Louisiana Tech History: The Blue Jackets

[TechAlum05]

I was browsing through the archives of the Ruston Daily Leader the past couple of days. Here is some information I have compiled about the Blue Jackets, an organization on the Louisiana Tech campus form 1939 to 1969. The vast majority of this information comes from the Ruston Daily Leader. I hope you enjoy this.



The Blue Jackets lasted from its founding as a marching organization (pep group) in 1939 until his ending in 1969 as a women's service organization. Despite the fact that the organization was called a coed pep squad, the membership was all female (female students at a coeducational university were called coeds back in the day). Each member of the Blue Jackets organization wore a uniform of a blue skirt, white top, and blue jacket embroidered with insignia. The Blue Jackets promoted sportsmanship at athletic events, sold programs at home games, promoted class cooperation between students and facility, promoted college spirit, ushered at numerous school activities, and served as members of welcoming committees for visiting athletic teams and Tech boosters. For part of its history, the Blue Jackets were the only all-female honorary group at Louisiana Tech.

The Blue Jackets were created in 1939 with 50 members. Three of the major values the Blue Jackets represented at its founding were scholarship, sportsmanship, and loyalty. The organization performed along with the band and cheerleaders during halftime at the Tech football games and at some of the road games, such as the State Fair Games against Northwestern State, Southeastern Louisiana, and as far away as the University of Houston in 1948. They also marched in many parades in downtown Ruston including Christmas parades and Homecoming parades.

While they were primarily a marching group in their early years, the Blue Jackets also served as ambassadors of the university. Ladies from the Blue Jackets served as ushers and servers at various Tech functions and as hostess to visiting groups and organizations on the Tech campus.

The group was reorganized in 1961 to serve exclusively as a service organization at the university. Membership was limited to 25 undergraduate female students that year. Each member was admitted based on leadership standards, high moral character, cooperativeness, school spirit, physical attractiveness, citizenship, and devotion to Louisiana Tech. While they became a service organization in the 1960s and were the hostess to groups and organizations visiting Tech, the Blue Jackets continued to be present at pep rallies and meetings.

In 1969, the Blue Jackets decided to disband the organization. The members felt that their place on campus had been taken over by nationally affiliated groups. A scholarship fund was established by former Blue Jackets using the remaining funds of the organization. The first $100 scholarship was awarded in 1969, and the scholarship continued to be awarded to one incoming female freshman student who exemplified the spirit of the Blue Jackets each year through at least 1974.

Although this is nowhere close to a complete list, the ladies of the Blue Jackets assisted in the following service projects throughout their history:

• served as ushers for the Louisiana State Singing Competition in Ruston in 1939
• held a dance in honor of the varsity lettermen in 1941
• collected money for the March of Dimes organization at Ruston's movie theatres (at least in 1944, 1948, 1949)
• organized the Bloomer Bowl (a female football game with 30 players on each team) and selling tickets in order to finance new uniforms for the organization in 1950
• served as ushers for the Billy Graham revival meeting at Howard Auditorium in April 1951
• sold tickets to the 1953 March of Dimes Ball
• accepted contributions to the NCAA Olympic Fund at Louisiana Tech games in 1955 and 1967
• assisted the Student Senate by collecting funds at basketball games for Hungarian students who fled to Austria in 1956
• established postage stamp machines in all female dorms and put up bulletin boards at Keeny Hall post office for important news to Tech students in 1962
• served as tea girls for three Christmas receptions at President F. Jay Taylor's house in 1963
• manned the information booth and registered all donors at the Tech Blood Drives for the Red Cross in 1966 and 1967
• helped administer college ability tests in 1966 and 1967

Larry J. Fox of the Ruston Daily Leader said about the Blue Jackets when the organization disbanded in 1969: [The Blue Jackets] represented the first, most loyal, and the best service organization that has ever represented Tech. They didn't go out for fancy dress or were they 'publicity hounds', they served for the best interests of Tech, period. A college needs an unselfish organization like the Blue Jackets, one that they can depend on, rain or shine, win or lose."

He also thought of the Blue Jackets as Louisiana Tech's "honor guard", promoting school morale, team support, and enthusiasm.

[Dawgmatic]

That's what we need to protect and care for Tech XXI.

[Dawg06]

Thanks TA05. I had planned on posting about The Blue Jackets after I finished digging up those old articles about our beloved mascot. I haven't gotten past the mid-1950s yet.

[TechFanno1]

My daughter a Tech graduate, spoke to a group of ladies in Monroe and one of ladies was a Blue Jacket in 1962.