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No. X 7 ln } INDIANA UNIVERSITY BULLETIN. { 
 
 1915 
 
 INDIANA UNIVERSITY 
 EXTENSION DIVISION 
 
 Cornell University Library 
 PN 3203.W82 
 
 3 1924 027 189 954 
 
 A Manual of Pageantry 
 
 By Robert Withingtox, Ph.D. 
 Department of English, Indiana University 
 
 Entered as second-class mail matter March 2, 1914, at the postoffice at Bloomington, Indiana, 
 under act of Congress of August 24, 1912, 
 
"Ill recent years it lias come about that when a Xew 
 England town or city celebrates .some important anniversary 
 or indulges in an old-home week festival, an historical pageant 
 is an important feature on the program, if, indeed, it does not 
 constitute the whole program. 
 
 "The pageant idea is one worthy of all encouragement, 
 and it deserves to spread and prosper. . The American 
 
 pageants have not neglected the early years, — indeed, they 
 are commonly built mainly on historical events of local in- 
 terest, — but there is also . . an attempt to show the 
 relation between the past and the present, and even some- 
 times to indicate the future. 
 
 "The educational value of the pageant is one of its great 
 advantages, and it has the charm of being presented in the 
 open where there is never lack of a beautiful setting in a 
 New England village. Its presentation usually involves the 
 participation of hundreds of members of the community, whose 
 pride in their home town, knowledge of its history, and in- 
 terest in its welfare are thus increased. It is the best kind 
 of an attraction to draw back absent sons and daughters for 
 an old-home reunion. Its expense is not great, and it affords 
 an historical celebration that is lifting, dignified, and inspir- 
 ing, and without the regrettable features that too often attend 
 local celebrations of other kinds." — Boston Hcrahl. July 9. 1912. 
 
 (2) 
 
Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 §1. Definition and Aims op the Modern Pageant 5 
 
 §2. The Technique op the Pageant — ■ 
 
 The Futuristic Pageant 10 
 
 Episodes and Chorus 11 
 
 , The Site of a Pageant .12 
 
 Speech in the Pageant . . l."> 
 
 §3. Details op Organization — 
 
 The Pageant-Master 15 
 
 The Historian 16 
 
 Business End of the Management Organization 16 
 
 Voluntary Service 17 
 
 Costumes and Properties 17 
 
 Episodes and Local Organizations 18 
 
 The Stage Manager 18 
 
 The Pageant and the Individual 18 
 
 The Small Town and the Pageant 19 
 
 Conclusion 19 
 
 §4. Bibliographical Note , 20 
 
 2—4768 
 
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INDIANA UNIVERSITY BULLETIN 
 
 VOL. XIII BLOOMINGTON, IND., JUNE 15, 1915 NO. 7 
 
 Entered as second-class mail matter March 2, 1914, at the postomce at Bloomineton, 
 Indiana, under the act of August 24, 1912. Published from the University office, Bloom- 
 inston. Indiana, semimonthly, January, February, March. April, May, and June, and 
 monthly, July, August, September, October, November, and December. 
 
 A Manual of Pageantry 
 
 By Robert Withington, Ph.D. 
 Department of English, Indiana University 
 
 [This brief Manual of Papfantrii by Dr. "Withington is published by 
 the Extension Division of the University to aid those who may undertake 
 such work in connection with the celebration of Indiana's Centennial in 
 1916.] 
 
 Pageantry as a form of community expression in terms of 
 conscious art is a recent development. It is my purpose here to 
 discuss the aims of this modern pageantry, and how they may 
 best be realized; to give hints which may serve as a guide to 
 pageant-masters, whose best teacher, however, is Experience. 
 
 §1 — The Definition and Aims of the Modekn Pageant 
 
 Mr. W. C. Langdon, the first president of the American Pag- 
 eant Association, has written: "The Pageant is the drama of the 
 history and life of a community, showing how the character of 
 that community as a community has been developed. Or, the 
 Pageant is the dramatic portrait of a, community. No two com- 
 munities are alike any more than any two individual men or 
 women are alike. Consequently no two pageants can properly 
 be alike, — and in so far as one pageant resembles another, so 
 far is the truthfulness of its portraiture actually sacrificed. Just 
 as a fairly proportionate collection of features, a nose, a mouth, 
 a chin, two eyes, and an adequate amount of picturesque hair 
 may make up what could be called a face but not a portrait of a 
 person, so a mere collection of episodes which would fit most 
 localities east of the Rockies, plus a few incidents from local 
 
 (5) 
 
6 Indiana University 
 
 history, will not make a true dramatic portrait of a community, 
 and so will not make a real pageant. The ideal of pageant 
 dramatization is the clear dramatic expression of the distinct and 
 different community character. Emphasizing another point of 
 view, as I have previously defined it, the Pageant is drama in 
 which the place is the hero and the development of the community 
 is the plot."* 
 
