Part 1: The Origins of the Greatest Homecoming on Earth

The Greatest Homecoming on Earth is a spectacle that fills Aggieland, East Greensboro and the entire city every year. Thousands of Aggies return every fall for the biggest event on North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s calendar – and have for a century. The history of how homecoming started has a lot of mystery that is becoming clearer with more research from the University Archives. 

Before homecoming, the A. and M. College Alumni Association hosted alumni gatherings or “home comings” during commencement. “Home Coming” was also used to describe events to welcome soldiers home after World War I. However, these were not “homecomings” as we know them today.

A traditional college or university homecoming as a gathering of alumni and community of a college or university surrounding a football game, band performances, a parade and other events for alumni developed between 1891 and 1911. Several colleges have claimed to have begun the custom. 

The first historically Black colleges or universities (HBCUs) known to have celebrated homecoming were Morehouse College and Howard University, both in 1924. While researching this article, the author learned about a Virginia Union University homecoming game in 1924. Homecoming at North Carolina A&T followed soon after and the university traces its homecoming tradition to 1926.

One hundred years ago, the Aggie Bulldogs faced off against the Hampton “Seasiders” on Saturday, Nov. 18, 1926. Hampton won, but there were better homecoming games to come.

How the very first homecoming was planned at A&T or what took place is missing from our institutional records. Could it have been inspired by conversations with peers at Howard, Morehouse and Virginia Union? Dean F.D. Bluford, who became A&T’s president in 1925, was an alumnus of Virginia Union. Could some of the newest faculty from 1924 to 1926 have brought these experiences with them to A&T from a predominately white institution with a homecoming celebration?

We do know that the earliest homecomings coincided with a renewed stronger image for our football team as the “Aggie Bulldogs.” For decades, it was believed that A&T earned that name following an incident with a loose bulldog at the Oct. 30, 1926, game against Virginia Union University. While that incident enhanced our image as the Bulldogs, University Archives is now aware that the Bulldog name was planned from the beginning of the 1926 season. In fact, the football team carried a real bulldog with them to the Johnson C. Smith University game in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Oct. 2, 1926. 

In 2026, we are also in the midst of celebrating 100 years as the Aggie bulldogs. It is unknown for now who came up with the new mascot. One suspect is 1909 alumnus William Houston Markham, the graduate business manager of the athletics association and the person most prominently featured in news releases about the new “bulldog” image. 

Coach Lonnie P. Byarm, a 1911 alumnus, was A&T’s first outstanding football coach. He attended football camps during the summer months under Knute Rocke, “Pop” Warner and others at many of the nation’s best football colleges. The result of those trainings and Byarm’s leadership made A&T a formidable football team for the very first time. The “Byarm Boys” or the “Byarm Machine” wiped out several opponents who scored zero points in matchups with A&T. From Byarm’s travels at these colleges, it is possible he brought the homecoming tradition with him to A&T.

Up until 1927, all home games were played a handful of venues. A&T’s own land was Dudley Field, named for President James B. Dudley and located where the Holland Bowl and Williams Cafeteria are today. The 1926 homecoming game against Hampton took at place the former Cone Athletics Grounds off Summit Avenue. Demolished in the early 1950s, Cone was located close to today’s Summit and Wendover avenues intersection. Massive games took place at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds. We demolished Livingstone College 32-0 at those fairgrounds Oct. 14, 1926.

The Sept. 30, 1927, homecoming game in World War Memorial Stadium was not only A&T’s first game at the site, but also the very first sporting event where people of color were allowed access. The “Powerful A&T Machine” defeated the Lincoln Lions 20-0 as part of our first CIAA Championship season. World War Memorial Stadium would remain the home of Aggie football until the university completed Truist Stadium (formerly known as Aggie Stadium) in 1981.

Homecoming has always included entertainment and social activities for alumni and the community. Ads for the 1927 big day promised entertainment by the Twin City Brass Band. Based out of Winston-Salem, the band was directed by D.W. Andrews and performed at many sporting and community events throughout the state. They also performed for several of our home games. A local brass band was just the beginning of a century of guests that included Lionel Hampton, Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight.

Entertainment for 1927 was also provided by the Famous A&T Rooters and Singers. Who were the “Rooters and Singers”? They were a famous A&T Quartet led by O. Anderson Fuller, who later became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in music. Publicity for 1927 also names a “Homecoming Social” which we can guess may have been a party, recessional or a dinner. 

Festivities before and after the game have come and gone over the decades. In the earliest years, A&T College sponsored an agricultural fair at homecoming as early as 1931. There was also an alumni luncheon with President Bluford. 

 Beyond the game, the tradition that has held the longest is the parade. An “alumni parade” took place in 1934, and was the “first to be sponsored by the college for homecoming.” This game day parade was formed in front of Dudley Memorial Building and marched to World War Memorial Stadium. During the parade, the band played and sang “Dear A&T.” A special theme of this first parade was that it was formed by alumni from 1899 to 1934. Each class had a banner with its colors and motto followed by marching undergraduates.

The tradition of Miss A&T or “Miss A. and T. College” was established around 1930, shortly after women were re-admitted for bachelor’s degrees. Miss Hattie (Diffay) Jones, niece of President and First Lady Bluford, was the earliest known person to hold the title, for 1931-32. The First Miss A&T to receive wide publicity was Alda Marian Newsome, 1933-34, with her photo circulated in the Black press. By the end of the decade, Miss A&T was known and presented as the “Queen of Homecoming.”

The games, parades and festivities grew to the point that by 1936, A&T was praised for having a homecoming that was superb and outstanding among HBCUs – a distinction that is still held today. 

With few exceptions, University Archives and Special Collections does not have any original artifacts from our first 15 years of homecomings. Missing are original photos, tickets, memorabilia and textiles. 

For more information about this story or if you have mementos and family stories from our earliest homecomings, please write to libraryarchives@ncat.edu.

By James R. Stewart Jr. ‘08, Archives and Special Collections librarian