1896

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1896 in Clemson History

[edit] The Class of 1896

This was the first graduating class at Clemson University.

[edit] Notable Alumni

Isaac Leonard Keller, founder of "Judge" Keller's Store - left school after two years to pursue tailoring.
Rudolph E. Lee, former faculty member, established the School of Architecture, and served as a Dean. Lee Hall is named for him.

[edit] Events in 1896

April 24: Coach Randolph R.T.V. Bowman becomes the first coach to lead an intercollegiate game played on campus when he directs the Tigers in a baseball match with Furman - the beginning of Clemson athletics! Unfortunately, the Tigers lose, 13-20.
August 10: Forty-five students are injured when a gangway collapses. Two hundred cadets had crowded onto the gangway while trying to get out of the rain.
September 30: A gathering of thirty cadets in one of the barracks discusses organizing a football association and how to acquire a coach. The Clemson College Football Association is founded with the following officers: President Frank Thompkins, Secretary and Treasurer Charlie Gentry, Manager T.R. Vogel, and Temporary Captain R.G. Hamilton. A committee of three is appointed to consult with Professor Walter Merritt Riggs as to the management of a football team and to ask his assistance as coach. Twenty of the original thirty will form the first Clemson gridiron squad.
October 5: The Clemson football team practices for the first time, using a 50 yard by 200 yard field believed to have been between Tillman Hall and the Trustee House.
October 31: Clemson plays its first football game. In a match against Furman in Greenville, the Tigers win, 14-6. It is likely that the team rode Southern Railway passenger service to and from the game.
November 12: First meeting between Clemson and the South Carolina College in a football game, played on Thursday at the State Fair in Columbia. USC wins 12-6. Beginning of "Big Thursday". Rain falls on the match.
November 21: The Tigers defeat Wofford in an away game, 16-0, to conclude inaugural season with a 2-1 record.
December 13: Dr. W.E. Boggs, chancellor of the University of Georgia, preaches commencement sermon.
December 16: First Clemson students graduate, fifteen in agriculture and twenty two in mechanics.