Title: Lila Warnken Dance Card Collection, 1916-1920

ID: OGLMC1295

Extent: 0.25 Linear Feet

Date Acquired: 04/24/1994

Subjects: Sports and Recreation, University of North Dakota - Student Life

Languages: English

Dance cards from Grand Forks High School and the University of North Dakota from 1916 to 1920.

The Lila Warnken Dance Card Collection contains fifteen dance cards collected by Lila Warnken from 1916 to 1920, some of which are from her years at Grand Forks High School and others when she attended the University of North Dakota. The cards are arranged chronologically in folders by year. These cards take the form of small booklets that would fit in the palm of a woman's hand, usually with a pencil attached by a string used to hang around the woman's wrist. The inside of the card had each song and dance that would be performed along with a blank for the name of the woman's dance partner, provided that her suitor properly introduced himself and asked for a dance.  Besides the name and date of the dance, the dance cards contain information on the venue, the sponsors of the dance, patrons and patronesses, class officers, and committees. The popular dances in Lila's time include the One-Step, Foxtrot, Waltz, and Moonlight Waltz. The cards also vary in general appearance: some are plain and consist of little more than a single piece of folded paper, while others are leather-bound, multi-paged booklets with colored ink and images on the front. Also included is a folder with background information about Lila Warnken's years at the University of North Dakota.

Lila Warnken was a part of a generation when rules of strict etiquette between genders existed. From the years of 1916 to 1920, from her senior year at Grand Forks High School to graduating with a Bachelors degree in Liberal Arts from the University of North Dakota (UND), she saved her dance cards, a symbol of that era. Besides her participation at various dances, Warnken was also in the Women's League and a member of the Dakota Playmakers at UND.

Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections

Access Restrictions: Open for inspection under the Rules and Regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections

Acquisition Source: Gordon Kroeber, UND Facilities Department

Acquisition Method: Donation, 94-1970

Preferred Citation: (Description of Item). Lila Warnken Dance Card Collection. OGLMC 1295, Box #, Folder #. Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

Processing Information: Processed by Dawn Cleveland, Special Collections student assistant, in September 2015