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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 1993)
The Battalion: lOife . i i I l The Battalion staff as pictured in the 1914 Longhorn. The Battal ion first appeared in October of 1 893 and is celebrating its 1 00th anniversary this week. The Battalion has appeared as a monthly magazine, a weekly paper and a daily paper SOUTHERN CHAMPIONS This headline ran across the top of The Battalion on Jan.13th, 1922, proclaiming A&M's victory over Centre College in the Dixie Classic. It was in this game that E. King Gill was called from the stands to suit up as a substitute player and the tradition of the 12th Man was born. The Battalion said of the game, "The amazing upset of gridiron history has undoubtedly placed the merits of Aggieland foot ball on a par with the best the country has to offer." This drawing appeared in the section of the 1927 Longhorn featuring student publications. Note that 'Battalion' is misspelled. I i t E 'Enough of blood and tears' Iraq unleashes missile attacks Since becoming a member of The Associated Press in 1947, The Battalion has had the opportunity to keep students up-to-date on events across the state, nation and around the world. Recently, The Battalion has covered the war in the Persian Gulf and the historic Israel-PLO peace treaty. A Battalion staff writer experiences computer difficulties while writing a story in 1986. The Battalion has gone through many changes in both technology and location since it began in 1893. The Batt currently is using a Macintosh system and is located in the basement of the Reed McDonald building. Aggies Cotton bound The Aggies were Cotton bound after they beat Texas on Thanksgiving Day in 1985. A&M whooped the Longhorns, 42-10 to make their first trip to the Cotton Bowl since 1968. Coinciden tally, the Aggies scored their 42 points on head coach Jackie Sherrill's 42nd birthday. In the fall of 1976, con troversy broke out with in The Battalion. The selection of an editor in chief from outside The Batt caused dissension and rebellion among the staff. Editors and staff members quit or were fired with such frequen cy that people joked about installing a re volving door in The Bat talion's office. By Mary Kujawa The Ba tialion I n October 1893, a group of A&M cadets picked up their pens and pro duced the first edition of a 100-year legacy on the A&M College campus. Tne Battalion, Volume 1, Number 1, debuted that Oct. 1 as a student publica tion produced by the Austin and Callio- pean Literary Societies, the two most im portant organizations on the campus at the time. E.L. Bruce, the first editor, called upon his fellow cadets to write something for every issue. His opening statement read: “With this issue, THE BATTALION makes its politest bow to the public and asks its esteemed patronage. As our valued predecessor, The Journal, has enlisted among the ranks of the defunct, we deem it our duty to see that the cadets will yet have a paper to be proud of.” The Battalion descended from two suc cessive literary magazines published by the literary societies. In 1878, two years after the College was established, the literary societies began a monthly publication called The Texas Collegian. Its name was changed to The College Journal in 1889. The College Journal was a literary mag azine containing small excerpts of student news and views, according to “A Centen nial History Of Texas A&M University 1876-1976’ by Henry Dethloff. The Col lege Journal was published until 1893. When The Battalion replaced The Col lege Journal, it used more of a newspaper format but held onto its literary roots for many years. The Battalion was published monthly until 1904 when it became a weekly publication. It first appeared in newspaper form on Oct. 8, 1904. Another change was made in 1904 when the Austin and Calliopean Literary Societies turned the paper over to the Association of Students. After this, The Battalion lost much of its literary magazine character. Those first Battalions also filled other roles besides that of a newspaper. Former students used part of The Battalion to keep old graduates in touch with each oth er. Students received June commence- nien' issues n rralion that con tained pictures .iiui articles normally found in a college yearbook. Trouble begins to brew As The Battalion gained influence as a weekly newspaper, trouble began to brew on the A&M campus in 1908; students were becoming discontent with A&M President Henry Hill Harrington. In the April 22 issue of The Battalion, an article appeared that disputed a statement made by President Harrington that recent turmoil on the campus had been forgotten and things were returning to normal. On May 20, 1908, the Board of Direc tors issued instructions to the president to maintain order on the campus. They said recent articles that had appeared in The Bat talion were disrupting to the campus and the responsible parties should be punished. As a result, seven junior class Battalion editors were suspended from the College and the head of the English department was ordered to censor future Battalions in accordance wi dom enfoMfilv one of my incidei knowr of 1908 By 1910,T|1 acquired its nickname' “t” at the time, The Battalit effect but came selrotule society reports not known w of professors College Static; By 1916, ij/irmly es tablished itseli d boasted women as 1910. It is daughters Bryan or ‘the largest South,” accorc lion: Sev- ons at the Lindley. clients con- In 1928, dsion of a :e, which enty Years of: A&M College As the tinned to pub! the paper was Student Acti functioned asi The Facult iommittee formed on in the the func- E.L. Bruce — The Bats firs By Mary Kujawa The Ba teauok E.L. Bruce left his mark on Texas A&M’s history by serving as the first edi tor of The Battalion in 1893. The first edition of The Battalion was published on Oct. 1, 1893 by the Austin and Calliopean Literary Societies. The lit erary societies were debate and discussion societies and were the most influential or- j ganizations on the campus at the time. Bruce was chosen by rhe two societies | to serve as editor in chief of The Battal- ; ion for the first semester of the 1893-94 ; school year. Bruce’s granddaughter, Virginia Bruce | Provost, said she had heard that her j grandfather named The Battalion. Li is opening remarks in the first edition | called upon the cadets at A&M to lend all of their assistance to rhe newspaper. “There is much talent in the Corps that | first and si „ .A paper should be to a: bate the literary tastesc our initial dun si asm in thisfoi With thi: could have a the best literal in the Union how far his would go. After servin ed from A&.V! bachelor’s deflf tring. He enrolled at tne has Law School in Austin After worfa cashier in tonsider ir ate enthu- id A&M damong ty college idea just htulion eraduat- Hwirh a the bank in Mi Uc ticed law in b Mineola from 1899 to if Bruce move i 1902 to begin! prac- Texas in He joined Saigon surrenders Minh figl