Poster: "Auburn University Cheer Books"

Description:

This project looks at three Auburn University cheer books from 1916, 1931, and
1953. These books include songs and chants that students used to show school spirit. Even
though they may seem simple, they can tell us a lot about student life and culture at the time.
By studying them, we can learn how ideas about race changed over the early to mid-1900s.
The 1916 cheer book is very different from the later ones. It includes clearly racist
language and ideas. This shows that at the time, this kind of content was accepted and even
shared openly in student materials. It reflects the wider culture of the American South during
that period, where racism was common and often not questioned in public spaces like
schools.
In contrast, the 1931 and 1953 cheer books focus more on music and school spirit.
They do not include the same kind of openly racist content. At first glance, this might seem
like a clear sign of progress. It could suggest that students and the university were moving
away from those harmful ideas. However, the change may not be that simple. Instead of
showing a full rejection of racism, these later books may reflect a shift in what was
considered acceptable to publish. In other words, the ideas may not have disappeared, but
people became more careful about how they presented them in public.
This change in the cheer books also connects to the larger history of Auburn
University. Auburn, which was known as Auburn Polytechnic Institute in the early 1900s,
was founded in a time when segregation was the norm in the South. Like many schools in the
region, it was a white-only institution for much of its history. African American students
were not admitted until the 1960s, during the Civil Rights Movement. Because of this, early
student life and traditions were shaped by exclusion and unequal treatment. The cheer books
are one small example of how those ideas showed up in everyday student culture. As the
university changed over time and faced pressure to modernize and improve its public image,
it also began to present itself differently in official materials.
My main idea is that the change between the 1916 cheer book and the later ones does
not mean racism disappeared from student culture. Instead, it shows that people became more
aware of how their school and its students were seen by others. The removal of racist content
may have been more about protecting the school’s image than about changing beliefs. By
studying these cheer books, we can see how public expression changed and how institutions
tried to present themselves in a better light over time.

-Emilia Ribo

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