Haskell Celebration 1926

During the weekend of October 27th to 30th, 1926, Haskell Institute held a celebration and dedication for its newly constructed football stadium and Arch. Donations for the stadium came from across Indian Country, and Haskell students provided most of the physical labor for its construction. Well-known Haskell athletes Jim Thorpe and John Levi gave an exhibition, with Thorpe kicking and Levi passing, including a pass by Levi for 83 yards. The weekend also included a Buffalo feast, a powwow, a "Hiawatha" performance by Haskell students, and a football game against Bucknell University of Pennsylvania, which Haskell won 36-0. Haskell's sports teams historically played major universities and colleges from across the country, and James Turner said that by defeating nearly every team they played, Haskell had become a threat to the nation's prestigious university athletic system. John Levi, an Arapaho born in 1898, attended Haskell Institute in the 1920's and in 1923, while a junior, won All-American Football-Fullback honors. He was to play for the NY Yankees but returned to Haskell to coach, saying, "I got homesick. I had to come back to my people." Jim Thorpe, Sac and Fox and Potawatomi, born in 1888, attended Haskell Institute for a couple of years and became known as one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, winning Olympic gold medals in the 1912 Pentathlon and Decathlon, playing collegiate and professional American football, and playing professional baseball and basketball. He lost his Olympic titles after it was discovered that he had been paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, but in 1983, 30 years after his death, the Olympic Committee restored his Olympic medals. Billy Mills, Oglala Sioux, born in 1938, took up running while attending Haskell Institute. In 1964 he won Olympic gold in the 10,000 meter run in Tokyo, Japan, and he is identified as the only American to have won Olympic gold in that event. He serves as spokesman for Running Strong for American Indian Youth, an organization that supports projects benefiting American Indian youth.

Lawrence, Kansas · United States