- Welcome
- Pre-VEISHEA Celebrations:
- Mayday
- St. Patrick's Day
- Ag Carnival
- Hec Day
- VEISHEA:
- First VEISHEA
- Parade
- Open Houses
- Stars Over VEISHEA
- Cherry Pie
- Moving Up Ceremony
- Tapping Ceremony
- Queen of Queens
- Swans
- Canoe Races
- VEISHEA Torch
- Trials and Tribulations
- See You Next Year!
- Additional Information:
- Other Web Sites
- Other VEISHEA Images
- VEISHEA Timeline
- About the Exhibit
St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick's Day parade, 1911
It became a growing trend around college campuses at the turn of the 20th century for engineering students to claim St. Patrick as one of their own (since only an engineer could have rid Ireland of snakes), thereby justifying March 17th as a day without classes to celebrate. This tradition started at Iowa State in 1910 and included a junior-senior baseball game, an engineers banquet and ball, and an open house for the departments within the Division of Engineering. The highlights of the celebration were a man dressed as St. Patrick initiating the outstanding seniors into the Knights of the Order of St. Patrick and a mile long parade with oversized snakes and dragons winding their way through Ames.
St. Patrick and the Engineer's Lady, 1921
St. Patrick's Day parade, 1914