Nicholls' first 60 years on display at Ellender Library
Mike Cartozzo
Issue date: 3/19/09 Section: News
|
The collection went on display March 12 in the Ellender room and will continue through April 30.
The display covers topics such as the origins of the University's name, special events that have been held, staff members and changes that have occurred over the years.
Nicholls, first opened Sept. 23, 1948, as Francis T. Nicholls Junior College of Louisiana State University. The college was named after Louisiana governor, Francis Tillou Nicholls, who took part in the reconstruction of the state after the Civil War.
In 1956 Nicholls separated from LSU and became known as Francis T. Nicholls State College. In 1970, the state legislature changed the name to Nicholls State University. It was Gov. John McKeithen's signature on June 23 of that year which officially gave Nicholls its university-level status.
Three weeks after the college opened, a tradition began that had freshmen shave their heads as part of an initiation. The point of this activity was to have the students interact with one another. This ritual lasted into the '70s, according to a picture caption in the display.
The annual pirogue races on Bayou Lafourche began in 1953, when members of the ROTC organized the first race from Raceland to Thibodaux.
Another event that occurred throughout the '60s and '70s was the selection of random children to serve as the official mascot - the "Little Colonel." The child was usually the son of a faculty member and would dress in the colonel uniform at athletic events and parades.
Western Week or "Frontier Week" began in the spring of 1956. The festival, which was co-sponsored by the Clodbusters and the Women's Recreation Association, included a corn-husking contest, sack races, cow milking, a professor dunk, hay rides, egg tosses, a car bash and more. Two of the stranger and more unusual competitions were the tobacco-chewing and beard-growing contests. Western Week was discontinued after 1990.
Be the first to comment on this story