 Professor George P. Baker, of Harvard University, calls pag- 
 eantry "a free dramatic form, which teaches, tho not abstractly, 
 by stimulating local pride for that in the past which makes the 
 best incentive to future civic endeavor and accomplishment. Al- 
 ready in the communities where it has been tried, it has quickened 
 patriotism, strengthened civic pride, and stimulated or revealed 
 latent artistic powers. "+ 
 
 In 1905 Mr. Louis N. Parker, "the father of modern pag- 
 eantry", defined the new form of art: "It is the representation 
 of the history of a town, in dramatic form, from the earliest 
 period to some later point, forming a fitting climax. This is set 
 forth in verse and prose of the most direct sort, and is embellished 
 with choruses, songs, dances, marches, and every legitimate spec- 
 tacular adjunct. It is acted in some beautiful and historical spot, 
 which is left without any artifical embellishment whatever. It 
 is acted by the citizens of the town themselves, their wives, their 
 children, and their friends. ... It is acted in a spirit of 
 simplicity and reverence, and the audience must bring the same 
 spirit in watching its progress. It is not a stage play. It is a 
 lofty and dignified panorama of the town's history. And it is 
 . . . an act of local patriotism. And out of local patriotism 
 grows that wider patriotism which binds the [people of one 
 country] together. . . .\'But it is more still. I confess I can- 
 not conceive a pageant except as an incident in a great act of 
 praise and thanksgiving. . . "t Writing five years later, in 
 1910, Mr. Parker said: "A pageant is a part of the great festival 
 of thanksgiving to Almighty God for the past glory of a city 
 and for its present prosperity. Such an interpretation removes 
 the whole thing at once to a high plane and out of the atmos- 
 phere of the mere spectacular entertainment. The actual pageant 
 should be, — and in the case of my pageants it always has been, — 
 opened and closed by great commemorative services on the previous 
 
 *Am. Pag. Assn., Bulletin No. it (December 1, 1914). 
 ^New Boston, for November, 1910, p. 296. 
 ^Journal Soc. Arts, liv, p. 144. 
 
Manual of Pageantry 7 
 
 and concluding Sundays in all the places of worship.* It is a 
 great drama, representing the history of a city. . . It is a 
 
 powerful historical object lesson, "t 
 
 The pageant, then, is a kind of chronicle-history play, dealing 
 with the town rather than with an historical figure. It is drama 
 for the people, of the people, and by the people. 
 
 The purpose of the modern pageant is not to give everybody 
 a good time, nor is it io make money. The first is a by-product; 
 and occasionally the pageant committee finds a balance of funds 
 on band when the pageant is over. But Mr. Parker and other 
 pageant-masters who have followed him are emphatic in declar- 
 ing that these ' ' community-dramas ' ' should not be given .for any 
 ulterior motive. If they are, either the entertainment is starved 
 for the sake of the profit, or there is no profit, and then the pro- 
 moters become ridiculous. Should there, by any chance, be a bal- 
 ance at the end, and if the people could agree on a cause, the 
 money could be turned over to it; indeed, after some of Mr. 
 Parker's pageants there was enough left to provide permanent 
 memorials of the occasion. Every town has some need which the 
 profits of >a pageant can satisfy; but the pageant given with an 
 eye to the satisfaction of these needs will not be successful. 
 Thoughts centered on the box-office are apt to kill any community- 
 spirit which the pageant tends to develop ; ' ' War seldom enters but 
 where wealth allures". 
 
 The ostensible aim of pageantry is to revive or maintain a 
 memory of the past, and, by giving the history of a town and 
 honoring its great men, to awaken a civic pride. One result of 
 this is the education of many of the members of the community; 
 and the pill is none the less efficacious because it has a sugar- 
 coating. 
 
 In our discussion of this subject, it must be assumed that the 
 community wants to give a pageant. No good is accomplished if 
 a group of people come in from outside and do the thing for you. 
 A student who kindly consents to appear three times a week and 
 listen to the professor's lecture, without doing any thinking on his 
 own account, can derive no benefit from his course ; the town which 
 permits outsiders to come and give its pageant — even if it deigns 
 to witness the production — can receive none of the benefits which 
 
 'Mr. Parker's pageants, it should be noted, usually "ran" for a week; and it is not uncommon to 
 find pageants in America produced five or six times in as many days, tho the smaller communities 
 usually give but two or three performances. Commemorative services in the churches are often held 
 in connection with American pageants. 
 
 \New Boston, for November, 1910, p. 296. 
 
8 Indiana University 
 
 a pageant ought to give. One may even doubt whether or not the 
 series of episodes which such outsiders might present has any right 
 to the name pageant; rather would it be a kind of historical play 
 brought by a wandering troupe of actors which may entertain and 
 instruct, but which can neither bind the community together nor 
 inspire a civic pride which faces the future with new courage. 
 In the pageant, as in life itself, the glory lies in the doing; "it 
 ain't the prizes that count," says Peter in Mid-Channel, "but the 
 pushin' and the strugglin' and the cheerin' ". 
 
