100 Years of Homecoming (continued)

1930s

1930s- Homecoming attendance dwindles as the Great Depression affects alumni’s ability to afford ticket prices and travel. The Alumni Magazine of 1931 reads: “Reductions in receipts in football…have led to curtailment of athletic activities…financial depression has made it impossible for rooters to spend the sums necessary to see games.” Still, Mizzou spirit persevered and new Homecoming traditions were formed, even amid the hardships of the Great Depression, as Fraternities and Sororities established the annual house decoration contest.

1931- Three students caused a Homecoming commotion by igniting the annual bonfire the eve before the rally! Down but not defeated, about a hundred students came to the rescue, working tirelessly through the night to rebuild the wood pyre. All the male students were excused from their classes on the following afternoon in order to finish preparations for the big rally.

(Alumni Magazine, 1935, v. 1, pg. 9) Lee-Carl Overstreet, Chairman of the Athletic Committee, welcomes Don Faurot.

1935- Don Faurot—one of Mizzou’s most beloved football coaches, and a graduate of the University—is brought on as the team’s head coach.

Savitar, 1936

1937- Mizzou named its first Homecoming Queen, Patricia Martineau.

*** Speaking of Don Faurot, we just installed a Faurot exhibit with historical objects (such as game balls, Faurot's "Split T" Chalkboard with the formation still drawn by his own hand, etc.). If you like Faurot, or you just like Mizzou history, check it out in the display cases in "The Shack" inside the Student Center.
  

Authored by Niki Eaton, PhD Student, Art History and Archaeology