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====== Centennial Celebration ======
Trinity College celebrated its 100th year of existence in May 1923 with a variety of events and activities which took place over the course of several days. Students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, friends of Trinity, and residents of the greater [[Hartford|Hartford]] area participated in marking this momentous occasion, which began with an audacious [[centennial_fund|fundraising effort]] in 1921.

The first events of the [[commencement|Commencement]] and Centennial Celebration were the [[class_day|Class Day]] exercises, held the afternoon of Friday, June 8. The speaker was chairman of the Centennial Drive Committee, Robert C. Buell, who was made an honorary member of the Class of 1923 that day. The history of the 1923 class was read aloud, favorite professors were elected, football was voted to be the best activity on campus, and the greatest worries outside of studies in college were voted to be “women, dates, the price of liquor and money.” Awards were given out to exemplary athletes in all [[athletics|sports]] represented by the class. There was also the revival of the [[lemon_squeezer|lemon squeezer]], presented to the freshman class of 1926 as a surprise event on behalf of the [[medusa|Medusa Society]].

Saturday, June 9 was “Alumni Day,” starting with prayer in the [[chapel|Chapel]], after which [[fraternities|fraternity]] meetings took place around campus. In the afternoon, informal sports games were put on to entertain the alumni, and a luncheon took place in the [[old_gymnasium|gymnasium]]. The Trinity Centennial Midway, a raucous variety show put on by the undergraduates, drew a large crowd and loud laughter; included in the “congress of monstrosities” were several sideshow attractions, including a cherry-colored cat, Russian army impersonators, a lion named Bazuka who devoured hot dogs, a headless man, hula dancers, a recreation of King Tut’s tomb, and wild west and marionette shows. The event is cited in //[[tripod|The Trinity Tripod]]// Class Day issue as being “the most realistic mob scene that had ever been focused on a moving picture reel.” 

[{{ ::centennial-foot_guard.jpg?400|The Governor's Foot Guard outside the Capitol, 1923. Photo credit: [[https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.34652592|Trinity College Archives]]}}]

Alumni Day concluded with a Centennial Dinner for alumni, faculty, and undergraduates at the Hartford Club on 44 Prospect Street. The dinner was the largest Trinity gathering on record at the time, with 600 attendees. World War I veteran General James Harbord spoke, echoing a sentiment that had been passed around countless times in the previous two years leading up to the centennial, that “Such things as the traditions of Old Trinity give one much encouragement for the future.” President [[ogilby_remsen_brinckerhoff|Remsen Ogilby]] also spoke at the banquet, praising Trinity for its commitment to “cultural not vocational” education and declaring that “Our centennial will serve to strengthen our faith that Trinity will continue to serve our country through service to the Almighty One whose sacred name she bears.”

Sunday, June 10 was billed “Commemoration Day,” beginning with Holy Communion in the Chapel. Afterwards, an Open Air Memorial Service was held on campus. Among the military and veteran groups present were two ceremonial honor guards, the Governor’s Foot Guard and the Putnam Phalanx, as well as veteran groups from the American [[civil_war|Civil War]], the Spanish-American War, and World War I.

The undergraduates performed the Presentation of Colors in memory of Trinity men who died in service during the century’s wars. Later in the afternoon, a memorial clock was presented to the College [[library|Library]] by the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity in honor of the Reverend Paul Ziegler, a graduate of the Class of 1872 and the founder of the fraternity at Trinity. A portrait of the Reverend Dr. John James McCook painted by James Goodwin McManus was also presented to the College that afternoon.

Following this gifting ceremony was a meeting of the [[alumni_association|Alumni Association]], during which an announcement was made that $65,000 was still needed to fulfill the centennial fund, prompting an enthusiastic flurry of donations from alumni. In total, about $34,000 was raised that afternoon. Evening prayer was held in Christ Church Cathedral with a baccalaureate sermon by the Reverend Karl Reiland of New York. His lecture urged the importance of retaining religious belief in the face of accelerating industrial and scientific advancement and emphasized the importance of a new Christian tradition that embraced the future of scientific discovery.

The celebration culminated on Monday, June 11 with “Centennial and Commencement Day.” The Centennial Fund Campaign which had begun two years prior was brought to a close by a $5,000 donation by J.P. Morgan, given the morning of the commencement ceremony. This final donation brought the sum of funds raised to the $1,000,000 quota. 

After morning prayer in the Chapel, the commencement took place, with addresses from President James Rowland Angell of Yale University, Professor of English literature Charles H. Herford of Manchester University, England, and Dr. Lawson Purdy of the Trinity Class of 1884. Dr. Purdy’s address encouraged the vigorous study of Classics, echoing other Centennial speakers’ interest in safeguarding against the increasing popularity of a “specialized” genre of higher education directed solely at producing careermen, without the time-honored consideration of a cultural education: “The classics are not studied for what they may bring in the market, but they are studied that the field of the mind may be ploughed and tilled so that it may bring forth a goodly crop when planted,” Dr. Purdy asserted in his address. 

[{{::centennial-capitol_plaque.jpg?400 |Unveiling of the Trinity plaque at the State Capitol, 1923. Photo credit: [[https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.34652590|Trinity College Archives]]}}] 

There were also 10 [[honorary_degrees|honorary degrees]] awarded at the Centennial Commencement, which included two Masters of Arts, three Doctors of Science, two Doctors of Law, and three Doctors of Divinity.

Following the commencement ceremony, a parade of alumni, undergraduates, and guests led by President Ogilby marched down Washington Street from the College to the State Capitol, where a tablet was dedicated to commemorate the founding of Trinity in 1823 on the [[old_campus|site]] where the first of its buildings stood. The tablet was unveiled by Charles Aldrich, Jr., the great-great grandson of [[brownell_thomas_church|Bishop Thomas Church Brownell]], the first [[presidents|president]] of Trinity College. The tablet was designed by Howard Jones of Boston and features a base relief of the original three buildings of the College and an inscription of the names of Trinity’s founders. The plaque still remains fixed on the wall of the East Porch of the Capitol building.

That night, about 350 couples attended the Senior Promenade, an all-night dance held in [[alumni_hall|Alumni Hall]] with music provided by Yaffe’s Orchestra of Hartford. The dance lasted from 8:30 p.m. until 5:00 a.m. the following morning, bringing a truly raucous end to the Centennial festivities. 
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===== Sources =====

[[http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/tripod/2220|Trinity Tripod]], 06-11-1923.  

[[http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/tripod/2219|Trinity Tripod]], 06-10-1923. 

[[http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/tripod/2218|Trinity Tripod “Class Day Number”]], 06-09-1923. 

[[http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/bulletin/131|Trinity College Bulletin 1922-1923 (Centennial Number: Geology of Trinity Campus)]], 1923. 

[[http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/tripod/2224|Trinity Tripod]], 03-28-1923.    



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