 The successful pageant is the work of the whole community. 
 The pageant-master, it is true, usually comes from away; but he 
 only directs the work. He neither originates the desire of the 
 community for self-expression nor does he bring the production 
 ready-made ; he works with the community, inspiring it, and — since 
 he has no association with local cliques — binding it together. 
 
 This is not the place to sketch, even briefly, the historical de- 
 velopment of pageantry.* Suffice it to say that from early times 
 there have been pageantic processions, — the word pageant origi- 
 nally meant a moving wagon or float, — in whieh representatives of 
 historical and symbolical figures took part. The chief purpose of 
 these shows was to entertain ; and with them English and Con- 
 tinental cities welcomed distinguished guests or celebrated civic 
 anniversaries. The community-drama, to which the name pageant 
 has been attached, was inspired by the German Erinnerungsspiele 
 — plays in which historical scenes from the past of a town were 
 presented by the inhabitants. These may, perhaps, owe their exist- 
 ence to the older pageantic procession, which often contained his- 
 torical figures; however this may be, they are the direct ancestor 
 of the modern community-drama, t This made its appearance in 
 England when Mr. Parker gave his pageant at Sherborne in 1905 ; 
 and since that date many towns, large and small, in England and 
 America, have discovered the value of the pageant as an artistic 
 means of awakening a civic spirit. 
 
 The old processional pageant still survives; the best known 
 example of it is the London Lord Mayor 's Show. The modern edu- 
 cational spirit has, in some cases, -been attached to it, and it has 
 been developed from little more than a carnival into an incentive 
 for civic betterment, as at Philadelphia in 1908 and at Norristown, 
 
 •The interested reader will find this subject treated in my English Pageantry — an Historical Out 
 line which I am getting ready for the press. 
 
 tSimilar historical plays — for example the fHc in h6n'or of Jeanne d' Arc at Compiegne — are found 
 in France. But Mr. Parker has told me that the idea which resulted in his pageants came from the 
 German Festspiele. 
 
Manual op Pageantry 9 
 
 Pennsylvania, in 1912 ; but it is less effective than the ' ' community- 
 drama", because it does not bring the participants into the close 
 relations of rehearsal, and because it is less apt to make a deep 
 impression on the spectator. An episode from the history of the 
 town, in which the great men of the town's past move before the 
 audience, speaking and acting as they did of yore, must of neces- 
 sity vivify history as a living-picture, moving on a float thru the 
 streets, cannot do ; and the inspiration which we derive from the 
 float is proportionally less. The pageantic procession has this addi- 
 tional disadvantage : all the expenses must be borne by subscrip- 
 tion, without possibility of revenue. 
 
 The pageants of limited appeal, of which the subject interests 
 a fraction of the community only,* and in which only a small pro- 
 portion of the inhabitants take part, need not detain us. The 
 technique of these "festivals" — as they have been called — differs 
 only in detail from that of the Parkerian pageant or "community- 
 drama ' ' ; they put more emphasis on dancing and singing, and less 
 on historical events; they deal more readily with allegorical ab- 
 stractions than with the men and women of history. They interest 
 only a part of the community, and arouse no local patriotism. 
 
 §2 — The Technique of the Pageant 
 
 As the pageant is, as/yet,"noTiully developed, it is impossible 
 to make hard and fast, rules concerning its technique. We arcf < 
 henceforth dealing not wrtFT the "processional pageant", or with 
 the "festival", the appeal of which is limited, but with the com- 
 munity-drama ; and since its object is to stimulate local pride and 
 a desire for civic improvement, we should find our material in the 
 important moments of the community's past. Some pageant- 
 masters allow themselves to show a scene in the region from which 
 the first settlers departed — be it England, Germany, or an Eastern 
 State ; others content themselves with shewing the arrival of the 
 first settlers and the foundation of the community. Indians play 
 a large part in the opening episode of many an American pageant ; 
 and the battles of our ancestors with the savages, or their struggles 
 with inhospitable Nature, may be made to impress us with a keen 
 sense of the hardships they underwent to lay the foundations of 
 our flourishing town. Many an American pageant contains also 
 
 *3uch as, for instance, Mrs. Dallin's "Pageant of Education" at Boston in 1908; Mr. T. W. 
 Stevens's "Pageant of the Italian Renaissance" at Chicago in 1909, and hundreds of school "pageants" 
 which have takeo place all over the country in recent years. 
 
10 Indiana University 
 
 a scene showing the departure of troops for the Civil War, and 
 their return after the establishment of peace. 
 
 No rules, of course, can be laid down for the number or con- 
 tent of the episodes, which must depend on the history of each 
 town. The only general rules are : that the time of performance 
 should not exceed three hours, and that the history represented 
 should be accurate. 
 
