Mary Wade James; water nymph, Gladys Ross; North Wind, Lucille Coleman; messenger from the gods, Clayton Reid; herald, Harold Cruse; Fairy, Lella Mae Clowney; pages, J.W. Edmondson and Alexander Hill; flower girls, Dorothy Ware, Pearline Gripper, Verland Ware and Ninnie Fair; train bearers, Daisy Robertson and Davis Chambers. The school’s toy orchestra performed.

1937: Leonard Street
More than 1,000 people showed up at the Leonard Street School playground to watch a colorful, fun-filled May Day festival. Helen Boulware, Queen of May, sat atop a throne surrounded by attendants and a crown bearer who were dressed in spring colors. Bright colors, along with the wrapping of the May Pole, were key ingredients of all early May Day celebrations.

The program included singing games, first grade; processional of the queen and attendants; German Happy Dance, second grade; Minuet in G, fourth grade; sailors’ hornpipe, fifth-grade boys; weaving dance, third grade; Welcome Sweet Springtime, fifth-grade girls; Kamor Inskia, sixth-grade boys; and Southland Sketches, sixth-grade girls. “Comin Through the Rye” was played while the second-, fifth- and seventh-graders wrapped the May poles.

Lillian Merritt directed the exercises assisted by Mary Blackburn, Callie Holmes, Blanche Whitted and Elizabeth Baker. Julia Hall played piano and accompanied the Toy Band.

1938: Fairview Street
The annual May Day festival, on the Fairview playground, started with the queen’s processional — children of preschool age and older, as well as May Day Queen Ida Sturgess and her court. The school’s Toy Band played during the marches. Evelyn Anderson, the court jester, kept the audience laughing with her mimicry and jesting throughout the afternoon.

The program included interpretive dance by Mamie Leake; Danish shoemaker dance, African tom-tom dance and English sailors’ hornpipe, first-grade boys; Swedish dance and Hungarian dance, second grade; American Indian war dance and Dutch dance, third grade; Scotch Highland fling and early American dance, fourth grade; Irish jig and Spanish tango, fifth grade; Russian dance, sixth grade; and Norwegian march, seventh grade. The winding of the May Pole was done by girls dressed in colors of the rainbow, which made the colored streamers even more vibrant as they were wound around the poles.

1939: Fairview Street
More than 1,500 people showed up to watch Fairview Street School’s annual May Day festival. Eloise Robbins reigned as Queen of May. Various grades performed summer dance, fall barn dance, winter skating waltz; January, snow scenes; February, the minuet; March, following the winds; April, umbrella drills; May, my pony boy; June, hoop drill; July, patriotic drill; August, farmers and milkmaids; September, school days; October, cotton needs picking; November, Indian war dance; December, jingle bells; and wrapping of the May poles.

This is what May Day was all about, a way of teaching kids to be creative and self-reliant.

Glenn Chavis researches and writes about High Point’s black history. Contact him at Storytime40@aol.com.