Homecoming: Where it all began…maybe
By Sarah Jackson

In preparation for the 94th anniversary of the University of Missouri’s Homecoming festivities, some might wonder how this tradition began and where “homecoming” originated. There are many universities in the U.S. that claim to be the inventor of the first homecoming event, and there is heated controversy as to which university it is. Many different definitions of “homecoming” exist, leaving room for debate as to what is considered homecoming.

“Some of the stories have changed over the years,” said Todd McCubbin, executive director of the MU Alumni Association.

Many of the institutions that lay claim to homecoming as their idea all began events about the same time, some within a few weeks of each other. Some colleges consider an annual game of the current college team versus an alumni team to be homecoming; others consider alumni returning at graduation time to be the same thing, but without the official title. Many colleges believe they had the unique idea and were not aware of other campuses who were hosting similar activities.

“They believed they were doing something original that had never been done before,” said Ellen Swain, archivist for student life and culture at the University of Illinois.

Indiana University held an event the week of June 19-24, 1908, and called it “homecoming.” The occasion was not centered on an intercollegiate athletic contest, but instead celebrated the dedication of three new buildings on campus. Alumni visited the college, and a circus and banquet were held. An article in the June 10, 1908, Indiana Daily Student spoke of the hopes of beginning a tradition in “Gala Week.” In 1909, Gala or “Home-Coming-Week” was moved to the weekend of the Indiana-Purdue football game. By 1910, articles in the student newspaper referred to the annual game as “Homecoming.”

In 1909, Baylor University in Waco, Texas, began a homecoming-like event.

“The president of Baylor University sent invitations to all alumni in 1909,” said Judy Prather, communications coordinator for the Baylor University Alumni Association.

Activities such as a concert, president’s reception, and bonfire began on Wednesday, Nov. 24. They continued over Thanksgiving weekend with a pep rally, evening program, old-time soiree and parade, and the football team battled Texas Christian University. However, organizers did not see it as an annual event, so the next homecoming wasn’t held until 1915, though it has continued annually since.

Thanks to a dream of two students who wanted to contribute to their alma mater, the University of Illinois held its first homecoming in Chicago on Oct. 15, 1910. Alumni arrived on Oct. 13, and the festivities began the afternoon of Oct. 14. Events included a baseball game, performances by the Hobo Band, a band reunion, a mass meeting, initiations, banquets and a track meet. Homecoming events culminated with a football game on Saturday versus the University of Chicago. The university has continued the tradition consecutively since 1910, moving the festivities to the Urbana campus.

Chester Brewer, MU athletic director, is credited with hosting the first homecoming in Columbia, Mo., in 1911. The football game had been held in Kansas City, but in 1911 conference regulations were changed, requiring collegiate football games to be held on campus. The celebration included open house receptions, luncheons, dinners, concerts, mass meetings, dances, parades, plays, class reunions, dedications and laying cornerstones of new buildings. The game against the University of Kansas brought 10,000 fans to Rollins Field, where Stankowski Field is today.

“We have pictures from the 1911 football game against the University of Kansas of the first homecoming at MU,” McCubbin said. “We just know based on those pictures that homecoming had football and many activities over the week.”

Up until the 1920s, homecoming was held on alternate Thanksgivings. Today, MU has the largest student-run homecoming in the U.S., and the University of Kansas, Oklahoma State University and the University of Nebraska are favorite homecoming rivals.

So who officially gets the credit for creating homecoming? Clarence Foss Williams, University of Illinois class of 1910, insisted until his death that he and W. Elmer Ekblaw, classes of 1910 and 1912, invented the concept. With so many stories, skewed circumstances and different names, it’s hard to know for sure who really had the idea first.

“If there are schools that had it before 1909 and actually called it homecoming, then they would be legitimate,” said Kent Stephens, curator of the College Football Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame recognizes the University of Illinois as holding the earliest “homecoming.”

No matter who gets the credit or what it’s called, special events that draw alumni back to their alma mater, such as homecoming, are traditions that will continue for decades..

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