 Regarding this last point, it may be remarked that much mate- 
 rial far the historical episodes or scenes may be found in the town 
 archives; and the History Department of the State University 
 should be willing to furnish or gather material whenever asked. 
 It is, naturally, more desirable to get the material one's self than 
 to call on outside help ; but the State University may have interest- 
 ing information regarding the history of your town which might 
 be overlooked by the local investigator. The use of community 
 traditions which are not historically substantiated cannot be 
 objected to, if due notice of the fact that they are traditions be 
 made on the program. It is important that historical pageants 
 be accurate in all details, so that the confidence of the audience 
 may not be shaken, and the pageants lose their educational value. 
 Too often, it may be feared, American pageants lack a respect for 
 history, and are taken possession of by the carnival spirit — a spirit, 
 by the way, perfectly legitimate if it does not hide behind history, 
 and pretend to show what actually happened. 
 
 The Futuristic Pageant. There is, for various reasons, a 
 tendency in America to admit — even in historical pageants — a large 
 amount of symbolism. Professor Dickinson of Wisconsin has said : 
 "Too easily assuming a lack of glories in the past, some directors 
 are centering their attention in the present and throwing into high 
 relief the wonders of the present 'achievement'. To me the glori- 
 fication of the present comes with a bad grace. And with even 
 poorer grace comes the custom of some of presenting the past as 
 a crude and shameful background for presenting 'enlightenment 
 and progress' Aside from the poor taste of this attitude, it is quite 
 lacking in truthful perspective. Without reverence there can be 
 no art. And in self-vaunting there can be neither art nor social 
 welfare. The good pageant is one that strives to make us worthy 
 of our yesterdays by enriching their promise. 
 
 ' ' There is a theory that the future can be effective material for 
 pageantry. . . . It is greatly to be doubted whether the future 
 could be so realistically treated as to be interesting. Put to such 
 
Manual op Pageantry 11 
 
 a use the pageant becomes the vaguest kind of symbolism, dealing 
 with no soul-stirring contests or reminiscent ceremonies, but done 
 up in the white mist of a future that the more sceptically minded 
 of us would fear as we fear the heaven of our youth." 
 
 Every individual is an historical fact; when one portrays the 
 future he cannot show individuals who have not yet come to life ; 
 he must, then, fall back on symbolism and allegory. When we 
 show ah historical scene we must use historical characters; when 
 we replace the Puritan and the Indian by Civilization and the 
 "Wilderness, the scene, ceasing to be historic, would become symbolic. 
 Symbolism and allegory tend to express themselves by the dance ; 
 and no community can be spurred to civic endeavor by frisking 
 figures of Faith, Hope', and Charity ! Unless the symbolism is kept 
 subordinate, the interest in the pageant will wane, and the produc- 
 tion will become a "festival", given only by a group in the com- 
 munity. 
 
 Episodes and Chorus. The historical' "episodes" reproduce—"^ 
 without the technique of one-act plays — scenes of importance in the 
 past of the town. They are commonly linked together by some 
 sort of "chorus" or expositor, who briefly sketches the intervening 
 development of the community and prepares for the scene to come. 
 Much latitude is here allowed. The "chorus" may be made up of 
 early settlers or allegorical figures; some pageant-masters use the 
 dangerous device of symbolical dancing in the interludes between 
 episodes — dangerous, because the symbolism is not always clear. 
 Folk-dances or stately minuets may be introduced at appropriate 
 times in the episodes themselves ; but symbolism and history should 
 be kept carefully apart. 
 h^ ~~At the end, all the performers in the order of the episodes are 
 commonly reviewed by a personification of the City or State ; here, 
 where the scene is not historical, a certain amount of symbolism 
 may be introduced; Aspiration may join the personified commu- 
 nity; the Spirits of the Mountains, Forests, Rivers, Valleys, or 
 Plains may be put to (light — as at St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in 1912 
 — by the Spirit of Civilization. Occasionally "the Spirit of Ameri- 
 ca" looks on, at the end of a pageant, while various folk-dances — 
 French, German, Scandinavian, Polish, or Italian — are done by 
 local nationalities. There is no reason why a pageant may not end 
 with a "futuristic" touch, as long as the chief emphasis of the 
 production as a whole is on the past; as Mr. Parker has pointed 
 out, it is an American trait to look forward to the "good times 
 
12 Indiana University 
 
 k> come ' ', rather than back to the ' ' good old days ' ' — and we some- 
 times let a suggestion of this hopefulness appear' at the end of 
 our pageants. . 
 
 i .It is customary to close a pageant with the singing of The Star- 
 spangled Banner by the whole east and the audience — the latter, 
 of course, on their feet. A patriotic air, sung with respectful 
 fervor, brings home to the people the underlying patriotism of the 
 whole performance, and sends them away in an exalted state of 
 mind. 
 
