Back in the Day

Sports have always played an integral part of life on campus. Like everything else through the years here at Lycoming College, they have evolved and changed. In this photograph from 1870, when Lycoming was in its infancy as the Williamsport Dickinson Academy, children are shown in physical education class where they pumped up their muscles with the likes of batons, bowling pins, and weights.

By 1959 Lycoming had not only grown into a four year college, but the bowling pins were being used in a more traditional manner. Today there no longer is a bowling alley on campus, although we have acquired one of the bowling pins in the archives.

Another unusual sports sighting from back in the day is this photograph from 1932, of seven female archers poised for target practice out on the lawn.

Every inch as conspicuous as flying arrows on the lawn was the football field that was located on the quad. In 1962 the David Person field was built, moving football from the quad, scoring a touchdown in 1998 when the 1.95 million dollar Robert Shangraw Athletic Complex was dedicated.

Before the Lamade Gymnasium, which became the site for the college's many major athletic events after its dedication in 1980, there was the Hilltop Gymnasium. In this picture from 1924 there is a volleyball net, as well as several pieces of gymnastics equipment.

A photograph of the swimming pool that was in the Hilltop Gymnasium. The tile pool was twenty by sixty feet and was equipped with a sterilization and filtration plant that necessitated changing the water only four times a year. The Hilltop Gymnasium was dedicated in 1924, and eventually in 1983 the gymnasium was renovated as the Fine Arts Building.

Some sports have fallen off the map; others have emerged victorious- moving to bigger and better facilities as our college has grown.

A Welcome Back Party for Alumni!

Homecoming is an annual event held across North American college and university campuses for visiting alumni. There is a flurry of activity held over an entire weekend, traditionally in late September or October. Exactly what goes on during these celebrations varies according to what region in North America alumni are returning to visit, as well as the individual schools’ traditions. In most cases there is a football game involved, a parade, dinners and gatherings for the returning graduates, and of course the crowning of the Homecoming Queen.

The Lycoming football team in action during the Homecoming game from 1954. Lycoming registered their first score of the season that game, but unfortunately were defeated 31-7 at the hands of Geneva College.

A photograph of Rich Hall taken in 1958 with banners spelling out "Beat Juniata" hanging from the windows.

Pictured here is the Methodist Student Movement's entry in the 1958 Homecoming parade.

A group of Lycoming students prepares for the 1956 Homecoming dance.

Laurie Jones crowned queen in 1959.

Over the years at Lycoming College the activities commemorating the graduates' returns have changed, but Homecoming and Reunion Weekend remains a vital campus tradition. The schedule for Homecoming and Reunion Weekend for 2010 is available here.