U N T Established 1890 U N T
University Libraries

125 Year Archival Retrospective

The ‘birds’ who know no defeat: The story of Scrappy the Eagle

Posted by & filed under 1920's, 1950's, 1960's, 1980's, 1990's.

In the first twenty-two years of collegiate presence, North Texas State Normal College operated without a mascot; the students were coined the “Normalites.” During this time, the college was preparing to transition its name to North Texas State Teacher’s College. With the name change groundwork in process, the college’s administration also recognized an imperative need for a mascot which was voiced by the student body via a circulated petition in the fall of 1921.

A mascot was selected to promote a unified identity amongst the college’s students and athletes. Most of the athletic clubs on campus were named the “Normal Boys” or the “Normal Girls,” except for a few rebellious women’s basketball clubs who named themselves. The “Dandy Doers,” “Haughty Hits,” “Limber Lassies,” “Militants,” and the “Suffragettes” dribbled their way to glory (or, hopefully not, to doom) on old dirt courts with their self-appointed monikers.

The mascot election was held in January 1922. It was a battle of the ages between four animals the students believed encompassed the college’s character: lions, hawks, eagles, and dragons. What a difficult decision for the Normal College students! And in February of 1922, the eagle mascot won the election with 17 more votes than the runner-up, the dragons.

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Centennial: UNT’s entry in General Motors’ 1990 solar car race

Posted by & filed under 1990's.

In 1990 the University of North Texas was celebrating its 100th anniversary. In addition to exhibits, parades, and parties it was decided that the Industrial Technology Department (now the College of Engineering) would participate in the design and construction of a solar car. The car, named Centennial, took part is an eleven day race of solar cars sponsored by General Motors. The UNT team had the fewest team members, the least expensive car ($70,000), and went up against 32 other teams. For comparison, the University of Michigan team had an $800,000 car. Faculty advisor John Dobson and team leader Lee Palmer supervised the two years of design and building that it took to create UNT’s solar car. Other team members were Greg Mitchel and Jeff Curtis.

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The Mean, the Green, the… Armadillos?

Posted by & filed under 1990's.

Did you know that the University of North Texas was the backdrop for the greatest football comedy of all time? A film so great it includes this scene of Jason Bateman and Sinbad doing a touchdown boogie?

Curious? Read on!

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Third Time’s the Charm: Becoming the University of North Texas

Posted by & filed under 1960's, 1970's, 1980's.

On May 15, 1988, the University of North Texas celebrated its transition from North Texas State University to its current name.  This would mark the seventh title for the institution since it began 125 years ago as the Texas Normal College and Teacher’s Training Institute. The event was celebrated with a small parade, releasing green balloons advertising the name change, the burial of a time capsule, and the unveiling of both a new university seal and a new sign bearing the name of the University of North Texas.

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Student publications at North Texas

Posted by & filed under 1900's, 1910's, 1920's, 1930's, 1940's, 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, 2000's, 2010's.

In November 1901 the first North Texas student publication, the North Texas State Normal Journal, was published. From 1901 – 1905, the Normal Journal served as North Texas State Normal College’s literary journal and yearbook, as well as the student newspaper. Short stories, poems, and literary criticism were published on a monthly basis alongside coverage of national and international news and updates on campus life. The final issue of the year, in May, featured class pictures and other features commonly associated with a college yearbook. In 1906 students voted to nix the May issue of the Normal Journal and instead publish all annual retrospective content in the University’s first yearbook, The Cottontail. Read more

Fry Street: A home away from home

Posted by & filed under 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, 2000's.

From the early 1980s to 2007, the Delta Lodge, who call themselves “the party professionals,” organized the Fry Street fair. This event was an annual gathering for students and the community to share laughs, enjoy food and drinks, and dance to the melodies of local and regional bands. The fair was not only a happening which promoted good times for the attendees, it also showcased the sociocultural significance of the Fry Street area to the University of North Texas. This area has always been a home away from home for students.

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Happy birthday to our distinguished alumni Larry McMurtry!

Posted by & filed under 1950's, 1970's, 1980's, 2000's, 2010's.

Prolific writer and North Texas alum Larry McMurty was born on this day in 1936 in Archer City, Texas.

McMurtry contributed works of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction to the campus literary magazine, Avesta, during his tenure at North Texas. In May 1957, during his junior year, he won $25 in an Avesta “best-of” contest for his non-fiction essay about jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke. Reflecting on his years at North Texas in 1978, McMurty told The North Texan “I was quite happy here […] I found it a very stimulating school.”

