Feature Story
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Though it’s commonly accepted that track began with Coach Joe Black Hayes in 1955, alumnus Winifred Lewis McFerrin telephoned with what really happened. He said that in 1948, “Coach Bubber Murphy called several of the athletes [from various sports] together and told us the athletic department had allocated a small amount of money for track and field.” Murphy asked Lomas Moffett, who was older than the others, to be in charge. McFerrin says they traveled to meets but could only compete in events for which they had a qualified participant. A newspaper clipping found in a scrapbook housed in the Alumni Office confirmed his story. McFerrin, 83 and retired, is a WWII veteran who attended on the GI Bill and was a basketball walk-on.
Researching MTSU’s rich history has made me wish that time travel were real; I long to talk with Charles Joseph Woodson, a slightly built player on the 1923 baseball team. His patched, woolen uniform is stored at Kennon Sports Hall of Fame. And when I’m at the Gore Research Center reading letters from early faculty members, I long to have a face-to-face conversation instead. But though we may not be able to travel in time, we can travel through pages of photographs and words. To that end, I invite you to join me in meeting figures from our history who helped create traditions of excellence. The Centennial Book will be available for purchase later this year. Information can be found online at www.mtsu.edu/ centennial. Editor’s Note: We thank longtime MTSU editor Suma Clark for her decades of service chronicling MTSU in various publications, including this magazine. We hope to continue her tradition of smart, informed, and interesting University publications going forward. Suma, I’ll be calling you!
The Century Marked Middle Tennessee State University was founded on Sept. 11, 1911, and is the oldest and largest university in the Tennessee Board of Regents System. During 2011–12, the University is having a yearlong observance and celebration of our founding. The celebration includes a Centennial website (www.mtsu.edu/centennial) featuring a history timeline for viewers to revisit dates throughout the decades. It also includes a Centennial Facebook page. Alumni and friends of MTSU are encouraged to visit any or all of these sites for new content, new announcements of upcoming events, and even a digital clock counting down the days, hours, and minutes to the Blue Tie Gala, which will kick off the celebration on Sept. 9, 2011. Alumni and friends are invited to post or send photographs or messages concerning their MTSU days to be included on one of the Centennial sites. During 2011, MTSU will also establish the Centennial Scholars program, which, along with the existing Buchanan Fellows and Presidential Scholar programs, will offer MTSU students three of the most competitive scholarships in the region. If you have questions about the University’s Centennial Celebration, please contact us at centennial@mtsu.edu.
Caroline (leaning forward) and President M. G. Scarlett are hosting Governo r Winfield Dunn, probably at a ba sketball game in Murphy Center , which opened in 1972.
Keep up with MTSU’s centennial at www.mtsu.edu/centennial • centennial@mtsu.edu Photos and other items courtesy of the Albert Gore Research Center. Normalite cover courtesy of Walker Library Special Collections. Spring 2011 | 15 |