1997

From ClemsonWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

1997 in Clemson History

Events in 1997

  • "FEW WOULD LISTEN: A Clemson Professor's Memoir of Dissent" by Ernest McPherson Lander, Jr., a retired Alumni Professor of History, is published in softback by Clemson Printers, Clemson, S.C., 1997, with no apparent ISBN number.
  • The grave of Willie Earle at the Abel Baptist Church, believed to be the last African-American lynched in the State of South Carolina, finally receives a marker, donated by a University of Denver religious studies professor, Will Gravely. "Eloise Earle (a relative - Ed.) said Gravely, a Pickens native, had recalled the case from his youth and never got over it. She showed the professor where the spot was, near a large oak tree and among other graves from the 1940s." (Jackson, Vince, "Clemson family remembers state's last lynching victim", Independent-Mail, Anderson, South Carolina, Thursday 17 February 2011.) Accused of stabbing a taxi driver, Earle was taken from the Pickens Gaol on February 17, 1947, by a mob of 31 cabdrivers and slain.
  • The Riviera restaurant opens.
  • February: In an unsolved murder case, freshman Stacy Brooke Holsonback is found in a Lake Hartwell cove in February 1997.
  • July 11: Clemson officials announce that women's rowing will be added as a varsity sport. Although new to Clemson, rowing was the first intercollegiate sport in the United States with the first regatta occurring between Harvard and Yale in 1852. ("Clemson: Where The Tigers Play", by Sam Blackman, Bob Bradley and Chuck Kriese, Sports Publishing, L.L.C., 2001, page 150).
  • August 31: Lady Diana Spencer is killed in a vehicle accident in Paris, France.
  • September 6: Clemson opens at home against Appalachian State, winning 23-12.
  • September 13: Clemson defeats North Carolina State, 19-17, in Raleigh.
  • September 20: The Tigers lose to Florida State in Death Valley, 28-35. Greenville Memorial Auditorium is razed.
  • September 27: Clemson loses night game to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, 20-23.
  • September 29: The outmoded Greenville Memorial Auditorium is imploded with 165 pounds of explosives.
  • October 4: Nealon Greene tied a Clemson record for touchdown passes with four, in a 39-7 rout of the University of Texas - El Paso. He completed three of the scoring passes to Tony Horne, and that also tied a Clemson single-game record. ("Clemson: Where The Tigers Play", by Sam Blackman, Bob Bradley and Chuck Kriese, Sports Publishing, L.L.C., 2001, page 105).
  • October 11: Clemson loses to Virginia, 7-21, in night game in Death Valley.
  • October 25: The Tigers defeat the Maryland Terrapins, 20-9, in College Park.
  • November 1: Clemson defeats Wake Forest, 33-16, in Winston-Salem. Calhoun Corners restaurant is gutted by fire overnight.
  • November 8: The Tigers defeat the Duke Blue Devils, 29-20, in overtime, played in Memorial Stadium.
  • November 15: Clemson loses in Death Valley to North Carolina, 10-17.
  • November 22: The Tigers prevail in Columbia, beating Gamecocks, 47-21, in a night game.
  • December 22: The Lady Tigers Basketball team defeats Temple, 65-39, in the first round of the championship match of the Sun Splash Shootout in Nassau, Bahamas - the first time the womens' team has played outside the United States.
  • December 23: The Lady Tigers win championship game in the Sun Splash Shootout played in Nassau, Bahamas, defeating Idaho State, 58-50.


1996 The 1990's 1998