The College for Women, later named after benefactor Flora Stone Mather, had many of its own spring traditions. One of the most beloved was May Day, an event which celebrated the arrival of spring on-campus with student-run plays, social outings and sometimes the planting of a tree.
Each May Day crowned a May Queen, usually a senior in the College for Women. In 1948, May Queen Alberta Lantz was even announced in the Kentucky New Era.
While it isn’t known when May Day began, the tradition persisted for at least 50 years as there are documented celebrations in the University Archives from 1912 to 1963. The event took place on Mather Quad, where the College for Women was located, and was sometimes combined with other spring traditions, including the Hudson Relays, student-faculty softball game, tug-of-war, canoe tilt and Tree Day.