McMurtry graduated from North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1958. After leaving North Texas, he continued his education at Rice University, earning a Master’s in English from Rice in 1960. McMurtry studied at Stanford University as a Wallace Stegner Fellow in 1960.

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O’Neil Ford and the North Texas Bandstand

Posted by & filed under 1920's, 1970's.

O’Neil Ford (1905-1982) was born in Pink Hill, Texas, a small community near Denton. When his father died at an early age, the young Ford took it upon himself to support his family, so he went to work as an adolescent. Ford loved to draw and showed an interest in architecture from the beginning. Later, when it came time to pursue his interest as a career, he enrolled in North Texas State Normal College.  O’Neil attended the school for two years until he was no longer able to afford tuition and went to work at a local diner, Dyche’s Corner, on Avenue A, where he flipped burgers while earning his certificate in architecture through a correspondence school in Pennsylvania.

Ford had a flair for selling himself, which manifested itself through struggle in the early years and providing for his family in the absence of his father. This talent served him well once he began his practice as an architect. Ford would go on to become one of the most accomplished and noteworthy architects in the state of Texas.

Ford led the planning for such buildings as The Little Chapel in the Woods on the Texas Woman’s University campus in 1939. This structure was typical of the kind of work O’Neil Ford did throughout his career and it spoke much about his philosophy on architectural structures and their practical use. Ford’s other projects included the Tower of the Americas (1968) in San Antonio, First Christian Church (1987) in Denton, Texas Instruments (1958) in Dallas, the Civic Center Complex (1963-1968) in Denton, the Selwyn School (1967-1968), Trinity University (1963-1971) in San Antonio and the Gazebo (1928), on the North Texas State Teachers College campus, now known as the University of North Texas.

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Native American students at North Texas

Posted by & filed under 1890's.

The Texas Normal College and Teachers Training Institute, now known as the University of North Texas, opened on September 16, 1890 with 80 students in attendance. There were two concerns for the new school – where to hold classes and how to recruit enough students. The first issue was solved by renting space above a hardware store just off the square. The second issue was partially solved by enrolling twenty-eight members of the Creek (Muscogee) Nation from “Indian Territory,” now Oklahoma, to attend classes.

Some accounts state the federal government paid the expenses of the Creek students, but UNT no longer has records to support this claim. The Creek students appear to have been brought in for the second term, which started on November 25, 1890.  At that time there was a forty week school year which was divided into four quarters from September 16 to June 21, 1891. Overall enrollment was estimated to be from 150 to 185 students during that time.

The students came to a small town. Denton’s population was estimated to be between 3,500 and 4,000 people at the time of the opening of the Normal College. There were no dormitories, so rates were set for boarding houses. The rates for two students to a furnished room started at $2.50 per week. Two students in an unfurnished room could be rented for as little as $2.00 per week.

Among the courses of study open to students at this time were: teacher training, science, business, classical, as well as engineering and surveying. Tuition for a full year was set at $48.00.

In Fall 2014, 540 students at the University of North Texas identified as Native American.

– by Perri Hamilton

 

“This program is here to stay”: Jazz Studies at North Texas

Posted by & filed under 1920's, 1950's, 1960's, 1970's.

The advent of jazz studies at North Texas — diplomatically referred to as “dance band” in early years — met predictable resistance. In an oral history recorded in October of 1978, Gene Hall recalled:

“Generally, they [the music faculty] were antagonistic toward it. There were two or three who were very much in favor of it: Bob Rogers, a piano player, and Frank Mainous, one of the theory teachers. There were two or three who were very much in favor of it because they had played professionally, and they knew what it took to get along in the world…”

One colleague, while making clear he had no personal animosity toward Hall, but simply did not believe jazz belonged in the university, took his concerns to President W. Joseph McConnell. Hall described the outcome, quoting the other faculty member:

“I told the president … Y’know, I’ve just come back from a national meeting, and every time I introduced myself as being from North Texas, the reaction is, ‘Oh, that’s where you have the jazz program! Tell me about it!’ And then I have to go to the trouble of telling them we also have an orchestra, and an opera, and all these other things that make the School of Music. And the president says, ‘Well, if you’d get off your ass and do something, you wouldn’t have to do that, would you?’” Read more

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