What is May Breakfast?

One of the oldest surviving photos of a May breakfast, this one took place around 1905. Photography courtesy of Oak Lawn Baptist Church, Cranston

On May 1, 1867, crowds lined up outside Cranston’s Quaker Meeting House for what would soon become a state tradition: Rhode Island’s first May breakfast, put on by the Oak Lawn Baptists to raise funds for a new church. Roby King Sprague Wilbur was the organizer, and the menu featured eggs, ham, chicken, mashed potatoes, hot biscuits, pie and — in a Rhode Island twist — clam cakes (added to the menu, according to a 1952 article in the Cranston Herald, “for no discernible reason except that Aunt Hannah Babcock could make such delicious ones.”). The breakfast tradition took root, and soon churches and halls across the state were rising early for their own May Day celebrations, even earning a write-up in a 1984 issue of The New York Times.

A breakfast in 1982. Photography courtesy of Oak Lawn Baptist Church, Cranston

A poster promoting the 1869 May breakfast still hangs at the church. Photography courtesy of Oak Lawn Baptist Church, Cranston

Today, the number of events has dwindled from its peak, but you can still find ham and eggs at Oak Lawn Community Baptist Church — and a handful of other venues — every May 1, with a crowd of hungry breakfast-goers waiting outside the door. Julie Ellison runs the event along with her husband, Jim, who has pitched in since he was five years old. “This should be the 157th, and I always joke that I’ve only done the first 100,” he says. Volunteers spend two weeks preparing for the annual event. “We plan for 800 to 1,000 [people],” Julie says, noting that even her adult daughter takes the day out of work to help out. While some groups move the event to the weekend, Oak Lawn Community Baptist Church still holds theirs on May 1, which this year falls on a Friday. Menus vary by location, but Oak Lawn sticks to the basics — ham and eggs, and cornbread baked fresh. And, keeping with Roby Wilbur’s original vision, you can even get clam cakes. “If you’re going to do it, you might as well do it right,” Julie says. Tickets $12 for adults, $6 for children ten and younger. 7–11 a.m. Oak Lawn Community Baptist Church, 229 Wilbur Ave., Cranston, olcbaptistchurch.com

Governor John H. Chafee, right, sits with church member Judy Horner at the 100th annual breakfast in 1967. Photography courtesy of Oak Lawn Baptist Church, Cranston