The 1895 Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume

Below is a copy of the 1895 Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume the Cotrell & Leonard company sent to colleges, universities, and other potential clients around 1902. Along with this copy of the Code, a lithograph illustrating various types of gowns, hoods, Faculty colors, and hood lining patterns was also included (also shown below), as well as an academic costume catalogue from Cotrell & Leonard and a few other pieces of promotional literature.

By this point (1902) the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume had approved additional Faculty colors beyond the eight listed below. These would have been cited in the Cotrell & Leonard catalogue included with this copy of the Intercollegiate Code. Also, by 1902 the lengths of the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctor’s hoods, as well as the widths of the velvet edgings for each, had been more precisely defined.

These details, along with others that would be later added to the Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume, were included in a 1935 revision of the 1895 Code by the American Council on Education called the “Academic Costume Code”. The 1895 Intercollegiate Code below may be compared to a copy of the 1935 Academic Costume Code, here.