Maine’s Elites Smoke Pipe of Peace, But What’s Brewing Beneath?

In the picturesque town of Brunswick, Maine, the cream of the crop from Bowdoin College gathered under the historic Thorn dike Oak on June 20, 1922, for their annual class day exercises. The weather was as perfect as the occasion, with sunny skies painting a picturesque backdrop for the event. But beneath the façade of camaraderie and tradition, a different story may have been unfolding. According to eyewitnesses, 100 seniors gathered under the Maples at Bates to smoke the Pipe of Peace, a ritual that may have been more than just a symbolic gesture. As the class of 1922 celebrated their last day together, whispers of a possible drinking and eating binge at the Class Day Lunch began to circulate. And if that wasn’t enough, rumors of a Commencement Carnival and Parade in the morning only added to the speculation. What started as a joyous occasion may have turned into a night of reckless abandon, with the town’s elite letting their hair down in a way that would have been unthinkable just hours before.