History, Tradition, and "Our" Time | Syracusefan.com

History, Tradition, and "Our" Time

Shenexon

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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:

ChaffeeDrawing2.png


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:

300px-SU-The-Oval-pre-1907-cropped.jpg


One of these guys could have posed for her:

SU1903a.jpg



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!!!
 
Incredible post, Shenexon. Thank you.
 
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:

View attachment 51582

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:

300px-SU-The-Oval-pre-1907-cropped.jpg


One of these guys could have posed for her:

View attachment 51587


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!!!
I have that poster in my man cave. One of my favorites.
 
Great seeing those old photos. My grandmother entered SU in 1901 and graduated in 1905. I still have some of the old B&W photos. Thanks for sharing.
 
For anyone interested in this story, I was able to get Mae's class card from the Art Student's League of NY:

In looking up her instructors, the three instructors' names on her class card were:

Bryson Burroughs, longtime curator of paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
John Henry Twachtman, an american impressionist painter
Kenyon Cox, a portrait painter and muralist

Mae had an impressive group of instructors to produce her one published drawing...
 

Attachments

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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:

View attachment 51582

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:

300px-SU-The-Oval-pre-1907-cropped.jpg


One of these guys could have posed for her:

View attachment 51587


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!!!


Great post! I would guess that the model was the guy seated center-right in the middle of the photo. Hairstyle seems to match, and if he's in the middle, he was probably one of the BMOCs.
 
Great post! I would guess that the model was the guy seated center-right in the middle of the photo. Hairstyle seems to match, and if he's in the middle, he was probably one of the BMOCs.
Well that’s a fun game! I think it’s the top right corner guy.
 
Well that’s a fun game! I think it’s the top right corner guy.


Gotta go with Ithaca Matt here: look at the eyes. And the hairdo is really the same, just a bit disheveled in the photo, as if he girlfriend had run her fingers through it. .
 
Gotta go with Ithaca Matt here: look at the eyes. And the hairdo is really the same, just a bit disheveled in the photo, as if he girlfriend had run her fingers through it. .
If accurate, that would make Mae's model one Edward John Martin Cannon of Niagara Falls. He was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and graduated in 1904 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. There was an Edward J. Cannon in Niagara Falls in the 1940 census, listed as 65...
 
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Mae Goodelle Chaffee Cheney is buried in Oakwood cemetery with her husband George Cheney, long time NYS Appeals Court Librarian in Syracuse.

162636
 
If accurate, that would make Mae's model one Edward John Martin Cannon of Niagara Falls. He was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and graduated in 1904 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. There was an Edward J. Cannon in Niagara Falls in the 1940 census, listed as 65...
Without knowing and not having the deep dive ability at this moment... I used to work at an AE firm that was based out of Grand Island (Buffalo) and was founded as an engineering firm. CannonDesign was the design architecture firm for the IPF. If there is a connection (and believe me it wasn't a known connection) that would be a VERY cool wrinkle to the story.
 
Without knowing and not having the deep dive ability at this moment... I used to work at an AE firm that was based out of Grand Island (Buffalo) and was founded as an engineering firm. CannonDesign was the design architecture firm for the IPF. If there is a connection (and believe me it wasn't a known connection) that would be a VERY cool wrinkle to the story.


Great thread!
 
Without knowing and not having the deep dive ability at this moment... I used to work at an AE firm that was based out of Grand Island (Buffalo) and was founded as an engineering firm. CannonDesign was the design architecture firm for the IPF. If there is a connection (and believe me it wasn't a known connection) that would be a VERY cool wrinkle to the story.
There seem to be a lot of Cannon family names from Niagara Falls in that era but I've found nothing to connect the Will Alban Cannon that founded what would become CannonDesign and Edward J. Cannon. I did find reference to Edward J. as president of the Syracuse University Alumni Association, Niagara Chapter, in the early 1920s. I find it interesting that he chose to pursue electrical engineering during the era that Tesla & Westinghouse were building power plants in Niagara Falls and electrifying the Buffalo area. Certainly the electrical wonders on display at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1901 could have inspired him to that career. I'm thinking that was an exciting time to be working with electricity...

162654
 
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