Duke University - Chanticleer Yearbook (Durham, NC)

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I W7HKN such sport greats its Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, and Bobby Jones captured the hearts ol the American public and made them suddenly -pmis conscious, Duke students were by no means the last to be swept up in the tide. The sports in which Duke already fielded teams took on new emphasis. The football crowds increased to near capacity of Hanes Field, although the records ol Duke gridiron teams failed to improve correspond- ngly. Enjoying a rank equal to football, the great American pastime, base- ball, brought fame to the University in the world of sports. The popularity of wrestling is attested by the great number spectators that witnessed each meet. The best record in the history of the University was compiled by the 1 ( )25 cross-country squad, which boasted three victories in four starts and placed second behind UNC in the state meet. Stewart Rogers and Red Whitener, opponents in the state singles tennis championship, led the net team to three victories and two defeats. With the arrival of Miss Julia Grout as women ' s athletic director, sports among the fair sex took on new importance. Decked out in middy blouses, black serge bloomers, and long stockings, the coeds partici- pated in field hockey, archery, basketball, and base- ball and also held mixed swimming meets. In 1929, the Duke Stadium was opened and offi- cially dedicated, although the Blue Devils ' severe trouncing at the hands of the Pitt Panthers slightly marred the occasion. In the same year, Duke was invited into the Southern Conference, and the sports program became more unified, despite the fact that the teams continued to be outfitted in a variety of shirts and sweaters, some bearing the old T and others the new D. Above: The 1927 Duke-UNC football game was one of the earl) battles in a rivalry that has grown into a traditional gridiron classic. Killing Hanes Field to its capacit) for the first time, a crowd of I D.Hi ID saw might) Carolina defeat the Blue Devils h a lop-sided 41-0 score. Riiihl: Despite crouching, waving their arms, and shouting their cry, Forward with the banner of the victorious Blue Devil-. the 1926 Cheerleaders were able to spin their team on to only four victories in a nine-game season. Below: The major required sport for the co-eds dressed in middy blouses and bloomers was gymnastic and apparatus work, although the Chronicle reports this spmt was often replaced h) violet picking along the hank of the creek. , ipurr rK r ■ ■ . ' •- . ' . •Ja. ' V ' ! ■■ ' -• i ..: ' -■•■ ' •. ' ■ ■•.• ■ 1. ■ ■-■ ,-. :■ • ' » ...■■•• • ' A Jf- • ' .., .■ It •■ ' ■ • ' y M TiM T v 1 . A % r « ,4 1 V M f V , f WiJSw A ■ ifi

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j I SI as clashes were carried on un- interrupted by the work of construc- tion, so did the many campus activities continue to function as before. The Student Government enforced the rules and regulations drawn up by itself and the administration, especially the ban on music alter nine in the evening and during classes and religious ceremonies. His Satanic Majesty, head of the Hade- Club, reigned over the member imps and impesses. all sons and daughters of ministers. ■•Jelly Leftwich and his Blue Devil Jazz Orchestra gave out with the hot licks of the era. while the Duke Uni- versity Musical Club specialized in black face numbers. 9019, a local scholarship and patriotic society, initiated new mem- bers by making them crawl through trenches amid cries of Peanut butter. hit me harder. and Hesperia debated the high cost of courting and the out- come of the World Series. Top: small combo of stringed instruments accompanied (he forty-five members of the Girls Glee Club of 1 )2. in their musical endeavors. Upper middle: The imps and impesses of the Hades Clul . an organization for the sons and daughters of ministers, pose symbolically in the lowest spot of ground found on campus. Lower middle: Jelly Leftwich and his Duke University Blue Devils of 1°27 were famed for their rendi- tion of the popular soup. Who. ' Bottom: The Biologj Department and students, shown gathered with a specimen or two, were the last members of the Biolog) Club, which disintegrated at the time of the indenture.

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HPHK question continually on the lip of the older people was, Is the younger generation in peril? The flapper, however, went noncha- lantly on her way drinking out ol her date ' s hip pocket flask, petting in the parked sedan, and dancing cheek to cheek. Thus conservative fami- lies sent their children to conservative Duke University to protect them from these evils. Bans on dancing, playing cards, and hazing issued hy the University officials had as little effect on the students as the eighteenth amend- ment for prohibition had on the country as a whole. Because of this restriction on dancing, social hop.-- were held in little-frequented places and soon achieved a popularity that approved functions had never enjoyed. Flappers and dudes attended classes to the sounds of a giant hell — known today as Marse Jack, and rung after football victories — which tolled off the periods. The radio was a novel form of entertainment, and coeds listened to the voice of Rudy Vallee crooning I ' m Just a Vaga- bond Lover. Student Government approval of the Savoy and Paris Theaters enabled Dukestcrs to see the first talkie — Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer. Every day the dean received reque»t for extra dates, out-of-town leave, and permis- sion to eat in the hotel. Although activities may have changed since then, human nature was the same. Students were forever seeking new things to do, and new ways to do the old things. With- out a doubt, they were the children of their own times — the unique Twenties. To raise the dignity of the University was the purpose of this athletic and leadership honorary. which also condemned smoking as undignified. The May Day festival with the crowning of the queen and the presenta- tion of a pantomime was one of the highlights of college life in 1926.