1929

1929 in Clemson History

Events that occurred in 1929:

• January 5: President of the Board of Trustees Alan Johnstone dies. The Board of Trustees and President Enoch Walter Sikes serve as his honorary pallbearers. On this occasion, his widow noted to President Sikes, "He went to heaven but he went by Clemson College on his way."
• January 25: The U.S. Army Air Corps Fokker C-2A transport, 28-120, "Question Mark", which established an endurance record in California of over a hundred non-stop hours airborne, passes over the Clemson campus at ~2:30 p.m., headed east.
• May 6: Clemson Head Coach Josh Cody is presented with a new Buick automobile, a gift of alumni, faculty, students, and friends of the college. A special collection was taken up and the ceremony takes place in front of the Main Building in the afternoon.
• July 10: The lists of appointments of all Captains and Lieutenants is read at a banquet held at the Alabama Hotel in Anniston, Alabama, attended by all Clemson men in training at Fort McClellan. (Reference: "Officers For This Year Announced", The Tiger, Wednesday, 18 September 1929, Volume XXV, Number 1, page 1.)
• Summer: Wooden gangplanks from sidewalks into barracks are replaced by reinforced concrete slabs. The dining hall walls in First Barracks are tiled with a mottled green tile to a height of five feet. "In contrast with the white walls and red floor, it creates a most pleasing effect," notes The Tiger on Wednesday, September 18 (page 1). Third Barracks is reconditioned with walls freshly calcimined, woodwork painted, and new flooring laid in each room. In the Chemistry Building, several basement storerooms are ceiled, wired, and generally remodelled to make more classroom space. Much work is performed around the Calhoun Mansion, walks and roads built, and the old wellhouse remodelled "in an effort to reestablish the place in the same style as of yore." In the embankment just east of the powerhouse, a 12 X 12 concrete room has been built in which will be the terminus of all the pipe lines distributing steam to the various college buildings. (Reference: "Many Improvements Made During Summer", The Tiger, Wednesday, 18 September 1929, Volume XXV, Number 1, page 1.)
• September: Over 1,200 cadets report for the fall semester. (Reference: "Clemson Opens With Large Enrollment; Over 1200 Students Have Reported", The Tiger, Wednesday, 18 September 1929, Volume XXV, Number 1, page 1.)
• September 19: Paved highway between Greenville and Clemson opens for the first time, according to a letter from state highway department officials to the director of athletics, James G. Gee, reported in The Tiger. "At that time, a continuous ribbon of pavement and surface treated road will stretch from Clemson to Washington. For the benefit of football followers down state Highway No. 24 provides a route from Columbia which is paved throughout except for a short stretch between Honea Path and Greenwood." (Reference: "Greenville Road To Be Opened For Game", The Tiger, Wednesday, 18 September 1929, Volume XXV, Number 1, page 1.)
• September 21: The Tigers crush Newberry College, 66-0, in home opener.
• September 28: In a game played in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Tigers defeat Davidson, 32-14.
• October 5: The Tigers beat the Tigers as Clemson downs Auburn, 26-7, on Riggs Field.
• October 11: In a game played in Charlotte, North Carolina, Clemson blanks N.C. State, 26-0.
• October 18: Clemson travels to Wofford, shutting them out, 30-0.
• October 24: Clemson defeats South Carolina, 21-14, during "Big Thursday" game in Columbia. On Wall Street, this is known as "Black Thursday".
• October 24-October 29: The Great Stock Market Crash leads the United States and the world into the decade-long Great Depression. The Greenville News calls it "the most terrifying stampede of selling ever experienced on the New York Stock Exchange and other leading securities markets." (Huff, Jr., Archie Vernon, "Greenville: The History of the City and County in the South Carolina Piedmont", University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, South Carolina, 1995, Library of Congress card number 95-4363, ISBN 1-57003-045-6, page 334.)
• November 2: The Tigers are thumped on roadtrip to Kentucky, 6-44.
• November 9: Clemson is defeated by Virginia Military Institute, 0-12, in Norfolk, Virginia.
• November 16: The Tigers travel to Florida, rack up 7-13 loss.
• November 18: Former head football coach E. J. Stewart is shot and killed by a deer-hunting companion.
• November 23: Clemson hosts the Citadel, wins, 13-0.
• November 28: The Tigers wrap up 8-3 season with a 7-6 win over Furman on Riggs Field. Augustus "Shorty" Schilletter, 64, suffers heart attack during the second quarter, while sitting on the bench with the Clemson players, just prior to the play that led to the Clemson touchdown. Schilletter, who served as mess steward at Clemson from 1893 to 1919, had suffered from heart disease for several years. (The Tiger, "Augustus Schilletter Dies At Game", Wednesday, 4 December 1929, Volume XXV, Number 12, page 1.)

1928

The 1920's

1930