12/02/2022
The Wilson community celebrates White Dinner tomorrow evening and here’s a little history about one of our treasured traditions.
During the late 1800s, students held Christmas parties in the dining room during the last few days before the Christmas break. The parties became increasingly elaborate.
But as war was spreading in Europe in 1914, the campus community felt that the extravagance was inappropriate and on December 8th, President Anna J. McKeag held a campus meeting in Thomson Hall to inaugurate a “self-denial campaign” in which the campus community would forgo special treats such as ice cream at Skinner’s in Chambersburg or upgraded seating on the train ride home. The money that would have been spent on these luxuries was to be donated to the Belgian Relief effort for the war in Europe. McKeag also announced that there would be no Christmas party the following week and the money that would have been spent on extravagant dresses, decorations, presents and food would also be donated. Students agreed and began collecting funds. But on the day that had been scheduled for the Christmas party, the students were surprised to find a beautiful turkey dinner anyway, provided by the college.
By the 1920s, the YWCA took responsibility for the Christmas party and created pledge cards for the students to make contributions to a variety of causes, noting “We are all thankful for what we have and willing to share it with others.” Money raised went to scholarship funds for international students, foreign missionaries and charities in Appalachia.
In 1925, the festive dinner was described in the Billboard: “The white clad college family, the flickering light of many candles, the carols of the College Choir, the plea for financial gifts to those less fortunate than ourselves, the general air of congeniality and good spirits-all these were factors in making the White Dinner 1925 a true fulfillment of the Wilson tradition in which the YWCA shall be in charge of a Christmas dinner on the last Saturday before Christmas vacation.”
