School Pageant
Recorded reading of an article entitled "A Patriotic Pageant" by Lydia Becklund published in the July 1918 issue of the Normal School Recorder.
Narrator: Kayla Stielow
Groups from left to right are: Blind Obedience, Militarism, Autocracy, the Attendants
"The purpose of the pageant is to express, in symbolic form, the magnitude and deep signficance of the gigantic world conflict, the outcome of which concerns us all so vitally."
Ernest T. Jacobson, The Normal School Recorder, April 1918
In the spring of 1918, St. Cloud Normal School put on a pageant that was composed by faculty member Julia Booth. Through the use of various dances, music, and students ranging from kindergarteners in the model school through college seniors, the school was able to produce a play that they believed demonstrated struggle between Democracy and Autocracy. Through the use of dramatic imagery and powerful choreography, the play hoped to spurn support for the war effort and demonstrate the campus community's perception of the powers and countries that were perceived as a threat to the U.S. and democracy worldwide.
"...and onto the stage stepped pompous Autocracy in his purple robes of splendor, attened by blood-red Militarism and followed by Blind Obedience. The death-black spirits of evil waited on their master, and the sword dancer performed for his royal highness."
Lydia Becklund, The Normal School Recorder, July 1918
"Britannia, France, Italy, and our America—a Sisterhood of Nations—bind themselves to defend a common cause, and the Forces of Darkness quake."
Lydia Becklund, The Normal School Recorder, July 1918
"He hath sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat..."
"...there suddenly dashed in upon the scene the spirited daughters of Liberty, full of that joy of living which can belong only to a free people."
Lydia Becklund, The Normal School Recorder, July 1918
Groups from left to right are: Spirits of Liberty, Allies and Any Child, Spirits of Mercy
Groups from left to right are: Truth Spirits, Wave Spirits, Music Spirits