The Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume: An Introduction

Abstract

The modern academic dress of American universities and of some in Canada is based on or departs from the 1895 Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume, which lives on as the Academic Costume Code. Researchers who describe a North American university’s cap and gown often look into the history of the Code and review the familiar story of its beginnings; they also uncover forgotten elements of the Code’s development. Five of the authors in this volume describe the Code in their articles. The editors believe that instead of printing each history in its respective author’s paper, inde-pendently of the others, a single paper that synthesizes the main points from each article into one makes a stronger whole and eliminates repetition. This paper is largely the work of Donald Drakeman and Stephen Wolgast. Drakeman’s work is taken from his paper ‘Peculiar Habits’; Wolgast’s work comes from his paper ‘King’s Crowns’ and additional research. Their observations are supplemented by the work of Robert Armagost, David Boven, and John Grant. To help identify the work of each author, footnotes are preceded by his initials (unless he is otherwise identified). This article was prepared by Wolgast; as much as possible the authors’ original writing remains unaltered except where transitions are necessary. Footnotes are nearly untouched except to add fuller citations. [Excerpt].

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