 The Site of a Pageant. Regarding the site to be chosen for 
 the production of a pageant, Mr. Langdon writes, in the Bulletin 
 of the American Pageant Association from which I have already 
 quoted : 
 
 "The place, the grounds on which the pageant is performed, 
 is the visible representative, of the community whose life-drama the 
 pageant presents. Those grounds should express the distinct and 
 different character of the community, lest we carelessly debar the 
 hero from the stage. Their right selection is of vital importance. 
 
 "Thus considered, we may recognize three types of pageant- 
 grounds : The Ideal, the Characteristic, and the Indifferent. 
 
 "The Ideal Pageant-grmuid has the place which is the hero ever 
 .in view before the audience. On such a pageant-ground the city 
 or town itself, the community-home, is either in vista or in full 
 view the abiding background before which all the historic events 
 of the community's life are reenacted. As the generations come 
 back from the past it allows them to come back unmistakably to 
 their own home town itself. 
 
 "The Characteristic Pageant-ground, while it does not present 
 the subject of the pageant itself to view, affords a substitute which 
 is instantly recognizable as charaeteiistic of the town or of the 
 region in which that town is located. 
 
 "The Indifferent Pageant-ground is simply a beautiful location, 
 lacking the distinctive ideal element, and even any distinctive char- 
 acteristic element. It is characterless. Far from being such a 
 pageant location as can be found only in the community town, it 
 can be duplicated in hundreds or thousands of places from the 
 Allantic to the Pacific. 
 
 "The utmost effort should be made to find for a pageant an 
 Ideal ground. In some cases this is impossible, and in some cases 
 the Ideal ground proves to be technically not practicable, and the 
 community must remain content with a Characteristic ground. But 
 
Manual op Pageantry 13 
 
 very, very few are the communities that really need to resort to 
 grounds of the Indifferent type, altho many pageants have been 
 content with that meagre makeshift. This is the most important 
 consideration in the selection of a pageant-ground. As well try to 
 paint the portrait of a man with the back of his head square toward 
 ycu as to try to dramatize the portrait of a community with its 
 face turned away from you, i. c, with an Indifferent pageant- 
 ground. 
 
 "Next in importance, and also essen tiaL in good pageant- 
 grounds, is the technical practicability of the locatioiTTior"fhe 
 adequate producing of the pageant. Attention may be called to 
 some of the points that enter into this. 
 
 "She. The pageant-ground in its size and proportions should 
 be suited to the number of people who are to take part, considering 
 both the smallest and the largest number in any one episode. 
 
 "Wind and Sun. Care should be taken to learn the direction 
 of the prevailing wind during the week or month of the pageant 
 performances and to consider the direction in which the sun will 
 be shining during the hours of the performances. 
 
 "Acoustics. The acoustic properties of a location must be care- 
 fully studied. Tt is of no use to have dialogue or music if it cannot 
 be heard. Not much about acoustics is certainly known, and little 
 can be done to change the acoustics of a place. Sometimes a steep 
 grand-stand properly placed will improve conditions. 
 
 "Landscaping. The position of masses of trees, and the kind 
 of trees, the relative position of single trees and bushes, and so 
 also the position of bodies of water and slopes of ground, if there 
 be any, do much to determine the technical size of a pageant- 
 ground and the use to which it can be put in dramatic action. 
 
 "Entrances. The pageant-ground should have natural entrances 
 sufficient in number and in variety of width and of direction to 
 meet all the dramatic needs that may arise in the working out of the 
 drama of the pageant. 
 
 "Gathering Places. Ample gathering places are necessary 'in 
 back', near the entrances but entirely out of sight, for the people 
 who are to take part while tbey are waiting for their turn to go on. 
 Also there must be places for costume tents for those who cannot 
 put on their costumes at home ; for property tents, and for enclos- 
 ures for animals and for vehicles. Sanitary toilets should be pro- 
 vided of the military type. Upon the proper mapping out of the 
 grounds back of the pageant-arena itself depends in large measure 
 the smooth running of the performance. 
 
14 Indiana University 
 
 "Grand-stand. The position, size, height, length, and incline of 
 the grand-stand and the distance of its different parts from the 
 chief points of the dramatic action are of the greatest importance. 
 The approaches for the audience also should be so planned that 
 they can quickly and easily reach their seats and as readily leave 
 them at the end of the performance without undue crowding and 
 inconvenience. 
 
 "Accessibility. Attention must be given to the accessibility of 
 the pageant-grounds both for the participants and for the audience 
 in relation to the railroads, the automobile roads, the trolleys, and 
 the wagon roads. 
 
