 This photograph depicts female students attending the Doll Show Party, an
annual charitiable event on Dickinson's campus. Many of the women in the photo are clad in men's clothing.
Instead of presenting campus queens or Varga girls in the features section of the 1952 Microcosm, the staff chose to highlight social events from the year. They chose five events, including Homecoming, the Christmas season (which comprised a Nativity Play and a Doll Dance, among other activities), the Mid-Winter Ball, the Inter-Fraternity Weekend, and the Follies.
In 1953 the Dickinson College Pan-Hellenic Council continued its annually-scheduled activities including Rush, the Doll Dance, and Pan-Hellenic weekend, which aimed to promote interfraternity spirit. The officers in 1953 were Marjorie E. Heymann, president and Shirley A. Holland, secretary-treasurer.
Panhellenic Council sponsored a traditional Doll Dance, which required one doll or stuffed animal as admission. Usually held before Christmas, the event was moved to before Easter because of deferred rushing. Each pledge class of the five women's fraternities would present a skit at the dance.
As explained by Margaret McAdoo in her interview, due to the College's lack of a widespread social ambiance fellow Dickinsonians had to rely on the Fraternities and Sororities on campus to hold social events for their entertainment. At the time women joined sororities just for the simple reason that there was nothing else to do. According to Margaret McAdoo "there were no parties... So it was...just left up to the group of fraternities and sororities"
In 1952 the Pan-Hellenic Council was lead by Phyllis M. Lamont, president, and Marjorie E. Heymann, secretary-treasurer, and was composed of two members of each of the four sororities on campus. In addition to organizing the two weeks of fall rush, Pan-Hellenic focused on organizing the all-college Doll Dance before the winter recess. To enter the Doll Dance, participants had to bring a doll to donate to the children of prisoners; attendees were entertained by skits presented by the new pledge classes.
Christine Crist (Class of 1946) describes the only dances that took place at the college during the WWII period. In December, the school hosted the Doll Dance in the gym (now the Weiss Arts Center). The Doll Dance was a formal dance for which attendees would bring dolls as a donation to disadvantaged children. The men used this opportunity to "look over the...newest freshmen girls...so we all got a big rush." The Mid-Winter Ball, held in January, was the last dance the college hosted for the duration of Crist's academic career.
In 1951 the members of the Beta Delta Chapter of Phi Mu continued to dedicate themselves to philanthropic and social projects inspired by their national chapter. Their philanthropic work in 1951 included maintaining a "toy cart" at the Carlisle Hospital and making weekly visits to a local orphanage. Phi Mu pledges participated in the Pan-Hellenic Doll Dance, winning a trophy for their efforts. The executive officers of Phi Mu in 1951 were Joan C. Kline, president; Rachel A. Smith, vice-president; Nancy L. Bain, secretary; and Barbara J.