1908

1908 in Clemson History

Notable Alumni

• Dr. Rupert Howard Fike - IPTAY member number 1.
• J. C. Littlejohn

Events that occurred in 1908:

• Baseball great Ty Cobb negotiates with Walter Merritt Riggs about becoming a coach at Clemson. According to Wright Bryan's "Clemson: An Informal History of the University 1889-1979" (page 214), a search of Athletic Department files revealed four letters from Cobb to Riggs, the last of which indicated "that Cobb, the 'Georgia Peach,' would coach the Tigers (Clemson, not Detroit) for $250 a month, provided he did not sign with Detroit that season. However, he did sign with Detroit and went on to a .324 batting average and 108 runs batted in during his third season there."
• Construction begins on the Central High School, Central, South Carolina. Builder is J. H. Hall, foreman is D. E. Lawrence.
• Seneca City drops the city portion of its name.
• January 15: Alpha Phi Alpha sorority founded at Howard University.
• April 1: In a poorly thought out April Fool's Day prank, 306 cadets form the second "Pendleton Guards" and march off to Pendleton, where they dismount a cannon from the town square, and return with it to campus. President Patrick Hues Mell expells the entire group, gutting the football team, as several members had participated in the ill-advised roadtrip. This is a repeat of a similar stunt pulled in 1907, and which the cadet corps has been warned not to do again. Many are re-admitted the following year, however. See also: The Charge of the Pendleton Guards.
• Fall: Vanderbilt graduate (Class of 1908) John Stone tries to coach gutted football team, but achieves worst overall record in Clemson football history with 1-6 season and a .143 winning percentage.
• September 26: The Tigers defeat Gordon Institute from Barnesville, Georgia, on Bowman Field, 15-0, for the only win of the season. Series record stands at 2-0 in favor of Clemson.
• October 10: Virginia Tech defeats the Tigers at home, 0-6, putting overall series record at 1-2-1 in Tech's favor.
• October 17: Vanderbilt spanks the Tigers, 0-41, in a road game. Vandy leads series 0-2.
• October 28: Davidson beats Clemson, 0-13, in game played at the State Fair in Columbia, although the Tigers still lead the series, 3-2-1.
• November 5: Georgia administers 0-8 shut-out to Clemson in match played in Augusta, Georgia. The Tigers lead the series, 7-5.
• November 14: Tennessee edges the Tigers, 5-6, in a game played in Knoxville. Clemson still leads the series, 3-2-2.
• November 26: In final game of worst-ever Tiger football season in history, Georgia Tech puts hurt on Clemson, 6-30, in Atlanta. Tigers lead series 6-2-1, but suffer a 1-6 season outcome.

1907

The 1900's

1909