Research Guides: American Holidays & Culture: Archive Sources

Researching Holidays

This page is an overview of primary sources available at Special Collections about American festivals, celebrations, and holidays, with an emphasis on St. Louis, and WU events. Secondary sources are also available from the WU Libraries.

Primary Sources - Campus Holidays

May Fete, St. Fatima's Day & St. Patrick's Day

Washington University Photographic Services Collection
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Photographs of various campus events
Box M-1 May Fete (May Day)
Box S-3 St. Fatima’s Day (Architects)
Box E-2 Engineering (St. Patrick’s Day)
and more....
May Fete on Campus
Digital exhibit about this campus celebration

Volkman Files (not online), Box 07, May Day / May Fete programs and clippings (1911-1943, non-consecutive)

WU Yearbooks
for St. Fatima's Day see Hatchet 1918, page 304
College of Architecture Records
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St. Patrick's Day and St. Fatima's Day both included in an oversize wooden album, 1922 – 1948

Greeting Cards & Parties

WU Memorabilia Collection
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Box 21, Student Scrapbook of Irene Schageman, 1915 - 1919
Includes: Greeting Cards, Dance Cards and other party favors for holidays including: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentines Day, and Armistice Day.

WU Anniversaries

Primary Sources - St. Louis Holiday Celebrations

Christmas (post WW-II)

City of St. Louis, Office of the Mayor Files of Raymond Tucker
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Series 01, Box 6 and Box 7 includes:
St. Louis displays 1950 - 1957 (including fund raising, complaint letters, photographs of displays, reports of theft/vandalism)
Correspondence from other major US cities describing their decorations in 1949
National Journal of Advertising Displays "Signs of the Times" October 1957, featuring outdoor Christmas displays for sale
City of St. Louis, Office of the Mayor Files of Alfonso Cervantes
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Series 01, Box 11 and Box 70 includes:
St. Louis displays 1966 - 1968 (including fund raising, photographs of displays, new design ideas)
Newsclippings (Box 70)
Also check other parts of the Mayor's Office Records (1943 - 1981) for "Christmas"

4th of July

America's biggest birthday party, V.P. Fair, Saint Louis / photographed
Call Number: E286 S14 1985 4o (Archives)
Publication Date: 1985
V.P. Fair in review, 1981-1990 : a photographic history commemorating the 10th anniversary of the V.P. Fair
Call Number: E286 .S14 1990 (Archives)
Publication Date: 1990

Search the St. Louis Mayor's Records (1943 - 1981) for "parades" or "Veiled Prophet"

19th Century Fairs

Illuminated official programme of the autumnal festivities at St. Louis, Mo., 1886.
Call Number: GT4502.13.M8 G7 1886 (Archive Ref)

1904 World's Fair and Olympics
by Miranda Rectenwald Last Updated Apr 24, 2020 364 views this year

Gay Pride Parades

Women's Resource Center (WRC) Records
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Includes flyers related to the 1979 and 1980 St. Louis Pride events (Series 01, Box 01, "HerStory 1973-80, folder 2")

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Collection covers 1973 – 2002, and includes WRC events, WashU newsletters and course listings, and various publications.
City of St. Louis, Office of the Mayor: James F. Conway Records,
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Series 02, Box 44, “Parades, April 1977 – “
Letters and flyers from Magnolia Committee, 1980 about first Gay Pride Parade in St. Louis (about 5 pages of documents)
See also other parts of Mayor Conway's Records (1977 - 1981) for "parades"

Diaries & Journals

Examine how holidays or events are chronicled by an individual in their personal notes:

Notebooks of W.G. Eliot, 1847-1878 - ONLINE
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All ten of Eliot's daily journals are available online.
Maud Rittenhouse, 1881-1895
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Publication abridged from six journals, 1881-1895. Located at Archives Reference, PS3525 A982 Z64
World War I Diary of A. Proetz, 1918
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Diary of Tom Eliot, Wash. DC, 1934
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part of the Thomas S. Eliot Papers
Daily calendars of Arthur and Betty Compton, 1928-1961
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Series 4, Box 6a, Diaries and Appointment books, 1928-1961
ONLINE North American Women's Letters and Diaries: Colonial-1950
(from Univ of Chicago)

Online Primary Sources

Americana 1500-1926
Full-text documents Online

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American History and Culture Online: The Sabin Collection, 1500-1926
19th Century Magazines Online
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Harper’s Weekly (1857-1912) for articles, fiction, ads
late 19th Centry Magazines Online
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The Century Illustrated (1881 – 1906) for articles, fiction, ads
20th Century Illustrations
Search the Modern Graphic History Library's 3,000+ images for "Christmas" "Halloween" or other keywords