Texas over Time: Baylor Homecoming parade, 1953

Texas has changed quite a bit over the years, as is readily seen in our vast photograph and postcard collections. To help bring some of those changes to life, we’ve created a “Texas over Time” series of GIFs that will illustrate the construction and renovations of buildings, changing aerial views, and more. Our collections are especially strong on Waco and Baylor images, but look for some views beyond the Heart of Texas, too.

Something a little different this month–attend the 1953 Baylor Homecoming parade!

Views from the 700 block of Austin Avenue of the October 31, 1953 parade. A devastating F5 tornado hit just a few blocks from this site on May 11 of the same year.

• In 2012, Baylor Homecoming was declared by the Smithsonian to be the first collegiate Homecoming celebration. On November 24, 1909, about 60 decorated carriages and cars and about 70 walking groups made their way down Washington Avenue towards Eighth and Austin, then made their way to campus for the football game at Carroll Field. As the Baylor band led the way, organizations from across campus, sports teams, and societies participated in the parade.
• Although the first Homecoming was a success, it was held sporadically and did not become an annual tradition until the late 1940s.
• In the second Homecoming in 1915, we start to see a few floats in the parade. In 1960 floats  began to carry themes of Baylor defeating (and otherwise destroying) their opponent for the big football game.
• The route for the parade has gradually evolved and in recent years has started on Austin Avenue and ended on Fifth Street, in the heart of campus.
• In addition to the parade, Homecoming features many other activities and traditions, including alumni dinners and reunions, a bonfire in Fountain Mall, the Freshman Mass Meeting, Pigskin Revue, and Friday Night Flashback.
• For Homecoming 2015, Baylor will dedicate the Rosenbalm Fountain on the new Fifth Street promenade. Students, alumni and faculty will get to experience an over 100-year tradition while making a brand new one in the process.

Sources:

“Homecoming Parade.” Baylor University. Baylor University, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.

Morris, Conner. “The Great School of Which I Have Dreamed: Homecoming 2014.” Our Daily Bears. SB Nation, 28 Oct. 2014. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.

See all of the images in our Flickr set–and there are several more Homecoming albums on our Flickr page, too! GIF and factoids by Haley Rodriguez, archives student assistant.