In the beginning...The idea for a special, all-campus party to celebrate spring originated in 1899 after a particularly long winter.
With spring in the air, the men of the Class of 1900, eager to bring members of the fairer sex to their isolated home, organized the first Spring House-Parties Weekend in conjunction with the first Junior Prom.
As one might guess from its name, the weekend featured back-to-back fraternity parties in addition to the prom, as well as various other athletic, cultural and social events.
Alleged "misconduct" by Dartmouth students and their dates over the course of the weekend in 1923, however, led to the event's cancellation by the College administration in 1924.
Green Key Society formed in 1921 when two sophomore societies merged, enlarging their annual spring variety show to fill the gap left by the cancellation of Spring House-Parties Weekend.
In 1929, Green Key Weekend in its present form was born when the prom -- better known as Green Key Ball -- was reinstated and placed under the supervision of the Society, deemed respectable and responsible enough to ensure an orderly weekend.
Unfortunately for Dartmouth's youngest, freshmen were long prohibited from participating in the activities held during the weekend, including fraternity parties, and were forced to spend the weekend -- without dates -- in Thayer's main dining hall, now Food Court.
With the return of the prom, women -- who often only visited the campus during Winter Carnival -- flooded back to Hanover to take part in its many and diverse pleasures, much to the delight of the lonely Dartmouth men.
Legendary hijinks
Some pretty interesting behavior has accompanied Dartmouth's spring weekend over the years. "Rowdy" conduct has prompted intervention in weekend activities by College administrators several times.
Nude female cyclists, for one, proved to be the bane of the spring weekends during the 1920s and '30s.
A female guest who biked around the Green in the style of Lady Godiva just before Sunday morning church services in 1923 is said to have been the final straw, causing administrators to cancel House-Parties Weekend the next year.
Similarly, in 1931, Lulu McWoosh, a student at nearby Slippery Mountain Teachers College, went for a bicycle ride one Green Key morning but simply forgot her clothes. This time administrators cancelled Green Key for three years.
On a different note, a rather bizarre series of events unfolded at the College's golf course on Green Key Saturday in 1954.
At about 3 a.m., the Hanover police chief found a student on the eighth green with a modest picnic: hot dogs, rolls, mustard, cupcakes and coffee -- not to mention Canadian Club, heroin and marijuana, as well as Alka-Seltzer to help it all down.
An hour later, police raided the course, closing it and removing 69 students and their dates from the premises because of "misuse of the town's normally afforded pleasure privileges."
Nevertheless, the "outdoor sleep" became a popular Green Key custom that lasted through the 1960s, as women joined their dates, equipped with sleeping bags, blankets and sometimes even mattresses, for a night under the stars.
In 1965, however, a Hanover parent complained about his sons' exposure to the "less Puritan" side of college life, so the College sent groundskeepers to expel the revelers at dawn.
Awakened, soaked and scattered by the bullhorn-and-sprinkler-armed staff members, students and their dates quickly abandoned the outdoors to the birds and bees, and the tradition died out.
An incident during Green Key 1967 was not as humorous, prompting administrators to permanently discontinue the Green Key Ball.
That year, students rioted after a speech by segregationist and then Alabama Gov. George Wallace. The student activists formed a ring around the Governor's car to prevent him from leaving the campus, an effort that was successful for more than five hours.
Odd traditions
If you think that the Psi Upsilon Keg Jump during Winter Carnival is an odd tradition, wait until you hear some of the traditions that used to be associated with Green Key Weekend.
Take, for example, the rather bizarre 1960s contest that pitted the brothers of Chi Phi and Pi Lambda Phi fraternities against one another to determine the "champion piano smashing team of the College," according to an old issue of The Dartmouth.
Many current students would probably have a difficult time imagining the members of some of Dartmouth's fraternities joining together to harmonize a few old-time tunes for a panel of judges.
But that is exactly what took place during the "Hums," first held as a vocal concert in 1899 and later developed into a competition between fraternity houses by the 1930s.One of the longest lasting Green Key traditions, the Hums were a serious singing contest for many years.
During the 1970s, however, the musical themes shifted from the sober to the comic and even the contentious, and were eventually discontinued after being surrounded by controversy for several years.
Another venerable spring tradition, one that began even before the inception of House-Parties Weekend, was the "Wetdown Ceremonies," first held in the late 1800s.
Newly-elected members of the student government ran a gauntlet of their constituents during which they were showered with beverages ranging from lemonade to beer and, after, College administrators handed out a variety of awards.
The event, however, gradually became more and more rowdy, as the representatives were subjected to a hail of more solid objects and flailing belts.
To reduce injuries, in 1966 administrators proposed that "Chariot Races" replace the "Wetdown Ceremonies," an idea that they would come to regret.
Students quickly became enthusiastic about the event, and constructed and decorated variations of the Roman chariot theme.
The chariots, constructed of materials ranging from baskets to kegs and manned by four "horses" and one driver, were raced three times around the Green.
The poorly constructed vehicles rarely made it through the race, a fact that was exacerbated when the practice of pelting the carts with eggs, flour and fruit -- a legacy of the "Wetdown Ceremonies" -- appeared.
In 1976, members of Gamma Delta Chi and Beta Theta Pi fraternities became embroiled in a brawl after allegations of chariot sabotage were raised. The repercussions of the fight eventually led to the replacement of the races with the "Greek Games" in 1984.
Greek houses competed with each other during each of the six events of the Games, but interest waned quickly, and the event was quietly discontinued at the end of the 1980s.
Another sporting event held during Green Key Weekend was the bicycle marathon from Hanover to Amherst, Mass. held annually for thirty years after the first Green Key Ball in 1929.
The "athletes" of Beta Theta Pi and Psi Upsilon fraternities each took shifts on their house's bike during the course of the race, while their teammates followed behind with refreshments in the form of water, and, more importantly, beer.
The Sound of Music
One Green Key custom alive and well today is the tradition of musical performances, which have often brought well-known bands to Dartmouth.
In 1988, Blues Traveler played its mix of blues and rock at the Alpha Delta fraternity lawn party. In 1982, AD also hosted Anthrax.
The Grateful Dead came to Dartmouth in 1978, playing for three hours and attracting so many "Deadheads" to the campus that an editorial in The Dartmouth said the concert felt like a foreign event.
Swing musicians Tommy Dorsey and Artie Shaw entertained students and their dates in 1938. Shaw performed "Green Key Jump," a song he had written especially for the the storied weekend.
