Vanderbilt University - Commodore Yearbook (Nashville, TN)

Page 13 text:

DR. C. S. BROWN DELIVERING DEDICATION ADDRESS bilt Athletic Association this summer at a cost of EE-190,000 was dedicated Saturday afternoon to the memory of Dr. Williarn Lofland Dudley. The ceremonies immediately preceded the Vanderbilt-lVIichigan game and were exceedhigly impressive. Gov. Alf Taylor made the opening talk in which he welcomed the visiting team, the response being made by Fielding H. Yost, director of athletics at Ann Arborf' Prof. Charles S. Brown, president of the Vanderbilt Athletic Association, dedicated the field, remarking on the part Dr. Dudley had taken in building athletics at Van- derbilt and in the South. Dr. Dudley founded the athletic association at Vander- bilt and also the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association and from the time of their organization until his death, he served as president of both associations. Following the dedication of the field the band played the national anthem and Vanderbilt and Michigan banners, the Stars and Stripes, and a Hag over the Walter Palmer field house were unfurled. The Vanderbilt banner was on the northwest end of the stadium and was unfurled by Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr., that of Michigan on the northeast end of the structure by Miss Lucy Ann McGugin, daughter of Coach Dan E. lWcGugin of the Vanderbilt team, the American Hag by Miss Elizabeth Kirk- land, daughter of Chancellor and .Mrs. J. H. Kirkland of Vanderbilt, and the Hag over the Walter Palmer Held house by Miss Agatha Brown, daughter of Prof. and Mrs. C. S. Brown of Vanderbilt. All the banners and flags were unfurled simultaneously, and just as the band was sounding the final strains of the anthem, one of the planes of the 136th air squadron soared low over the field and dropped the ball for the conflict that was to follow. Streamers of maize and blue and gold and black were entwined around the oval. The ceremonies were attended by Cornelius Vanderbilt, Ir., the guest of honor: Gov. Alf Taylor, members of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust, members of the Vander- bilt Athletic Association and the rival football teams. Fully 18,000 persons witnessed the ceremonies, all sections of the stands being packed with the exception of those on the extreme southern end. Automobiles lined both sides of the streets for blocks around the stadium.

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Y MEMORIAL STADIUM 1- at the Capitol, where Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr., Mrs. Vanderbilt, and several dis- tinguished guests saluted the joyous marchers. The llfledical and Dental students as usual came through with the feature of the parade. In fantastic garb, beating tin pans, bearing patent medicine placards, and led by Di: Pill, the doctors delighted tens of thousands of spectators who packed the sidewalks along the line of march. The Engineers had prepared a splendid Hoat, the only thing of its kind in the parade, which attracted much attention. X The parade marched as follows: Platoon of policeg Industrial School Bandg the guests of Vanderbilt and the city in automobilesg the Michigan team in autosg lbiichigan alumni, marching, the Vanderbilt team in autosg the Varsity Club, wearing their V hat bands, a long line of alumni beginning with the earliest classes, bearing placards showing groups of five and ten years eachg the co-eds, in autosg the student body by departments, each headed by its Dean and facultyg delegations from Hume-Fogg High School of Nashville and several Prep Schools from Tennessee. The parade being over, the city was given a slight breathing spell until 1215 that sunshiny day, when the procession and rival teams entered the rapidly Filling stadium. The Evening Banner had the following to say about the details of the afternoon's dedication ceremonies: Amidst all the glory known to the lovers of college athletics and the unbounded enthusiasm of the rooters themselves, the new giant stadium constructed by the Vander- 'Q

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Dudley Field--The Old and the New ga' 5,1 T is especially fitting that the name Dudley Field be given the new Stadium, and that the historic field on the campus be known as Curry Field, which names were adopted Q91-3 Mg,-j recently by the Athletic Association of Vanderbilt University. The great influence of Dr. Dudley as a teacher and as founder of the athletic system K ' of the South, and the glory of Irby R. Curry as athlete and soldier, are so Well known to Vanderbilt men that we shall not take occasion to review their careers. The formal statement of the Board of Control of the Athletic Association will express the sentiment of all. It is as follows: The name of the stadium will be Dudley Field and the old field on the campus will hereafter be known as Curry Field. It has from the beginning been the wish of Vanderbilt men that the new and permanent athletic field, now under construction, should continue to perpetuate the memory of Dr. William L. Dudley, the founder of college athletics in the South and the president, during his lifetime, of the Vanderbilt Athletic Association. To give his name merely to the practice fields outside of the stadium would rather diminish than enhance the honor paid him heretofore, so that it has been the general wish that his name should be given to the splendid new playing field. The name of Dudley Field has been preferred to Dudley Stadium so as more closely to link its history and traditions with those of the old field on the campus and because the title Dudley Field is regarded as less pretentious and more modest than Dudley Stadium, and as the name that would, therefore, be more acceptable to Dr. Dudley if he were living today. So the stadium at Penn is called Franklin Field, and that at Harvard Soldiers' Field. The official name, therefore, of the new Vanderbilt ath- letic field is Dudley Field. The members of the Athletic Association felt that they could not better reflect the wishes of Vanderbilt men than to call the old field on the campus after Irby R. Curry, who con- tributed so much to its many glorious memories. 'Rabbit' i Curry, as he was better known, was not only a great football player, but one of the most popular and best beloved of Van- derbilt men. He volunteered as an aviator and met his death in France. The love and admiration that Vanderbilt men had for him give abundant assurance that, if at some time in the future Curry Field should be required by the University for other purposes, Rabbit Curry's name and memory will be perpetuated at Vanderbilt in an even more enduring form. RABBIT CURRY VVILLIAM L. DUDLEY