Archives West Finding Aid

Frederic C. Church (1885-1966) was the Chairman and Professor of History at the University of Idaho from the years of 1921-1955. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on October 3rd, 1885 and lived out the rest of his childhood in Kingston, Pennsylvania. He enrolled at Cornell University where he received his A.B. in History and Political Science in 1909, as well as his doctorate in 1916. He taught at a few other universities and colleges, before the University of Idaho offered him a job.

Aside from his teaching, he was a confirmed member of the oldest academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa, when the University established its own chapter in 1925. He was noted as the first secretary and held the position for over 25 years. He had also served as chapter advisor, and was an honorary member in Phi Delta Theta. Church had often hosted many of the chapter’s events at his own home.

Church’s affiliation with Phi Delta Theta contributed to a major portion in this collection. Along with the correspondence (cards, letters, telegram, etc.) from Phi Delta Theta, the donation also had a generous amount of dance cards from this fraternity as well. Since a majority of this collection is made up of the dance cards from the University of Idaho’s fraternities, events, and dances, Church has a meaningful association with this specific collection.

Dance cards are said to have been around since the 18th century. They were used to write down the names of prospective dance partners at a formal event or dance. These cards were fairly common in Europe for a few hundred years but didn’t come to America until the mid-19th century. It was also around this time that dance styles were beginning to change. Longer dances, such as the minuet, were being replaced with shorter waltz-like styles of dance; meaning that there were more opportunities to dance with multiple partners. This prompted ladies to write down names of their upcoming dance partners in smaller notebooks, or on the back of their fans, to make it easier for them to remember.

Eventually, organizers of these events had these elaborate dance cards made so that you could write in your partners name next to the specified style of dance. However, the use of the dance card began to fall through in the early 20th century, when society stopped having formal, set dances. Although they might still have been around at this time, it was more likely that they would have been used for the keepsake purposes, rather than for their original intent.

The dance cards found in this collection are from events and dances held on the University of Idaho’s campus, ranging from the years 1907-1977. A large portion came from a couple of the fraternities, while the others are from the separate class dances as well as the more specified events and dances that were held on campus.