Livingstone College - Livingstonian Yearbook (Salisbury, NC)

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Livingstone Played First Negro College Game Livingstone College made history with its first and last football game. Livingstone is recognized as the birthplace of inter- collegiate football among Negro colleges in Thitetsfetd Biddle University (now Johnson a Smith) of Charlotte on a dM on the Livingstone campus on December 27, 1892. The Bears lost the game, 5-0, but the nvalry with Johnson C. Smith still continues. . . •„„ r Wo in Livingstone made school history last November when the Bears ate Ma etaJ em their final game. They registered their ninth win against two losses. It marked the most victories by a Livingstone team in its history. , The late Dr W J Trent, a former president of Livingstone, played halfback on the team that C XslouL played was cold and dreary and snow had fallen to a considerable depth. In the early stages of the game Biddle got awav to a lead and scored a touchdown, making the score 5-0. Later in the game when a Biddle man was about to get away from Livingstone for another score, Captain (J.W.) Walker of Livingstone tackled him and he dropped the ball. It was im- mediVl ooped up by the Livingstone right half-back (William J. Trent) whoJashettacross for 1 Pu£tothe heavy blanket of snow, the markings of the field were not so plain and Biddle -ded that its ball carrier was tackled out of bounds. The contention was upheld and the scor was disallowed, Biddle winning 5-0. rrn „„ Miss Rountree writes that the players chipped in to pay for the football used in the game. They also put cleats on their everyday shoes, for the contest. , Dr Trent later recalled the uniforms for this game witb i Smith (Biddle) I were made by the young women of the Industrial Department out of 10-ounce white ducking cloth The Livingstone president said shyly that he probably had the best uniform because he was courting the director ot the sewing department. , , , , r n Livingstone claimed its first football championship in 1906 and one of its standouts was B.B. Church. He was to return to Livingstone to coach the Bears for two periods (1911-17 and 1921-26) Its first title was Negro college champions of the Carolinas. , ; J a£.i a? ' » u Livingstone also claimed championships in the North Carolina Interscholastic Athletic A tion in 1912, ' 14, ' 15, ' 21, ' 22 and ' 23. All were under coach Church. The conference which Livingstone dissolved in 1930, and Livingstone s fortunes dipped some No games were played in 1933. However, the Bears bounced back. In 1938, the Bears had a 4-3-1 record and beat South Carolina State, 19-0, in a post-season game in Winston-Salem s Bowman Gray Stadium. In 1947, Livingstone joined the Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach Edward Mitchell took charge in 1949 and -renuilt the Livingstone forces His Bears finished second in the conference in 1954, ' 57 and ' 58. The ' 54 squad was credited with the school s best record (5-2) in 26 years. The ' 57 unit won six, lost two and tied one. In 1960, Charles Cox became coach and led the Bears to their first co-championship in the MAC with a 7-1-2 record. He also was named coach of the year. Livingstone competed in the first annual Charity Classic at Jacksonville, Fla., on December 6, I960, and lost to Edward Waters College by 27-7. Livingstone rejoined the CIAA in 1962, and Baxter Holman guided the Bears to their greatest number of victories last season after John D. Marshall had guided the Bears to a number of suc- cesses. One of the recent stars at Livingstone was quarterback Alfred The Great Tyler Jr. He led the nation ' s small college at passing in 1966, completing 174 of 338 attempts for 2,499 yards and 29 touchdowns. , , , , . ., , Livingstone has represented itself well in basketball. It recently added track, tennis, golf and wrestling to its athletic programs. . As printed in the Bi- centennial edition of The Salisbury Evening Post. o -t- 9