From the Archives – The Holiday Season at Montclair

December is a month of family, giving, and celebration and Montclair has never been an exception to the rule. Looking deep into the archives, the celebration of Christmas at Montclair can be found as far back as the late 1910’s, when the Glee Club and Mandolin Club provided Christmas entertainment to the campus.

For many years, Montclair hosted a Christmas program for its students often involving festive music and dining.

Another account of Christmas at Montclair is described here by Alumni Janet Millenthal ‘46 and Charlotte Koob ‘48:

“One of the most elaborate customs annually observed at Russ Hall is the Christmas celebration. This takes place the day before the students return home for the Christmas holidays.

The festivities begin with the old English custom of burning the Yule Log, during which the house chairman of either Russ or Chapin reads a selection of poetry on this topic. The students and members of the faculty, in formal dress, march into the dining room singing Christmas Carols. President and Mrs. Sprague assume the roles of king and queen. The traditional Boor’s Head is brought in and placed before them. Two girls, accompanied by a number of waits, enter carrying a huge chicken pie decorated with blackbirds, and singing, “Four—and—Twenty Blackbirds.” Mrs. Sprague cuts the pie which is then passed to the guests. The dinner is topped off with the eating of the Xmas plum pudding. They then retire to the living room where a program of entertainment has been arranged. Dancing follows at Chapin Hall. Everyone then returns to his room, dons snowsuit or slacks and goes caroling. After this, the students go back to the dormitories where they are considered “sissies” if they refuse to stay up all night attending parties in various rooms.

The next day, students sleep through their classes.”

Moving to the 1960’s, possibly even the 1950’s, Montclair would host a more formal annual Christmas Ball.

But Christmas isn’t only about celebration and being merry. While charity has always occurred at Montclair, one notable example of giving occurred in the 1970’s called the “Cookie Campaign,” hosted by the industrial arts department, which collected Christmas gifts to donate to orphans and the elderly.

You may have noticed that this story has a heavy focus on Christmas and not the holiday season. Historically, the Montclair community was not as widely represented as it is today, and the gamut did not spread to a much greater size until the 1970s and 1980s. Due to this, there is very little about how the other holidays were celebrated earlier in the archives. That being said, more recent history does show a greater prominence.

Information about the Jewish faith and the celebration of Chanukah at Montclair can be found as far back as the 1960 yearbook with the existence of the Star of David club, the Jewish student organization on campus at the time.

Later on, Jewish students organized as the Jewish Student Union (JSU), and now, Hillel. The Star of David, JSU, and Hillel all held Chanukah celebrations each year during their respective times.

The celebration of Kwanza at Montclair can be found as far back as 1971 in a November edition of the Montclarion. The Black Organization for Success in Society (BOSS) was the student organization that hosted the Kwanza celebration on campus. In future years, Kwanza events were hosted by The Black Student Cooperative Union (BSCU).