'Hawks chalk 50th year
By CASS SEXSON
Kansan Staff Writer
Tradition, innovation and spirit mark the fiftieth anniversary of homecoming at KU.
The annual event was put on the official University calendar in 1919, though homecoming festivities were observed unofficially for several years.
Originally, homecoming was scheduled during Thanksgiving, and featured a Thanksgiving Day football game between the Jay-hawks and one of their two major rivals—Nebraska and Missouri. In odd-numbered years, the 'Hawks clashed with the Cornhuskers; in even-numbered years the gridiron battle was with the Tigers.
In 1940, tradition was broken when the homecoming game was played against the Oklahoma Sooners. Since then, homecoming game opponents have included the Kansas State Wildcats and the Colorado Buffaloes.
House decorations have been a homecoming tradition since 1913. At first, decorations consisted of banners and posters welcoming alumni and the visiting football team.
Lawrence businesses began to offer prizes for the best decorations in 1921. The idea of a unifying theme soon followed, and the decoration tradition quickly grew to today's proportions.
The only exception was in 1951, when organized houses decided to donate the time and money which would have been spent on decorations to clean-up projects in the north Lawrence flood area.
Pep rallies and informal gettogethers have always been a part of homecoming. Old Timer's Night, begun in 1914, was changed to a "men only" bullfest in 1921. At the insistence of female alumni, that tradition has evolved into informal mixers.
The first annual torchlight rally and parade was held in 1932, with more than 5,000 participants.
The Ku Ku Club, a now-defunct men's pep organization, created "Doc Yak" in 1919. This sprightly medicine man, played by a student, distributed pep pills and tonic to students and alumni for more than 40 years, but vanished when the Ku Ku Club folded.
Some events traditionally held during homecoming in past years have fallen victim to the changing times. During homecoming in the '20's, the freshman-sophomore olympics decided the question of whether freshmen would be compelled to wear their caps until spring.
After freshmen quit wearing caps, the tradition was changed to the annual Law-Medic football game.
The Law-Medic games eventually fell by the wayside, as did the float parade, nightshirt parade, and the handcair race down Massachusetts Street.
Hobo Day, a University tradition since 1894, became a regular homecoming event in 1922, but died out when it became the vogue to look like a hobo every day.
Another long-forgotten feature of past homecomings is the turkey run, in which first place won a turkey, second place won a goose, and third place won a chicken.
Organized events on campus have been with us since the first homecoming occasion. In 1924, featured events included exhibitions of boxing, fencing, parallel bar work and a wrestling match. Audience participation was urged in the final event—a free-for-all fight.
Gradually, organized events
gravitated toward the cultural aspect of campus life, and included concerts, films and theatrical productions.
Campus talent highlighted the Jayhawk Frolic in 1933, which set the precedent for years of the succeeding Jayhawk Follies. The Follies grew to sufficient proportions to merit recognition in itself, and evolved into the Rock Chalk Revue.
Other homecoming traditions remain virtually unchanged. The first official homecoming queen was selected in 1932.
Only minor changes have been made in the queen tradition, such as the method of selecting the perfect coed to wear the crown. The task was originally entrusted to the football team, then to the entire student body, and finally to a panel of judges.
The University Daily Kansan began putting out special homecoming issues in 1929 with a 22-page edition.
KU homecoming celebrates its golden anniversary without some of the old traditions, but many remain with us. Homecoming '69 will have a queen, house decorations, concerts, a pep rally, and -oh yes!-a football game with Colorado.
Project improves homes
By CRAIG PARKER Kansan Staff Writer
The New Jersey Street project is a name that rings a bell for many people. For many students it is a reminder of something they meant to do, but never quite got around to doing.
But for those who were involved in the housing revitalization project in the spring of 1969, New Jersey Street means people working together, people helping other people.
The most important thing about the New Jersey Street project is that it was just people working together-students, community organizers, and most important of all, the residents themselves.
"They painted our house and cleaned up the yard," said Mrs. Dorothy Graves. "It was a big help." She said that having the outside of the house painted left time for her to work on the inside.
The project was initiated by the Ballard Community Center. Mrs. Turner, a community organizer there, went into the 1200 block of New Jersey Street early in the spring.
"We wanted to see what the residents wanted help with. You
know, you can't just go into an area and say, 'Here we are to fix up your homes.' It has to be people working in a joint effort, and that's what the New Jersey project was."
Many of the residents in the area were unable to afford major improvements. But, with the materials provided by local businessmen, the residents eagerly made improvements on their homes, with help and advice from architecture students in an advocacy planning class at KU.
Mrs. Freda Dayton, a New Jersey Street resident, had nothing but praise for the project. "They painted my house, except for the backside. We had to put up some more siding there, but they left us paint to finish the job. I think it was really great."
One woman noted that by removing big junk from the yards, the students made it much easier for residents to take care of the yards.
There was at the time of the revitalization project much criticism about the effect it would have. People said it was only a superficial change that wouldn't really solve any problems.
"Admittedly it's very superficial," said Myles Stevens, assistant professor of architecture.
"but we have to start somewhere. Something is better than nothing, and this is the first, the very first, thing that has been done to help the residents of that area."
Both Stevens and Mrs. Turner said that the important thing about the project was that it involved people working together. There is so much more to be done, but the New Jersey Street project is a start.
The area of New Jersey Street that was worked on last spring still looks nice today and, in some ways, looks better. People are working to fix up the inside of their houses and some of them have shown remarkable improvement.
Even the residents who didn't do work on their houses last spring applauded the joint effort, and some of them have improved their homes over the summer.
The original goals of the people involved in the New Jersey Street project were to revitalize the homes in the neighborhood and help develop leadership in the different areas of the community.
4 KANSAN Nov. 7 1969
WELCOME HOME, JAYHAWKS!
A cordial greeting and best wishes to all returning Alumni and friends from the Kansas Union Bookstorewe hope that your Homecoming has been a momentous one! During your visit, be our guest and feel free to browse through the Bookstore. Choose from our wide selection of souvenirs—this is one weekend you won't want to forget!
kansas union BOOKSTORE