Shenexon
All American
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2011
- Messages
- 6,260
- Like
- 19,858
To help fill in the bye week, I offer this tribute to our era, those that came before us, and those yet to come.
Years ago, while searching for a picture to post on this board, I found this image:
It's an image of a poster copyrighted in 1903 by Mae Goodelle Chaffee. Mae came from an affluent family with her father being the superintendent of Oakwood Cemetery. He died of Typhus in 1899 when she was 23. She later went to NYC for two years to study at the Art Students League, which still exists. She returned home in 1903 and studied art at Crouse College for a year when she made the poster. At the time, the football team played on the "Oval" behind the Hall of Languages:
One of these guys could have posed for her:
The campus was very different then, but Mae's poster provides some insight into the bravado & style that SU's early football team carried around campus. They began the century with optimism, with a new version of football, and laid the groundwork for the football program we have today. Five generations have come and gone as well as 112 graduating classes, with many, many thousands of participants in SU football history. I was especially interested in the poster because I had a grandmother at Crouse College during the same era who could have known Mae or saw her working on her drawing.
Every generation has contributed to the history & tradition that means something to us today. Mae's poster is indicative of many simple things that lots of SU fans have contributed to SU football. It may have been a class project for her. It's the only piece of artwork she left behind and is at the Library of Congress. She married shortly after her time at SU and had no children, but was very active in the community until she died in 1948. She was just a young SU student who made a drawing of something she thought very cool, perhaps to sell as a program cover or souvenir poster. I still think it's very cool.
Time flies and every new class & team contribute to the SU football tradition. Some as players and others as fans. I'd especially honor folks like Dan Johnson that left significant legacies in honoring others that made the program what it is. We all have an opportunity to participate in this significant tradition in varying degrees. Floyd Little, Jim Brown, Ernie Davis & many other great athletes have contributed in their way. Decades from now we may be talking about Dungey, Ishmael, Fredericks, Philips, Clark, Thompson, etc. with the same reverence. SWC has created some incredible history lessons describing mileposts in that long tradition. Mahoney sure did his part and I'm proud of him.
Fans can also help create events that build on SU's tradition. We've had so many great examples of that phenomena, including most recently the LSU game. I'll remember being at that game for a long time but my voice may never be the same. It was a great day for tailgating & celebrating college football. This board is comprised of a large group of fans that have added to the tradition with great events & stories of their own. Kudos to all of you for your contributions over the years or decades that you've been a fan.
Mae left a legacy as well and I honor her for seeing something very cool in our early players and capturing it in her drawing. I've been researching Mae for years, thinking that there was a great story behind her drawing. In the end, Mae's drawing is just a portion of a larger story. A story that we're all part of and are still writing. Our kids and their kids will continue that long story with some great chapters of their own.
I just want us to make the most of "Our" time. We owe it to those that came before us and those that will come after to energize that tradition in our era. There are many things to be concerned about, complain about, and analyze, but we should never overlook the importance of being part of the story and not just critics. Celebrate your part of the story!!!
Years ago, while searching for a picture to post on this board, I found this image:
It's an image of a poster copyrighted in 1903 by Mae Goodelle Chaffee. Mae came from an affluent family with her father being the superintendent of Oakwood Cemetery. He died of Typhus in 1899 when she was 23. She later went to NYC for two years to study at the Art Students League, which still exists. She returned home in 1903 and studied art at Crouse College for a year when she made the poster. At the time, the football team played on the "Oval" behind the Hall of Languages:
One of these guys could have posed for her:
The campus was very different then, but Mae's poster provides some insight into the bravado & style that SU's early football team carried around campus. They began the century with optimism, with a new version of football, and laid the groundwork for the football program we have today. Five generations have come and gone as well as 112 graduating classes, with many, many thousands of participants in SU football history. I was especially interested in the poster because I had a grandmother at Crouse College during the same era who could have known Mae or saw her working on her drawing.
Every generation has contributed to the history & tradition that means something to us today. Mae's poster is indicative of many simple things that lots of SU fans have contributed to SU football. It may have been a class project for her. It's the only piece of artwork she left behind and is at the Library of Congress. She married shortly after her time at SU and had no children, but was very active in the community until she died in 1948. She was just a young SU student who made a drawing of something she thought very cool, perhaps to sell as a program cover or souvenir poster. I still think it's very cool.
Time flies and every new class & team contribute to the SU football tradition. Some as players and others as fans. I'd especially honor folks like Dan Johnson that left significant legacies in honoring others that made the program what it is. We all have an opportunity to participate in this significant tradition in varying degrees. Floyd Little, Jim Brown, Ernie Davis & many other great athletes have contributed in their way. Decades from now we may be talking about Dungey, Ishmael, Fredericks, Philips, Clark, Thompson, etc. with the same reverence. SWC has created some incredible history lessons describing mileposts in that long tradition. Mahoney sure did his part and I'm proud of him.
Fans can also help create events that build on SU's tradition. We've had so many great examples of that phenomena, including most recently the LSU game. I'll remember being at that game for a long time but my voice may never be the same. It was a great day for tailgating & celebrating college football. This board is comprised of a large group of fans that have added to the tradition with great events & stories of their own. Kudos to all of you for your contributions over the years or decades that you've been a fan.
Mae left a legacy as well and I honor her for seeing something very cool in our early players and capturing it in her drawing. I've been researching Mae for years, thinking that there was a great story behind her drawing. In the end, Mae's drawing is just a portion of a larger story. A story that we're all part of and are still writing. Our kids and their kids will continue that long story with some great chapters of their own.
I just want us to make the most of "Our" time. We owe it to those that came before us and those that will come after to energize that tradition in our era. There are many things to be concerned about, complain about, and analyze, but we should never overlook the importance of being part of the story and not just critics. Celebrate your part of the story!!!