--- title: Activationism: Photos of a Groovy 'Cult' on Cape Cod, 1948 description: "Activate or Deteriorate!" was the motto of a playful, performance-art "cult" formed one summer on Cape Cod in the late 1940s. canonical: https://time.com/3880328/activationism-photos-of-a-groovy-cult-on-cape-cod-summer-1948/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-07T03:37:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:34.436Z og:title: Activationism: Photos of a Groovy 'Cult' on Cape Cod, 1948 og:description: "Activate or Deteriorate!" was the motto of a playful, performance-art "cult" formed one summer on Cape Cod in the late 1940s. og:url: https://time.com/3880328/activationism-photos-of-a-groovy-cult-on-cape-cod-summer-1948/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d3d4ca755bdcd7c/698845d6f887dc3f1de8f441/03cult.jpg?branch=production&width=953&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 953 og:image:height: 536 og:image:alt: Activationism, 1948 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Activationism: Photos of a Groovy 'Cult' on Cape Cod, 1948 twitter:description: "Activate or Deteriorate!" was the motto of a playful, performance-art "cult" formed one summer on Cape Cod in the late 1940s. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d3d4ca755bdcd7c/698845d6f887dc3f1de8f441/03cult.jpg?branch=production&width=953&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # LIFE With a Cheerful Cape Cod 'Cult,' 1948 > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jul 7, 2014 3:37 AM UTC  Caption from LIFE: "Ann Converse, member of old Boston family who works as Cape Cod waitress, expresses Activationist joy while friend beats oilcan tom-tom." Caption from LIFE: "Ann Converse, member of old Boston family who works as Cape Cod waitress, expresses Activationist joy while friend beats oilcan tom-tom."Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jul 7, 2014 3:37 AM UTC **_“Do you want a ‘real’ experience to talk about when you get home from your vacation? Come and get yourself Activationized!”_** This intriguing invitation, LIFE magazine informed its no-doubt head-scratching readers in August 1948, had been distributed on posters and flyers around Cape Cod’s Provincetown that summer in order to entice potential devotees and to signal the birth of what LIFE (tongue-in-cheekily) classified as a brand-new American “cult”: Activationism. Activationism’s founder and driving creative force, Milton Hood Ward, “counseled his followers, which included housewives, waitresses, fishermen and would-be artists, to uncork their emotions all over the place. ‘Activate or Deteriorate’ was his motto. “A composer and press agent,,” LIFE went on, “Ward \[had witnessed\] Indian and Haitian dancers whooping up their tribal rites, and figured that inhibited Americans would feel better if they did the same thing. … Although Activationist practices varied widely, they generally started with group calisthenics and chanting and went on through progressive frenzies to extemporaneous dancing and ad lib yelling. “At Provincetown,” the 1948 LIFE article concluded, “where crazy summertime goings-on are \[quite common\], not many Activationists took their cult seriously. Ward, however, thinks he may have started something, and plans to introduce Activationism to New York this fall in an art gallery, a nightclub, and Carnegie Hall.” Alas, there are no records indicating that Activationism survived past that one magical New England summer. All these years later, in an age of seemingly ceaseless anxiety and sky-high levels of stress, Americans (and most everyone else on the planet) could probably benefit from the emergence of another harmless, playful, free-spirited new “cult.” Is it too much to hope that, someday, a handful of creative souls might reawaken the Activationist spirit that briefly flowered, long ago, on the beaches of Cape Cod? _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Activationists gather at their Provincetown "headquarters" — an enormous piece of driftwood — in 1948. Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  At a Provincetown nightclub, Milton Hood Ward (right), Activationism's founder, leads followers in what LIFE characterized as "contortions, shadow boxing, and Holy Roller stunts ... Surprised bystanders who join in usually enjoy it." Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE: "Ann Converse, member of old Boston family who works as Cape Cod waitress, expresses Activationist joy while friend beats oilcan tom-tom." Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Activationists get happy at a Provincetown nightclub, 1948. Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  "Activationism outdoors," LIFE explained, "takes the form of a sprint across a Provincetown beach which ends with everybody falling to their knees and looking agonized." Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Activationists have fun mock-freaking out beside a bonfire on the beach, 1948. Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  "Activationist art," LIFE noted, "begins by nailing a canvas to a tree, and inviting everybody who passes by to paint on it." Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  "Two at a time, eager artists add to the community painting," LIFE explained. "While the man puts doodles on the face, a woman brightens one corner with a sunflower." Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. A young girl adds her mark to an Activationist group painting. Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  "Finishing touches are made by 73-year-old Isaiah Lewis," LIFE reported, "retired railroad man, who drew in a fat horse with a pencil and later filled it out with oils." Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Milton Hood Ward oversees an Activationist painting class, Provincetown, 1948. Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  "Headquarters for cult," LIFE explained, "is this driftwood tree hung with signs. One says in Activationist grammar, 'Artist! Rid yourself of mental constipation.' Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Boys watch as an Activationist adds to the collective art project nailed to a tree in Provincetown. Martha Holmes—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  The Activationist greeting, LIFE reported, was "a loud, whooping, open-armed collision. These Activationists, happy to see each other, are traveling salesmen for bronzed baby shoes." Sure. Of course they are ... 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