Emory Historian

It is sometimes said that all it takes to create a tradition at Emory University is to do something for four years in a row. After the first students who experienced the “tradition” have graduated, few will remember when it began, and the activity then passes into custom and lore. The point of traditions, after all, is the perpetuation of rites of passage or rituals of membership or markers of institutional identity whose origins are lost in the mist of a time long ago—or at least a time before anyone can quite remember....

The Scoop about Swoop It is sometimes said that all it takes to create a tradition at Emory University is to do something for four years in a row. After the first students who experienced the “tradition” have graduated,…

The death of Mikhail Gorbachev on August 30 made me recall his visit to Emory University thirty years ago.

Remembering Gorbachev at Emory The death of Mikhail Gorbachev on August 30 made me recall his visit to Emory University thirty years ago. It was May 11, 1992, and fifteen thousand graduates, friends, and family members filled th…

A new Emory History Minute just went live today, August 22, 2022. Thanks to Emory videographers Corey Broman-Fulks and Stephen Nowland for their excellent work. You can see more of these brief history videos by googling "Emory History Minutes" for the entire playlist of 28 videos that Corey and I did for the 175th anniversary of Emory back in 2011. Gary Hauk, Emory University Historian Emeritus

Old House Won’t Be Around Much Longer A new Emory History Minute just went live today, August 22, 2022. Thanks to Emory videographers Corey Broman-Fulks and Stephen Nowland for their excellent work. You can see more of these brief hist…

The death of Hank Aaron on January 22 reminded me of his receiving an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Emory at Commencement in 1995. When the University celebrated the man who broke racial barriers along with Babe Ruth's home run record, the occasion seemed to call for the citation writer -- me -- to swing for the fences too. And if I couldn't hit the ball over the fence with my words, at least I could summon an echo of poetry....

Mourning Hank Aaron The death of Hank Aaron on January 22 reminded me of his receiving an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Emory at Commencement in 1995. When the University celebrated the man who broke racial barr…