1900 — The legendary “Grand Old Man of Hillsdale,” benefactor, professor, and theologian Ransom Dunn is laid to rest before the community, in a symbolic conclusion of the 19th century for Hillsdale College.
1914 — The night before a rival football game, a “procession” of Hillsdale students marches downtown and burns a contrived Albion College mascot in effigy, following a “funeral oration” believed to be “rivaled only by that of Marc Antony.”
1924 — …And a 21-0 victory over Albion, in continuation of a football rivalry reportedly bigger than Harvard-Yale, results in cancelled classes at Hillsdale College, as students, faculty, and townsfolk congregate at the courthouse with celebration and improvised victory speeches.
A student remarked, “It isn’t just an old football game, it’s our individual hopes and the group fighting spirit that make it something worthwhile.” And furthermore…
1944 — …Despite a short-stocked football team due to World War II, a group of Hillsdale men visit the Albion College campus late at night to personally challenge their rivals to an otherwise-cancelled season game. Albion declines.
1977 — Ronald Reagan speaks at Hillsdale College for the Ludwig von Mises Lecture Series.
-Compiled by Dane Skorup
