Considering the Past: Topics in M.C. History

On Thursday, May 3, 1962, during the daily morning chapel meeting, the Dean of Women, Louise Fleming, asked the students to wear their skirts a little longer. Apparently there had been complaints from instructors, and Dean Fleming's conclusion was that three inches above the knee was just too short. 

The 1960s would introduce a whirlwind of fashion trends, but 1962 was too early for mini skirts, which entered the mainstream in about 1966. In 1962, Meredith College students, as many women of the time, likely had as their fashion icon First Lady Jackie Kennedy, whose style was younger than her predecessor Mamie Eisenhower, but still prim and pastel. Nevertheless, skirt lengths were rising and had reached the knee in 1961. (Incidently, the Class Dolls of the era did not have a hemline above the knee until 1968.)

Dean Fleming's mild rebuke, however, was an inspiration to the students. The following day, prior to that day's chapel in Jones auditorium, smiling students began to gather in front of the building: their skirts were now longer, from a few inches to ankle length, with even a hoop skirt or two. According to the reporter from the News and Observer, some students spent Thursday afternoon taking out hems (and not bothering to iron out the creases), while others borrowed clothes from taller friends. The event turned into full-fledged protest when the chants started: "Everybody's doing it, doing it, doing it," alternating with "Best dressed school!" and even "Hide those thighs!"

Oddly enough, a thorough search of The Twig finds no mention of the event. Nor are there records of it in the Acorn, the Oak Leaves or in the scrapbooks. The Archive's research file has only two articles, one from Raleigh's News and Observer and a UPI-sourced article in a unidentified and undated photocopy. The editors of the student newspaper were publishing opinions on other more serious topics, from Civil Rights to womens' equality to the Honor Code. And school officials had little to add, declining to comment or claiming ignorance. Nevertheless, Dean Leishman Peacock did observe that the student "prank" "certainly shows a sense of humor."