The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1921-11-16
AN EARLY PAGEANT

AN lJAhiNII1 l'ANIfIANl L
Apropos, as Col. Rion McKissick Of
the Grecnville Piedmont would say,
the controversy which has been mild
ly wagcd recently in regard to the
first historical pageant ever held in
the state. The Advertiser ventures to
lay claim for L2urens county to the
distinction Of having held at least, an
earlier pageant than has yet been
brought to light Possibly, after we
have laid our cards on the table, some
other scribe may lay claim to a still
earlier pageant, SO we will only make
the conservative claim of priority over
those already unearthed
A few days ago The State recalled
University Of South Carolina in 1916
and claimed that it was the first
pageant held in the state. We believe,
though we cannot place the time, that
The Greenville News had claimed that
the great pageant, THE Kcowcc
Trail" in which the Catecchee myth
was exploited % 80 Gc'cct>t!cN OF the
Piedmont, was the first historical
pageant ever presented in the state.
In Thursdays morning paper Of Co
lumbia, a Winthrop college champion
appeared with an article refreshing
our memory as to the earliest pageant
Of them all, that one shown at Rock
Hill in 1913 when an old English
pageant was produced.
Now, we go still little farther back
to the year 1912. In that year there
was a pageant given in I.2urens. 1t
was not called a pageant by the ac-
complshed but rural reporter for The
Advertiser, hut pageant it was, just the
same. 1t bore every resemblance to
pageant and may have been called
that by its producer, Miss vii Lou
Gray, but the name, insofar as the
newspaper report is concerned was
missing
The report of this, as taken from
The Advertiser of October 90, 1912.
was as follows:
"An additional unique and success
full feature Of the fair yesterday and
one that, in itself, was largely educa-
tiona in its nature, was the exhibit
and parade Of floats symEolical Of
events and ideas closely connected
with American history and life. These
floats were gotten UP, with one cxcep-
ton, by the rural schools Of the coun-
ty.t This exception was the beautiful
float of the kindergarten school Of the
Laurcns mill village. Prizes Of $40
and SIS were offered for the floats best
representing the idea selected. The
first prize was won by the Bailey
school, representing THE Nations Of
tho World The Bailey school is
taught by Miss Winona Riley and has
about forty pupils. The second prize
was won by the Prospect school, Miss
Ida Turner, teacher, the float repre-
senting Applied Arts. The Lanford
school. with float representing The
Lost Cause and Southern Chiyalry'
because OF the sentiments it presented,
was given voluntary contribution Of
$500 by Miss Emma Dial, Of Gray
Court All Of the floats were beau
tifnlly gotten up and showed that a
great deal Of work and study had been
given to their preparation. AS one OF
the teachers said at the close Of the
day. I have never seen children so
stirred up over winning the first
prize. 1t Is surprising how much
study they gave it and how anxious
they were to win first place And
he said, the trustees were interested
too One OF them said that he would
rather had given one Of the mules
pulling the wagon than to have lost
the first prize The children de-
rived q great deal Of benefit from their
study In getting the floats up and the
feature certainly contributes to the
educational progress OF the county
because Of delays upon the road and