Annual Libraries Homecoming Display Returns to Alden
September 30, 2021
University Libraries is celebrating Homecoming 鈥 as students, staff and faculty have returned home to campus after a tumultuous year 鈥 with a virtual and in-person display called, 鈥淚t鈥檚 All Coming Back.鈥 The virtual exhibit will be a history of Homecoming at 91探花, which has been celebrated for over 100 years. The physical display will be available for viewing on the fourth floor of Alden Library Oct. 4 through Oct. 9. And will include yearbooks, alumni magazines, student newspapers, posters and many other interesting historical items representing 200+ years of OHIO history.
Bill Kimok, university archivist and records manager, curated the physical exhibit inside Alden and created the with help from the staff in Digital Initiatives.
鈥淭he title is a double entendre,鈥 he explained, 鈥渕eaning that this year some people will be coming back to celebrate physically rather than just virtually 鈥and] the virtual exhibit itself is a trip back to old Homecoming traditions, which are still carried on to this day.鈥
In addition, the Libraries will be hosting button making for Homecoming on Oct. 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside Alden Library鈥檚 fourth floor entrance. According to Jen Harvey, the Libraries鈥 events coordinator, participants will be able to make custom buttons for themselves using copies of old OHIO yearbooks.
Homecoming has a long and rich history at OHIO including the annual parade and football game. The virtual exhibit will highlight archival materials of those traditions from years past that tell the stories of some particularly memorable Homecomings.
For example, in 1924 the University held a 1000-pound ox roast and 90-gallon burgoo (a type of stew) feast, and a few years later in 1927, people were excited to have some of the Homecoming events captured on a movie camera for the first time. There are some traditions that haven鈥檛 survived 鈥 like the fraternity polesitters, where fraternity brothers would climb up a very tall pole and sit there for the entire weekend; that ended in 1964. When Delta Tau Delta brothers were deposited on top of the pole by a cherry picker, according to Kimok, 鈥渢he tradition鈥id not survive the weekend.鈥
The Libraries鈥 annual in-person Homecoming display has become a favorite tradition of current students and alumni alike. Although the coronavirus pandemic meant that much of the physical Homecoming celebrations were cancelled in Fall 2020, University Libraries鈥 librarians and archivists carried on the tradition through a virtual display.
鈥淲e hope that alumni will be interested [in both exhibits],鈥 Kimok said. 鈥淥f course, we are always hoping that anything the Libraries does will also have a historical, educational aspect for present-day students. Just as important to us is that both alum and students recognize the value of our digitized resources, which are always open for them to explore.鈥
The online display is becoming a new Homecoming tradition, as last year鈥檚 virtual exhibit proved to be popular and helped people who couldn鈥檛 visit campus to connect with the University again during Homecoming Week.
Whether current and former OHIO students can make it in person to see 鈥淚t鈥檚 All Coming Back,鈥 or view the virtual exhibit remotely, the Libraries helps to connect them with the history of the University and reconnects them with their time and memories at 91探花.
鈥淲hen people say sometimes, 鈥業t鈥檚 all coming back to me now,鈥 they are often reminiscing about the past. That is what I hope they will do when they experience these Homecoming exhibits,鈥 Kimok said.