30s-40s
According to the 1939 yearbook, the boys of Episcopal High School were in the middle of baseball practice when the war was issued. The school then used the time during baseball practice to teach the boys about war tactics and strategies. While Episcopal never forced students to go serve, most of the boys were patriotic, so they were more in favor of joining the war.
1939: The year of change.
This led to twenty-two EHS boys giving their life to serve in this ongoing war. Their names are now on this plaque held in Pendleton.
When did finals originate?
Through my research, I never found a set date for when the dance started. The Hop Committee, however, has been around since the 1900s. The Hop Committee would be the ones to organize “hops”, dances, for the student body.
Informal
vs.
The Hop Committee planned around 3-4 dances per year. Finals was typically the only formal dance. If a dance had the “informal” label on it, girls were not provided with a place to stay on campus.
Since there was less pressure on getting dates for informal dances, a bit less effort was made to go. A term that was used to describe boys going alone was called a “stag”.
During the winter formal of 1959, the winter midterms took place the following, days, and this was another stressors for students.
Hop Committee 1943
Formal
Finals was the big formal dance every year. Girls were required to stay on campus, since “finals” was essentially the final weekend. The order of events for the weekend started off with an informal dance on Thursday. On Friday, there was a Baccalaureate Service, followed by a joint Literary Society Celebration, then tea honoring the parents of the graduates. Later Friday night, the formal dance took place, “Finals”, from 9:30 PM to 2 AM. The next morning, there were the Commencement Exercises.
This was another reason why a finals date was so special—it was already such a big ask for the boy to ask a faculty member to host a girl at their house.