In the spring of 1976, Juniata College turned 100 years old. The centennial celebration, which was spread throughout the 1975-76 academic year, commemorated the growth and accomplishments of the college’s first century.
The celebration began in October 1975 during Homecoming Weekend. The “Vestiges of the Past” Football Recognition Dinner highlighted notable players and accomplishments from the program’s past. The next day, the homecoming parade demonstrated an extra celebratory spirit with the theme “100 Years of Juniata.” During an alumni Anniversary Dinner that brought over 500 guests together, the completed Centennial Needlepoint project was revealed. Twenty women had hand-stitched a quilt, which included fourteen squares depicting scenes related to the college’s history. The quilt’s center also introduced the Juniata College Centennial logo of a tree growing out of an open book, designed by college editor Bernard C. Taylor. Today, the quilt is preserved within the Juniata College Archives & Special Collections vault in the lower level of Statton Learning Commons.
Homecoming Weekend also brought the announcement of a special giving campaign. The goal of “Challenge ‘76” was to raise one million dollars for the Centennial Fund through matching gifts between alumni and the college’s trustees. With the generosity of Juniata’s supporters, the campaign ended in great success, with the Centennial Fund garnering more than 4.8 million dollars to advance the school into its next century.
James H. Lehman ’66 worked towards a different centennial project in October of 1975. For three weeks, he immersed himself in campus interviews, archival materials, and photographs. This resulted in the creation of a slide show, A Season of Good Favor, which was released the following January 3, 1976. The production featured 280 color and black-and-white slides with accompanying music and a dramatic recorded narrative of Juniata’s first century of history. The slide show toured for the next few months to alumni and civic groups, whose members considered it “a deeply moving experience.”
The festivities increased in fervor during the spring semester of 1976. On March 9, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives officially congratulated Juniata College on its “one hundred years of service to the Commonwealth and the Nation” and for its “significant accomplishments” during that time. Arbor Day on April 5 found students, faculty, and staff coming together to plant 100 trees across the 100-acre main campus, one for each year of Juniata College’s existence. The campus beautification project came as a response to the Dutch elm disease that had swept through the area three years earlier.
Though Founders Day, the official 100th anniversary of Juniata College (April 17), fell during spring break, that did not stop the celebratory spirit. The Juniata community gathered on May 1 for the much-anticipated Centennial Convocation. Besides the campus community and alumni, over 50 delegates from notable American colleges and universities, Brethren churches, and professional associations were in attendance. Several descendants of the school’s founders also made the pilgrimage to honor the legacy of their fathers and grandfathers.
Dr. James B. Rhoads, Archivist of the United States, served as the primary speaker for the Centennial Convocation. His speech focused on the meaning of history as both a mode of reflection and a guide for moving forward. While his address focused on celebrating the past, the official welcome of Juniata’s eighth president, Dr. Frederick M. Binder, ushered in a new chapter of Juniata’s story. In honor of the occasion, the National Alumni Association presented Dr. Binder with a new ceremonial mace. The design was deeply significant, being crafted of wood from the church where Juniata’s founders attended and decorated with four symbolic medals. The mace has been a part of every major campus ceremony since that day.
The centennial celebration continued through the end of May for a special commencement weekend, which included a ceremony, alumni reunion, musical performances, and more announcements of Juniata’s progress. The exciting year concluded with the publication of a special edition of the Alfarata, Juniata’s yearbook. Embossed with the centennial logo on the cover, the first several pages provide a written and photographic history of the College’s first hundred years, from the first class of three students to the 212-student-strong graduating class of 1976. The next year, in December 1777, Dr. Earl C. Kaylor, Jr. published his book, Truth Sets Free: Juniata Independent College in Pennsylvania, founded by the Brethren, 1876: a centennial history. The 431-page volume documented the most complete history of the College, and the updated 2001 version remains the best resource for exploring Juniata’s past.
