News
Winter Carnival weekend has become an integral part of the Dartmouth experience over the past 99 years, and it all began with an article in The Dartmouth.
Fred Harris, a member of the class of 1911, altered College history when he penned a December 7, 1909 letter to the editor requesting "a meet or field day during February."
In the letter, Harris imagined a winter field holiday that would rival the excitement associated with other fall and spring events.
The first "Winter Meet" was held in late Februrary of 1910, just two months after the letter's publication, marking the beginning of nearly one hundred years of ski jumps, hiking and outdoor festivities.
Harris, however, almost missed this first event, because his dorm, South Fayerweather Hall, was damaged by fire the night before the Winter Meet.