 "The pageant-grounds should be selected with both these kinds 
 of considerations held clearly in mind, — the practical conditions and 
 the character of the community and of its history. Once the 
 pageant-grounds have been selected, the pageant should be written 
 for and into these particular grounds, taking account of every 
 special peculiarity of the grounds, whether at first it seem advan- 
 tageous or the contrary. Often serious difficulties will, under right 
 dramatic treatment, become exceptionally advantageous. It is 
 hardly an exaggeration to say that in the selection of the pageant 
 grounds much the most important part of the dramatization is 
 done. The physical conditions impose the limitations of what can 
 or cannot be undertaken, and the community-character qualities 
 determine in large measure the degree of true pageant value that 
 can be attained. Of two pageant-grounds equally practical, an 
 Indifferent pageant-ground will, without consummate skill and most 
 industrious endeavor, allow of only a flat, indifferent pageant, lack- 
 ing in originality and portrait-value ; whereas an Ideal pageant- 
 - ground will spur the pageant-master on to originality and give free 
 scope for the finest portrait work, instinct with local character and 
 inspiration, resulting in a real contribution to the development of 
 American pageantry and the enriching of American community 
 life." 
 
 The "community-drama", or Parkerian pageant, is usually 
 given out-of-doors. In America the site is rarely the actual scene 
 of the events reproduced; rather is the arena, or stage, located in 
 some pretty spot outside the town, not so far away as to be inacces- 
 sible. To my mind, it makes little difference where the pageant 
 takes place, as long as the pageant itself deals with the history of 
 the community which is producing it, and the general effect of 
 the surroundings adds to the beauty of the production. 
 
Manual op Pageantry 15 
 
 Speech in the Pageant. There is much discussion as to the 
 part which speech should play in a pageant ; some maintain that as 
 the arena is large and the audience placed at some distance from 
 the pageanters, the best effects can be obtained by broad treat- 
 ment — that choral song, pantomimic action, group-dancing should 
 take the place of dialogue. Others hold that the audience should 
 be confined to those who can get within earshot of the actors in 
 the pageant, and the grand-stand should be so arranged that every- 
 one in it can hear ; that in an historical pageant the dialogue is of 
 prime importance, and that there is no reason why the historical 
 scenes should be deprived of their chief educational asset. When 
 Industry puts Dishonesty to flight, in an allegorical interlude, pan- 
 tomime may serve ; but history should have dialogue, and the dia- 
 logue should be easily heard. As speech plays an important part 
 in the historical scenes, every effort should be made to bring out 
 the dialogue distinctly ; only in such episodes as those which show 
 a fight between settlers and Indians can pantomime and history 
 be effectively combined. 
 
 , , ^ " §3 — Details of Organization* 
 
 When a community has decided to give a pageant, a representa- 
 tive committee must begin to prepare for the entertainment. Six 
 months is none too long a time to allow; more than one pageant 
 has been produced after eighteen months of preparation. 
 
 The committee must represent every interest in the community. 
 Not one trade or one church or one school — not even all the schools, 
 or all the churches, or the Business Men's Organization, or Cham- 
 ber of Commerce alone; but all the commercial, religious, educa- 
 tional, and social bodies, together with many individuals who have 
 no institutional ties, must be represented on it. 
 
 The Pageant-Master. The first duty of this committee is to 
 select a pageant-master. His task is arduous, his responsibility is 
 heavy, and his authority should be supreme. It is advisable that 
 he come from away, so that he may use his best judgment, being 
 tied by no local affiliations, biased by no local prejudices, inde- 
 pendent of all local cliques. His word must be law, his decision 
 final in every matter. The personality of a pageant-master counts 
 for a great deal; for the modern pageant is carried thru by force 
 of personal magnetism. Indifference, discouragement, and oppo- 
 
 *For much of the material in this section I am indebted to Mr. Louis N. Parker. 
 
lfi Indiana University 
 
 sition must be met and converted into enthusiasm. In some of the 
 English pageants Mr. Parker had to come into contact with each 
 one of the six thousand performers ; during his career as a pageant- 
 master more than thirty thousand people passed thru his hands. 
 It is easy to see that the pageant-master's position is no sinecure; 
 and that a town does well to get a pageant-master who knows what 
 he wants to do, rather than one who tries to please everybody. 
 
 It is the pageant-master's task to pick from the mass of historical 
 material available that which he wants to treat in his episodes. 
 Some pageant-masters write the pageants themselves; others get 
 local writers each to do an episode, and then edit the mss sub- 
 mitted, giving a unity to the whole by means of interludes, seeing 
 to it that the episodes are cut to the proper length, and that the 
 whole pageant will not ' ' play ' ' too long. The pageant -master must 
 also pick his actors, coach the principals, train the mobs, and super- 
 vise the music and dancing. He usually has many helpers, but he 
 must not get out of touch with any department. 
 
