With homecoming season rolling past us, have you ever wondered, “Where did Homecoming originate from?” and “When did we start this annual tradition?”
When we imagine Homecoming, we often picture a week full of preparation, leading up to the Friday football game and Saturday dance. To prepare, students will dress up for creative themes, design colorful homecoming proposal posters, and vote for royalty elections. For the game and dance, peers will dress head to toe in school colors while cheering on their high school’s football team, jump into mosh pits centered around the DJ on the gymnasium floor, and watch the elected candidates for homecoming royalty walk across the stage. However, the original version of Homecoming did not include as many of these current activities.
Homecoming was initially created for colleges to bring back alumni to watch their school’s football game and show school pride. Although it is unknown which school began this annual tradition, the University of Missouri, Baylor University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign all claim to have started this tradition in the years 1911, 1909, and 1910, respectively. (Twersky & Campano, 2023)
Around this time, the University of Illinois had a losing streak against the Chicago Maroons. Combating their losses, they gathered as many of their students and alumni as possible to cheer them on, breaking their losing streak with a winning game of 3-0.(HOFP, 2021) Since then, colleges have encouraged their students and alumni to watch their homecoming football games and celebrate their school pride.
The idea of a Homecoming dance was created later, originating from the University of Wyoming Alumni Association. Starting in 1895, The University of Wyoming often hosted its annual gatherings in June, celebrating the end of the school year. In 1922, the president of the Alumni Association was a huge football fan and found more benefit in starting the dance in October around the first football game.(American Heritage Center, 2021) Combining the two increased participation in the games and the dance, encouraging school spirit. Since then, countless schools across the country have adopted the idea of hosting parties around the first football game, kicking off the school year.
The largest adopters of this concept are currently high schools, hosting homecoming football games on their fields and dances in their school’s gymnasium or lobby. Unlike current colleges, high schools have a great population size for hosting homecoming parties, increasing the popularity of the event. Many people are encouraged to bring friends or partners to the dance, providing a space to have fun and celebrate before the school year becomes more rigorous.
As you continue to celebrate Homecoming, remember the century-long history of this annual tradition. Make sure to celebrate your school spirit, cheering on the hard-working football players representing our school, while partaking in the new creative themes our student council provides. Homecoming is a way to celebrate our school pride and the beginning of a great school year.
