The event was started in 1950 by Mary Anne Waymack and the school’s athletic association and follows the tradition of choral tournaments at women-only schools such as Pittsburgh's Chatham University, which has a similar contest. The competition started in the basement classrooms of Saint Gertrude, a space students affectionately call "the dungeon." The yearly event subsequently outgrew the Benedictine High School gym, the Arthur Ashe Center and the Carpenter Center, and this year's Song Contest will take place at the 3,565-seat Altria Theater.