North Dakota Agricultural College in Glass Plate Negatives
Sports activities at North Dakota Agricultural College are as old as the college. In an article in the 1911 Commencement Program about the history of North Dakota State Agricultural College, Professor H. W. McArdle (1891-1933) wrote that the Administration Building (Old Main) was open for occupancy in December of 1891. He goes on to state: “The upper floor of the new building, being uncompleted, was used as a gymnasium, and boxing, wrestling and ‘tug-of-war’ were popular forms of exercise, where students and faculty met in many friendly contests.” Sports seemed to become organized in 1893 when the Athletic Association was formed. The first intercollegiate sports was football and the first games were against our perennial rival, the University of North Dakota, 70 miles north of Fargo in Grand Forks,
In May 1920, the Women’s Athletic Association was organized, although women had been playing intercollegiate sports as early as the late 1890s.
These 37 glass plate images of sports at NDAC cover women’s field hockey, track (men & women), men’s baseball, women’s softball, women’s soccer, and men’s ice hockey.
Social Activities abounded for the college student at NDAC during his/her collegiate career. There was homecoming and all the festivities surrounding it, clubs, proms and balls, sororities and fraternities, and a myriad of other social activities available. These 62 images provide a glimpse of some of the activities that were captured on film.
Phi Upsilon Omicron Fraternity was a National Home Economics honorary professional organization, begun in 1909 at the University of Minnesota. The Beta Chapter of Phi Upsilon Omicron Fraternity had its beginnings at North Dakota Agricultural College (NDAC) as a local sorority, Chi Gamma Psi., originally organized in 1912, “with the purpose of promoting high scholarship and a more perfect fellowship and understanding between faculty and students.” (1914 Agassiz ) In 1913, Chi Gamma Psi petitioned Phi Upsilon Omicron for a charter. Since nothing was forthcoming, in the early fall of 1914, two members of Chi Gamma Psi took the train to Minneapolis to present their case for a charter in Phi Upsilon Omicron. A few weeks after returning to Fargo , they received the news that the charter had been granted. The Beta Chapter at NDAC was installed on November 14, 1914 in the parlor of the Annex Hotel and consisted of twelve charter members. Today Phi Upsilon Omicron is the National Honor Society in Family and Consumer Sciences.
Homecoming was first held at NDAC on October 22, 1921. Initially this included a street parade, a bonfire, banquets, BBQ, class parades, snake dance, homecoming dance, and of course the football game.
Gold Star Band “The band has been known for years as the Cadet Band, but with the winning of the distinguished college rating last spring, the band has adopted the name “The Gold Star Band,” and has used the gold star on all equipment.” (1924 Agassiz )
Gay Cat Days were the traditional annual feature of the closing days of the school year. Usually the last Friday in May was set-aside for this “day of hilarity and sport.” By 10 a.m. classes were dismissed and a “Gay Cat rally” was held in the Armory (Festival Hall), next a parade of wildly costumed students marched through the streets of downtown Fargo. The rest of the day was crowded with a baseball game, sack rush, class fights, and all winding up with a costume barn dance.
The Coed Prom was open to all women on campus and was the one party of the year to which no men were admitted. Prizes were awarded to the most appropriate, funniest, and most original costumes.
This Engineer’s Ball was held at Festival Hall from 8:30 – midnight, on April 13, 1928. The theme was the Old West and the Hall was decked put like a typical western town, “replete with cow punchers, gambling houses, and bars.” There was no admission’s charge for the ball and dancing was to Morris Olson and his Collegians.
The May Day celebration in 1930 was ushered in with the installation of students into Senior Staff (which became Mortar Board) and Blue Key. Both of these honoraries are still active at NDSU. In addition the School of Pharmacy held an open house, there was a dance recital in the Little Country Theater, and Mrs. Jessie Burrell Eubank, member of the Board of the National Geographic Magazine, spoke about the “Zest of Life,” at the convocation. The culmination of the May Day celebration was the festival and track met sponsored by the College for 175 prep school athletes.
The buildings of a university campus provide memories for cross generations of alumni of that campus. The buildings that are presented here are all linked to the NDAC/SU Buildings Exhibit, which will give you more in-depth information on each of them. The 45 images give you a glance at: Old Main, Putnam, Ceres, Old Van Es, Morrill, Alba Bales, Festival Hall, Mechanic Arts, Bentson-Bunker Field House, Ladd, Minard, & Churchill.
  
|
|
|
|
univarchives@www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu |