Livingstone College News Service

SALISBURY — It’s homecoming week at Livingstone College, but the school is readying for another celebration the following weekend.

The Commemorative Classic football game will be played at 1 p.m. Nov. 4 at Livingstone and will mark the 125th anniversary of black college football in America.

One hundred and 25 years ago, Livingstone College awaited the arrival of Johnson C. Smith University (then Biddle Memorial Institute), whose team traveled by horse and buggy to Salisbury to play football.

But it wasn’t just any game. That contest, held on a snowy Dec. 27, 1892, on the front lawn of Livingstone College, was the first intercollegiate football game between historically black institutions.

In 2009, the two schools decided to start an annual Commemorative Classic football game to honor the inaugural matchup. The classic is the last football game of the regular season, and the location alternates between the two campuses.

“How fitting that on this 125th anniversary, the game will be played where it all started — on the campus of Livingstone College,” said Livingstone President Jimmy R. Jenkins Sr.

The original Livingstone team was organized in the fall of 1892 and included J.W. Walker (captain); W.J. Trent (manager), who became the longest-serving president of Livingstone to date; R.J. Rencher; Henry Rives; C.N. Garland; J.R. Dillard; J.B.A. Yelverton; Wade Hampton; Charles H. Patrick; J.J. Taylor; and F.H. Cummings.

According to the college newspaper’s 1930 edition, team members purchased a regulation football and uniforms. The players equipped their street shoes with cleats, taking them off after practice. The young women of the school’s industrial department made the players’ uniforms.

The teams played two 45-minute halves with Trent scoring Livingstone’s only touchdown on a fumble recovery. Biddle argued that the fumble was recovered out of bounds as the snow had covered the field markings.

The official ruled in Biddle’s favor, allowing it to keep the 5-0 lead and giving Biddle the victory.

“We’re always optimistic about the game,” said Coach Andre Springs, Livingstone’s athletic director. “But this is more than a game. The Commemorative Classic pays homage to those original teams that started a tradition of black college football in this country that has made a positive difference and blazed a mighty trail for student athletes.”

Livingstone College will kick off its celebration on Wednesday with a student pep rally, followed by an alumni reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Nov. 2 in the Hilliard Room of the Hood Building on campus.

On Nov. 3, the Commemorative Classic Hall of Fame banquet will be held at the Livingstone College School of Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts, 530 S. Jake Alexander Blvd. Each school will induct a former player into the Hall of Fame.

Guests at the banquet will include Marques Fitch, executive director of the Black College Football Hall of Fame, and CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams.

The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Nov. 4, followed by a Battle of the Bands between Livingstone and JCSU.

Gov. Roy Cooper, the city of Salisbury and Rowan County have all approved proclamations declaring the 125th anniversary as one warranted for great pomp and circumstance.

“Though a lot of alumni will converge on campus (homecoming) week, we encouraged them to return the following weekend to help us celebrate this historic milestone in our college’s history,” Jenkins said. “This is great for our county, city and state as national attention has already been generated on this game. We invite everyone to Livingstone’s campus — the birthplace of black college football — in celebrating this significant 125th anniversary on Nov. 4.”