 The Historian. In providing material, the historian is of prime 
 importance. He it. is who furnishes the pageant-master with the 
 substance for the episodes, from which the latter, with the eye of 
 an expert, chooses what is dramatically effective. It is the historian 
 who can tell the growth of the community step by step ; who shows 
 what events in its life were historically important, and why they 
 were ; who can be called on to decide matters of accuracy in detail. 
 In preparing the text of the pageant, he is the pageant-master's 
 right-hand man. Precise words and music of old songs, dug out 
 by antiquarian research ; the exact phrases of some speech, or some 
 historical town-meeting add greatly to the value of an episode if 
 they can be found. In this matter of research, the History De- 
 partment of the State University can be of great help, not only 
 in furnishing material already gathered, but in giving instruction 
 to local historians as to how to gather more. 
 
 Business End of the Organization. It is a common practice 
 among pageant-masters to insist that all expenses be guaranteed 
 before they take charge. This guarantee-fund covers all the initial 
 expenses — office-hire, 'advertisement in the press, circulars, etc. — 
 and a possible deficit. As soon as the plan of the grand-stand* is 
 ready, the box-office is opened; the money begins to come in even 
 while the performers are at -work on the pageant. A "class- 
 
 *Mr. Parker's grand-stands usually seated about six thousand people; e\erything was sold out a 
 month before the first performance. 
 
Manual op Pageantry 17 
 
 pageant", or "festival", — given by a group in the community — is 
 apt not to succeed financially ; a pageant for which the whole town 
 works and in which each member of the community feels an interest 
 amounting to a sense of personal responsibility, almost always clears 
 expenses, even if it does not make a profit. But, as I have said, 
 there must be no aim on the part of the community to make money ; 
 it must even be willing to lose money. The true pageant is ideal- 
 istic, and brings gifts which no money can buy.* 
 
 Voluntary Service. All successful pageants are done by volun- 
 tary labor ; the local poets and dramatists who — under the pageant- 
 master — write the episodes, the local musicians who compose the 
 music and, in some cases, perform it, each gives his services. All 
 the costumes and all properties are produced by the inhabitants 
 of the locality, voluntarily; each player, whenever possible, fur- 
 nishes his own costume; the poorer people are indemnified, but 
 never paid a profit. Sometimes it is necessary to hire a profes- 
 sional orchestra; but these are the only people connected with the 
 pageant (beside the pageant-master) who get paid, and they are 
 frequently not of the community. 
 
 Costumes and Properties. The education and the community 
 spirit which the pageant brings are not its only gifts. It develops 
 latent — sometimes undreamed-of — talent in the individual. All the 
 costumes are made as cheaply as possible, and the inventiveness 
 displayed is sometimes amazing. A young woman of Dover (Eng- 
 land) turned rejected "bowler" hats into splendid "steel" helmets 
 at a cost of five cents apiece; "chain armor" was made from thick 
 twine, knitted and "metallized" at a very small cost. In many 
 of Mr. Parker's pageants the average price of costumes, for the 
 ordinary performer, was from one to two dollars; and the cos- 
 tumes were not only beautiful in themselves, but historically accu- 
 rate. 
 
 Many an American household still has costumes of former days 
 in attic trunks. These are, of course, just the thing for pageants, 
 the original being better than any copy. Nor is it at all unusual 
 to see clothes worn in Revolutionary days or in Civil War times 
 appear in pageants on the descendants of their original wearers. 
 
 ♦One of Mr. Parker's pageants resulted in a profit of 85,000; another cleared 815,000. The 
 expenses of the York Pageant amounted to $75,000. Miss Bates (.Pageants and Pageantry, p. 277) esti- 
 mates the cost of a school "festival", with from 150 to 200 performers, to total about 8230, for two 
 performances. Mr. Davol says that the cost varies with each place: at Warwick (Massachusetts) 
 where everything was given, the expenses were less than S10. iBut this pageant "starved history", 
 and lacked accuracy.) 
 
18 Indiana University 
 
 Historic "properties" also appear, as at Marietta (Ohio) when, 
 in 1888, "the original Campus Martius bell, which rang the alarm 
 in 1791", was used in one tableau. If the original cannot be 
 obtained, every effort should be made to find some drawing or 
 description of the "property" desired, which is then reproduced.* 
 
 Episodes and Local Organizations. It is the practice of some 
 pageant-masters to turn over an episode to some religious or secular 
 group, which can, perhaps, get together for rehearsals easily, and 
 which will take pride in doing its work well because it wishes to 
 surpass some rival organization to which another episode has been 
 assigned. In certain eases — as having soldiers portrayed by a local 
 military body — this is almost necessary ; in most, however, it is 
 distinctly inadvisable. For the community is not drawn together — 
 rather is it often divided — by this method; different classes and 
 interests do not mix and get acquainted; the common aim of all is 
 not kept in mind, and the broad tolerant spirit of the true pageant 
 is not developed. If the pageant-master has the interest of the 
 community at heart, he will not try to lighten his task by this 
 method. 
 
