Category Archives: Exhibits

The History of Homecoming at American University

AU held its first Homecoming in 1931. This annual event occurred at different times of the year and was scaled back in the 1970s before being updated and improved in 1986. AU’s last Homecoming was in 2003.

Homecoming was organized by the student body. The Social Activities Board and its successor, the Campus Center Board, coordinated the event for many years. When Homecoming was brought back in the 1980s, the Residence Hall Association and the Student Government provided funding.

The featured game at Homecoming changed over the years. From 1931 until 1941, the main event was a football game. Except for brief periods where club football (1970-1976) and soccer games (1966-1968, 1986-1987, 2001-2003) were showcased, a basketball game was the signature event.

The student body crowned its first Homecoming Queen in 1939. AU didn’t elect a Homecoming King until the late 1970s.

In addition to the parade, game, dinner and dance, Homecoming at AU typically featured a pep rally and fraternity and sorority open houses. Starting in 1955, AU students got permission to build a bonfire on campus five times.

In the early years, the dance was held in Clendenen gymnasium. As Homecoming got bigger, the dance was moved off campus to locations such as the Indian Spring Country Club, the Willard Hotel, and the Columbus Room at Union Station. By the 1990s when Homecoming was regularly held in February, it combined with Founders Day and organizers began calling the dance, the Founders Day Ball, a tradition that continues today.

Here are some of the significant milestones in the history of AU’s homecoming parades:

AU’s first homecoming parade was held in 1947. The floats were hand pulled.

Kappa Delta’s “Sittin’ on Top of the World” (1954)

Kappa Delta’s “Sittin’ on Top of the World” (1954)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first parade on the quad with floats pulled by cars was in 1955.

Phi Mu’s Don Quixote and Alice (1955)

Phi Mu’s Don Quixote and Alice (1955)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Star Jones was the Grand Marshal at Homecoming in 1994.

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Star Jones riding in antique car with color guard walking behind her (1994)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The parade extended to Tenley Campus in 1996.

Bagpipers leading parade down Nebraska Avenue from the Tenley Campus (1996)

Bagpipers leading parade down Nebraska Avenue from the Tenley Campus (1996)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information on and images of Homecoming, visit the exhibit on the first floor of Bender Library.

Biography and History in the William F. Causey Collection

The next time you visit Bender Library stop by the second floor to see the most recent selection of works from the William F. Causey Collection. This collection contains first editions many of which were signed by the author or inscribed to Bill Causey.

Though Causey was an avid collector of literature especially crime and suspense novels, he also amassed a broad array of nonfiction titles covering early modern history to the present. He collected around his personal interests such as the Civil War and the Kennedy assassination as well as biographies and memoirs.

Featured in the display are scholarly works on American and European history and biographies of Winston Churchill, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy and his brothers.

 

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Bill Causey’s copy of this seminal work on the Civil War was signed by James M. McPherson.

 

Currently on Display: A Sneak Peak into Social Justice Collections in Special Collections

American University students are recognized as being amongst the most politically active in the United States. To encourage further dialog about social justice both past and present, Special Collections is exhibiting a selection of flyers, brochures, and photographs from four of its social protest collections. The exhibit looks at protests in Washington, DC from the 1890s, 1930s and 1970s as well as protest movements led by international women’s organizations from the 1980s. The exhibit will be on display on the third floor of Bender Library through the end of the fall semester.

Here are few sample items from the exhibit:

Bonus Army 1932

Bonus Army 1932

Women Strike for Peace 1982

Women Strike for Peace 1982

Currently on Display: Homecoming through the Years 1931-2003

AU held its first Homecoming in 1931. This annual event occurred at different times of the year and was scaled back in the 1970s before being updated and improved in 1986. AU’s last Homecoming was in 2003. A new exhibit on the first floor of Bender Library uses photographs and programs to illustrate the history of Homecoming at American University. The exhibit will be on display through the end of the fall semester.

1956 Homecoming Program

1956 Homecoming Program

Currently on Display: Artists Books from the Watkins Collection

In honor of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of American University’s Watkins Memorial Collection, AU Special Collections will showcase three artists’ books from that collection in its third floor exhibit cases from Memorial Day though mid-August. Please stop by to check out these eye catching works.

Some Poems of Jules LaForgue with images by Patrick Caulfield from the Watkins Collection of Artists Books

Some Poems of Jules LaForgue with images by Patrick Caulfield from the Watkins Collection of Artists Books

Currently on Display: All About Women: 90 Years of AU History 1893-1983

From its beginnings in the 1890s, inclusiveness and diversity have been hallmarks of American University. American University has always been coeducational. In 1949, AU merged with the Washington College of Law which was founded by two women with the express purpose of offering law courses for women. A new exhibit on the first floor of Bender Library uses brochures, newsletters, photographs, and programs to illustrate the activities of and numerous contributions to campus women have made over its first ninety years. The exhibit will be on display through the end of the spring semester.

Currently on Display: Selections from the Dorothy A. and Charles A. Moore Jr. Japanese Woodblock Print Collection

To celebrate one of its newest acquisitions, AU Special Collections will feature the Dorothy A. and Charles A. Moore Jr. Japanese Woodblock Print Collection in its third floor display cases. A selection of Ukiyoe and modern Japanese prints by a variety of artists including Chikanobu, Konubu Hasegawa, Tomikichiro Tokuriki, and Utamaro will be on exhibit through the end of the spring semester.

Currently on Display – Winning Directions: The Art of Direct Mail for Political Campaigns 1997-2012

In honor of the mid-term elections, AU Special Collections is highlighting one of its more recent acquisitions, The Anthony J. Fazio Direct Mail Archive, with an exhibit on the third floor of Bender Library.

Winning Directions is an award winning Democratic direct mail firm which was started in 1989 by Anthony J. Fazio. It offers a variety of services including campaign planning, fundraising, polling, voter database design, and a photo studio. Winning Directions works for individual campaigns as well as PACs and labor unions. The exhibit features examples of attack ads, candidate bios and endorsements, and hot topic pieces and will be on display through the end of the fall semester.

Currently on Display: “Tell it to George”: Student Activism @ AU 1968-1998

American University has a long record of political activism. Students coalesced over a variety of issues such as abortion, apartheid, campus governance, the environment, and the Vietnam War. Student support ranged from organizing events and fundraisers on campus to participating in national protests and marches in DC. A new exhibit on display on the first floor of Bender Library features photographs and an article from AU’s Student Newspaper, The Eagle, documenting the nature and purpose of several of the larger protests from the late 1960s to the early 2000s. The exhibit will be on display through the end of the fall semester.

Currently on Display: The Cold War in Non-Fiction and Fiction: A Selection from the William F. Causey Collection

The Cold War was a multifaceted, global struggle with its origins in earlier conflicts. The nearly fifty year struggle centered around the two ideologically opposed superpowers that emerged from World War II: the Soviet Union and the United States. Although the Soviets and Americans teetered on the edge of nuclear warfare during these uncertain years, the threat of mutual destruction served as an effective deterrent from direct aggression.

The exhibit highlights works of non-fiction and spy novels from the William F. Causey Collection. The biographies, histories, and memoirs on display offer some insight into the diplomatic and military mindset of the United States and its allies during the Cold War with emphasis on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Several of the featured authors, including John Le Carré and Graham Greene, drew from their own experiences working as spies while writing their novels.  The exhibit will be on display on the second floor of American University library through the end of 2014.