50s & 60s
Tradition meets EHS
A huge social expectation in 1950s suburbia was attending dance and etiquette classes. These would consist of several weeks of dance lessons, learning from line dances to slow dances. As the classes drew near the end, it would conclude with a final dance. Some boys who attended Episcopal were interested in dance lessons, so they went to the Authur Murray instructors at the Parish House of the Immanual Church on the Hill. These classes took place in the fall of 1955. Girls from other schools nearby joined. These classes lasted for ten weeks with a final dance at the end. This was a really good way for boys and girls from neighboring schools to meet.
Lottie Lanier - 1955
It became increasingly popular to publish pictures of the Hop Committee’s dates in the EHS Whispers or the Chronicle. The most pictures published are through the 50s and the 60s.
Nora Kizer - 1957
Margaret Midyette - 1959
Barbara McCandish - 1960
Louis Gump - 1963
Jess Irwin - 1968
SPOTLIGHT: PERRY AND GAIL EPES
Gail Epes recalls the beginnings of her lifelong love story with her late husband, Perry Epes. Their journey together started at the young age of 12, at their weekly dance classes. She speaks about their dance abilities like it was yesterday. “It was funny, we were terrible dancers, but in those days you had to go dancing classes. My mother would say ‘You might meet your husband’, and in fact I did.” Their friendship grew into a romance during Gail’s senior year of high school. “We started dating at the end of my senior year,” she says. “We would go to debutante dances together, as proper little boys and girls of that era. We really got to know each other then and had a really good time.”
Perry’s academic journey at Episcopal was unique. Having skipped a grade early on, he found himself graduating twice from Episcopal High School—once after his senior year and again after a post-graduate year. During that time, Gail was off at Wilson College, but the bond between them still grew. Over the course of the finals weekend, Gail didn’t know a single person there, since she was coming from college. “I remember arriving from Union station in a taxi, and leaping out when I saw Perry.” She said. As mentioned in the section “Formal vs. Informal”, Finals was a formal event, meaning that girls could stay on campus in a teachers house. Gail stayed in the Ravenel’s house, where the Thompsons are currently living. “We stayed in the den talking after the dance, until Mr. Ravenel yelled at us and said Perry had to leave.”
In this interview, Gail Epes, wife of late Perry Epes ‘65, speaks about the exciting “Final” weekend at Episcopal High School.
When asked what kind of music played, Gail briefly mentions how she was listening to “Unchained Melody” recently, since they played it at the Inauguration. “Unchained Melody, Oh my love, my darling—We danced to that song. ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ was also a really big deal then.” She shares. For the main event of the weekend, the Finals dance took place in Stewart, which at the time was the gym. It now is the ‘Stewart Student Center’.
Gail recalls an “embarrassing” moment shared between the two while they were sitting near the infirmary. “We were over by the infirmary, there were lots of people over there, but Perry kissed me. Mr. Thompson, who was the headmaster at the time, said ‘That’s the kind of thing that ruins it for everyone!’ and that was the end of the kissing.” She laughed.
Perry Epes ‘65
A snapshot from the interview: 1/21/25