 The Stage-Manager. The conscientious pageant-master is his 
 own stage-manager, tho he has assistants to look after the innumer- 
 able details connected with each episode. The arena, where the 
 action takes place, must be kept like a first-class stage. The or- 
 chestra is concealed, and none of the "machinery" of the pageant 
 is shown. Mr. Parker had built for him a station on top of the 
 grand-stand whence he could direct everything without being heard 
 by the audience below; the entrances — some of which, as at War- 
 wick (England) began a quarter of a mile from the grand-stand — 
 were directed by means of electric bells. If everything is to run 
 like clockwork, the stage must be strictly kept. 
 
 The Pageant and the Individual. Pageantry directs many 
 people to arts and crafts — some people, thru their participation in 
 these entertainments, find a calling. Altho the pageant is dramatic, 
 it is not theatric; and of the thirty thousand people who passed 
 thru Mr. Parker's hands in connection with his seven pageants, 
 only two sought to go on the stage. This seems surprising; but 
 the reason is fairly obvious — for the pageant is removed from 
 stage conventions; the individual actor is merged in the effect of 
 
 *Not necessarily in the same material. Wood carefully painted makes a satisfactory substitute 
 for iron or steel. 
 
Manual of Pageantry 19 
 
 the whole cast. There is no opportunity for conceit ; all are work- 
 ing together for one aim. 
 
 In England — and to a certain extent in America — the names 
 of the actors do not appear on the programs. This tends to sub- 
 ordinate the individual, as well as to emphasize the historical char- 
 acter he represents. The audience does not laugh to see the butcher 
 as a Revolutionary general, or make audible comments when Mary 
 Ann appears as Martha "Washington. The identity of the neighbor 
 is sunk in that of the great personage he represents; many who 
 are mute and inglorious become Miltons for an hour. Is it a wonder 
 that life is never quite so humdrum after that? 
 
 Histrionic ability counts for little in a pageant. Many who 
 said shyly that they "couldn't act" have proved invaluable for 
 catching the spirit of some historical character, and presenting him 
 simply and naturally. 
 
 The Small Town and the Pageant. The pageant is seen at its 
 best in the smaller city or town. There are so many interests in a 
 big place that everyone cannot give his attention and energy to 
 the performance; and unless a town gives its whole life to a pag- 
 eant, the pageant is nothing. Obviously it is much harder to 
 develop community spirit in a metropolis; there are too many dif- 
 ferent interests to weave together. The solidarity which the pag- 
 eant leaves behind it is one of its chief gifts. 
 
 Pageants are, of course, frequently given in large cities, and 
 turn out to be fairly successful, too. I do not mean to say that they 
 can 't be given in a large place ; but the fullest measure of success 
 comes when everyone enters into the spirit of the occasion, and 
 this is only possible in a smaller town. Pageants in cities are too 
 apt to become the affair of one section or of one class; it is obvi- 
 ously impossible to make every inhabitant of a metropolis feel the 
 personal interest in the affair, and the personal responsibility for 
 it which, in the town or village, helps the individual in many ways 
 and draws the whole community together. 
 
 Conclusion. There is no better way to celebrate a civic anni- 
 versary, or a national holiday, than by a pageant. Not only dees 
 it give pleasure and instruction,' but it awakens a community spirit, 
 a desire for civic improvement, and frequently introduces a new 
 interest into the life of the individual pageanter. Better than the 
 pleasant memories it leaves are the obliteration of class-lines it 
 brings about, the new friendships it forms, and the wider sympathy 
 it awakens. It is the voice of democracy speaking; it shows us 
 
20 Indiana university 
 
 the past, and fills us with a desire to make the future worthy; it 
 awakens no frothy "patriotism" which is not true love of country, 
 but it impels us to express our newly-stirred pride in the com- 
 munity by the acts of our daily life. 
 
 §4 — Bibliographical Note 
 
 The reader is referred, for further information on the subject 
 of pageantry in America, to the following books: Bates, E. "W. 
 and Orr, W. : Pageants and Pageantry (Boston and New York, 
 1912); Davol, R. : Handbook of American Pageantry (Taunton 
 [Massachusetts] 1914) ; Dickinson, T. H. : The Pageant: A Study 
 of its History, Principles, Structure, and Social Uses, in The Play- 
 book (Madison [Wisconsin]) for September, 1914; the Bulletins 
 of the American Pageant Association, and to various magazine 
 articles listed in Faxon, F. W. : Annual Magazine Subject-Index, 
 1913, (Boston, 1914) , Dramatic Index, pp. 227 ff. ; and The Reader's 
 Guide to Periodical Literature (Minneapolis, 1900 ff. — in progress) 
 under Pageant and Pageantry. My English Pageantry — an His- 
 torical Outline, which is in preparation, will contain a survey of 
 the growth and development of this form of dramatic expression 
 in England and this country. 
 
 Anyone who wishes to join the American Pageant Association, 
 and receive its bulletins should communicate with the treasurer, 
 Mr. Homer H. Davenport, 87 Munroe Street, Somerville, Massa- 
 chusetts. The annual dues are one dollar. 
 
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