The Battalion: lOife
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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.
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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
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