I went back today for a closer look at the other pictures of the academic procession. We have only three photos from this event, which is kind of tragic as you’ll soon see.
It’s clear that the procession began by Gate 3, by the dormitories, and headed north. Keep in mind that these pictures are a bit deceptive–the distances here are smaller than they appear from this angle. This was not a particularly long walk.
Click to enlarge, then click again to zoom in. These are pretty high resolution scans.
What you see in this picture is the beginning of the turn to the east–the band is out in front. But look to the right of the band–see that guy standing by himself with the camera?? We have zero photos from that angle. If you have them or know who does, please call me immediately. I guarantee I will take your call! (Actually, in all honesty, if you want to reach me email is pretty much the only way to do it.)
And then look at the guy in the car just in front of the band. He has a movie camera! Where did that come from?!
The other photo is a bit of an anti-climax after all that excitement. Still, it’s not totally without merit. Click on it to enlarge, zoom in, then see how many methods of transportation you can find. Very entertaining! (I get four. Five, I guess, if you count walking.) They’re just walking east, along today’s loop.
In conclusion, I’m more certain now that I was correct last night. The gate visible in yesterday’s picture must be Gate 2. Just to be sure, I scanned a photo of the main gate taken on the same day. That’s definitely not the same gate. I do wonder who that fellow is.
In regard to the lamp post, I think the way to figure out which one it is, is to check out the manhole cover that guy is standing on. This gives me an excuse to revisit my favorite topic–drainage. (Also, I will tell you who that guy was.)
Melissa, what are the barrels out along Main Street? In a long line in the 2d picture. They weren’t rolls of hay. Not in that day.
They’re pieces of pipe–drainage related! They cleaned everything up pretty well for the ceremonies, but there was still a lot of work to be done.
Also, it looks like you can see the Main Street Trolley from an earlier post (in the second picture, by the gate)
Yessir, although technically it’s on Fannin.
Were these lamps gas or electric when they were installed. I know coal gas was pretty big in many cities.
They were gas–converted to electric at some unknown point.
Regarding the movie camera, I’m convinced that out there somewhere is a treasure trove of old newsreel footage, home movies, etc., of life on campus. Have you come across anything during your research? It seems like Woodson would be the logical place, although I’m afraid that most home movies probably wound up deteriorating in someone’s attic.
There’s no such treasure trove in the Woodson, although we do have a few scraps. I’ve been all over this campus–under stairwells, in basements and attics and all kinds of weird, bootlegged storage areas–and the only film I’ve ever found was of old football games (roughly 1938-68). Still, people bring things to us in the Woodson on a very regular basis and you never know what might show up.
Film from 1912 would have been on nitrate stock and would have required phenomenally careful storage to have survived this long.
Do you have any plans for those football films? I think certain seasons and particular games would be very interesting.
Yes, there’s a band.
But *what* band is it?
Had the Rice Band been formed by this time?
No, there wasn’t a Rice band yet. It was the City Band–whatever that means.
I do have a picture of the earliest Rice band, when it was just a few guys with no uniforms who played at football games. I can’t say exactly what year it was, but it was very early. I’ll try to remember to post it next week.
Transportation:
1 walking
2 being carried
3 bycycle
4 motorcar
5 horse-drawn wagon
6 the work vehicle with the roller in front (and maybe behind)
That’s great–I hadn’t thought of being carried. But you still missed one. There’s a trolley car too, over on Fannin street. You can see it almost right between the pillars of gate 3.
I see it … I see it.
Any details on the trolley, like power source, rails or wheels, number of tracks, etc.?
Or a URL source?