Here's What NYU Students Looked Like In The 1920s
7 photos
In this January 1929 photo, a group of fencers practice on on top of an academic building on Washington Square East. In the distance you can see Judson Memorial Church on the south side of the Square, and the NYU freshman dorm which would make headlines 80 years later as the perch for undergrad paparazzi snapping shots of Jude Law. The fencing team went on to great success in the 20th century, losing only four matches from 1966-1974.
Photo via NYUHere William McCarthy, baseball coach at the school for 40 years, gives a speech to a group of players clearly trying to ignore the camera (The fellow in the bottom right to not much success). In the middle row all the way on the left, you can see what appears to be George "Kiddo" Davis, who went on to help lead the New York (now San Francisco) Giants to win the World Series in 1927.
Photo via NYUWhen there was still some grass left in this city, NYU had a thriving ROTC program. This photo, taken on May 14, 1924, shows the ROTC Field Day, an annual event where the students staged a miniature battle. Ohio Field, at the university's former campus in University Heights, the Bronx, was used for the battle. The NYU archive was sure to note that "students fired blanks."
Photo via NYUWomen first competed in the Olympics at the 1928 games held in Amsterdam. Three members of the team came from NYU, one of whom was still in high school! If you're trying to spot which swimmers are the New Yorkers, our guess is the top right, bottom left and second from the left on the top, whose serious faces and dark lipstick are FIERCE.
Photo via NYUFrom 1919 to 1965, NYU education students were sent upstate to teach summer camp (Because nothing trains you for the classroom rubber room like making s'mores and telling ghost stories!). Here we see a swim instructor start a race at Lake Sebago, located in what is now Harriman State Park, about an hour north of the City.
Photo via NYUWe have to give serious respect to the gentleman in the bottom right of this photo, which shows the 1922 varsity soccer team. Both a team player and a dapper dresser, he managed to tuck his dress pants INTO his shin guards. You just don't see that kind of dedication with the kids these days.
Photo via NYU"The Paulette Goddard Hall, acquired in 1925, was originally an apartment building for bachelors that came to be known as 'The Benedick.' Apartments consisted of a living room with a fireplace and one or two bedrooms, although only some had private bathrooms. The janitor provided breakfast service and rent ranged from $250 to $500 a year. Many of the tenants were artists and illustrators."
Photo via NYU