Dickinson College

Pennsylvania

1773

official hood lining pattern
red
white

The colors of Dickinson were derived from the symbols the two literary societies at Dickinson adopted in the 18th century: the Belles Lettres Society was represented by a red rose, whereas the Union Philosophical Society was represented by a white rose.

An illustration of a Doctor of Philosophy hood from Dickinson College in a c.1965 Cotrell & Leonard catalogue.
A c.1909-1911 tobacco card by Murad Cigarettes.

Citations in the World Almanac (listed by cover date; color information is from the previous year): red/white (1895-1935)

Dickinson College began to use an academic costume system of its own design on 13 June 1893, and was an early client of academic costume manufacturer Cotrell & Leonard, according to “The Cap and Gown in America”, a May 1893 article in The University Magazine written by the Director of the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume (IBAC), Gardner Cotrell Leonard. The Cotrell & Leonard firm was also the “depository” of the IBAC.

Two years later, Dickinson adopted the 1895 Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume, which stipulated that the hood lining of a college or university should display the school’s colors in a pattern distinctive to that school. According to Concerning Caps, Gowns and Hoods: Bulletin 17 (1902), Dickinson College was still a client of academic costume manufacturer Cotrell & Leonard, which means the IBAC no doubt assigned a hood lining pattern to Dickinson at some point between 1895 and 1902 – probably in 1895. But no description of Dickinson’s hood was given in either source.

The first definitive and complete IBAC description of the college’s hood lining was in a 1927 IBAC list where it was stated to be cardinal with a white chevron (cardinal being the shade of Dickinson’s red according to the IBAC).

The hood linings the IBAC assigned to Dickinson (cardinal with a white chevron) and Radcliffe College (crimson with a white chevron) were very similar and difficult to distinguish. Today this problem has been resolved because Radcliffe now uses Harvard academic gowns and hoods.

A c.1915 Doctor of Philosophy hood in the Dickinson College archives. The scarlet (bright red) color is atypical.
An honorary Doctor of Divinity hood from 1923 in the Dickinson College archives, displaying the official "red" color of a cardinal hue.
An honorary Doctor of Science hood from 1929 in the Dickinson College Archives.
A c.1930 Doctor of Philosophy hood in the Dickinson College Archives.
A 1952 honorary Doctor of Literature hood from Dickinson College in the Rosenbach Museum and Library. The hood was manufactured by the Bentley & Simon company.