Centennial Edition: 1910s

The Pitt News traces its roots back to Sept. 26, 1910, when a team of student reporters… The Pitt News traces its roots back to Sept. 26, 1910, when a team of student reporters published the first issue of The Pitt Weekly.

Before this issue, students relied on The Courant, a monthly publication with strong ties to the administration, for their campus news. With the implementation of the Weekly, the paper reorganized itself as a true student publication with “the intention to publish … the real representative of the student body.”

This first “extra issue” was supplied at no cost to readers, but future issues cost  5 cents each. In the subsequent issues, staff members covered “all the features of the year, including a full account of the first football game,” according to the first issue.

“Although the weather was altogether too hot for football some snappy work was displayed and it was agreed by all that the Pitt team showed great strength in their first tryout,” the next issue of the Weekly reported on Oct. 5.

With that win over Ohio Northern University, Pitt football began its 1910 undefeated season.

Football coverage consumed the front pages of the newspaper during the fall of 1910. The paper chronicled the staggering 38-0 win over West Virginia University and a victory over Penn State on Thanksgiving Day.

One headline read, “Before 17,000 people State goes down to decisive defeat at hands of Pittsburgh.”

A clear picture of the Spalding Trophy rested in the center on the front page of the Nov. 30 issue.

Readers could read the inscription on the trophy, “The Spalding Trophy for competition in football between The University of Pittsburgh and The Pennsylvania State College.”

Such competition among college “gridders” was expected because “Western Pennsylvania was the genesis of American football,” said Robert Ruck, both an author and history professor at Pitt.

“Pitt had the cream of crop” in coaches like Glenn ‘Pop’ Warner, Ruck said.

The Panthers remained competitive for years to come, winning national championships in 1915, 1916 and 1918, along with a number of undefeated seasons in 1910, 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1920.

During the decade, most of Pitt’s home games were played at Forbes Field on the southeast end of the Oakland campus.

Other big news came during an annual banquet at the University Club. Joseph C. Trees announced he would donate Pitt’s very own stadium, gymnasium and track located at the top of campus, behind where Pennsylvania Hall stands today.

The project was estimated to cost more than $200,000. Students, faculty, alumni and Chancellor Samuel McCormick welcomed the dedication of Trees Stadium.

“We were there to thank Joe Trees for providing his Alma Mater with one of the most complete gyms and athletic fields in the country,” the Weekly reported on Oct. 11, 1912.

During the run-up to the University’s 125th anniversary, Weekly staff members reported on the planning and organizing of a three-day celebration. From Feb. 27 to 29, 1912, festivities occurred day and night.

According to Weekly coverage, faculty and student groups worked in conjunction preparing for this event. Students performed a play, “The Vision of She Who Knows,” at the banquet along with a historical presentation of Pitt.

“Never since the founding of Pittsburgh has such a banquet been held, or such a crowd assembled at a banquet … Almost all the alumni of Old Uni Pitt were on hand, and a majority of the present student body were there,” the Weekly reported in March 1912.

The Pitt Band led 1,500 students in a torchlight procession through the mud-ridden and rainy Oakland streets to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the University. As the procession reached Grant Boulevard the line swooped around to form the letters “U. of P.”

The parade ended in a massive bonfire celebration, where “the whole body danced a weird snake dance around the fire,” one reporter wrote on Feb. 28, 1912.

Thereafter, Pitt declared its anniversary as a holiday.

Another big news event during the decade lasted longer than three days — for five weeks in October and November of 1918, students were quarantined and classes canceled because of a flu outbreak.

Headlines for those five weeks ran in big block letters along the lines of “Quarantine Still On; Classes Closed for Rest of Week.”It is unclear how the quarantine affected the Weekly’s production.

Many of the front page articles from the decade focused on the war effort. Announcements by Chancellor McCormick said “every member of the faculty and every male student should enroll himself in the University Regiment.”

The University had student representatives in the 18th Regiment, Naval Reserve and Regular Army. McCormick further encouraged female students to volunteer with the Red Cross and receive training for first aid.

The war department established a Student Army Training Corps to train men for the war while keeping them in school. The SATC program at Pitt totaled about 3,500 participants, and the newspaper reported each week on how many new members joined.

The SATC was quarantined from the rest of the student body and general public during the flu to keep trainees in able shape to fight overseas; but like the rest of the nation, the Weekly soldiered on through the scare and the Great War.

Notable headlines:

Dec 14, 1910: Basketball To Be Played Here

Oct. 11, 1911: New Department Established Only School in America to teach Siamese

Jan. 29, 1915: Honors System Agitates Local Student Body

Mar. 5, 1915: Pitt and State Clash for Sectional Title

April 25. 1917: Many Pitt Men Respond To Call

April 28, 1920: First National Jewish Women’s Fraternity formed at Pitt