The Centennial Year at Juniata College was full of reflection, anticipation, and most of all, celebration. Regular events took on new meaning in light of Juniata’s long history. Special ceremonies and objects were created to mark the college’s century of learning and growth. Members of Juniata’s community used the opportunity to come together; students, alumni, parents, staff, and partners all gathered around the place that had impacted their lives. “It is not unusual for the students at this college to grow beyond what they expected to be,” the centennial slideshow proclaimed. “It is not surprising then that this college has become more than the founders expected it to be…. It has been a good century, and in the next, Juniata promises to be more than we might expect it to be.”
Centennial Objects
- Centennial Needlepoint Quilt
- Juniata College Ceremonial Mace, to be displayed at all important College gatherings
- Presidential Medallion, to be worn by Juniata presidents during ceremonies
- Centennial Year Trophy, donated by the National Alumni Association and Dr. Harold B. Brumbaugh
- The Centennial Plate memento collection, made of “fine pewter”
- “Mountain Day” limited-edition series of centennial etchings by Steven A. Barbash
- A Season of Good Favor Slide and Sound Presentation
- The Centennial Alumni Directory
- Truth Sets Free: A Centennial History of Juniata College, 1976-1976, by Earl C. Kaylor
Juniata College Centennial Logo, designed by Bernard C. Taylor (from commencement program)
Dr. Frederick M. Binder delivering his first address as President of Juniata College at the Centennial Convocation on May 1, 1976. (Alfarata, 1976)
Photograph of the completed Centennial Needlepoint Project quilt. (Juniata College Archives & Special Collections)
Additional quote for consideration: “The college has enjoyed a hundred years of good favor. It has been blessed with strong leaders, human fellowship, and academic excellence. Juniata has enjoyed the fruits of a rich heritage….Its difficulties have strengthened it; its disasters have not overwhelmed it; and its achievements have graced it.” (A Season of Good Favor)
Andi Bradsher ‘27
957 words
Bibliography
The Alfarata. Huntingdon, PA: Juniata College, 1976.
Altoona Mirror. “Commencement to Conclude Juniata’s Centennial Year.” May 26, 1976.
Altoona Mirror. “Juniata College Holds Centennial Convention.” May 3, 1976.
Altoona Mirror. “Juniata College Plans Centennial Celebration.” April 7, 1976.
“The Centennial Convocation, Including the Investiture of Frederick Moore Binder as the Eighth President of the College (program).” Juniata College, May 1, 1976.
“The Inauguration of Dr. James A. Troha, Twelfth President of Juniata College (program).” Juniata College, October 18, 2013. https://issuu.com/juniata/docs/inauguration_program_issuu/13.
Juniata College Bulletin. December 1975. Juniata College Archives & Special Collections.
Juniata College Bulletin. February 1976. Juniata College Archives & Special Collections.
Juniata College Bulletin. March 1977. Juniata College Archives & Special Collections.
Juniata College Bulletin. May 1976. Juniata College Archives & Special Collections.
Juniata College Bulletin. November 1976. Juniata College Archives & Special Collections.
Juniata College Bulletin. October 1975. Juniata College Archives & Special Collections.
Juniata College Bulletin. October 1976. Juniata College Archives & Special Collections.
Juniata College Bulletin. September 1975. Juniata College Archives & Special Collections.
The Juniatian. “Centennial Mace, Medallion Joins Juniata Traditions.” May 6, 1976, 52, no. 18 edition.
The Juniatian. “Juniata College Centennial Shorts.” May 6, 1976, 52, no. 18 edition.
The Juniatian. “Juniata College Plans Centennial Celebration.” April 8, 1976, 52 edition.
The Juniatian. “National Archivist Addressed Juniata Centennial Convocation.” May 6, 1976, 52 edition.
Kaylor, Earl C., Ph.D. Juniata College: Uncommon Vision, Uncommon Loyalty. Huntingdon, PA: Juniata College Press, 2001.
———. Truth Sets Free: A Centennial History of Juniata College, 1976-1976. 1st ed. Huntingdon, PA: Juniata College, 1977.
Lehman, James H. “Season of Good Favor: Typescript for the Slide and Sound Presentation Commemorating the Centennial of Juniata College,” January 31, 1976. Juniata College Archives & Special Collections.
“Script for Centennial Convocation.” Juniata College, May 1, 1976. Juniata College Archives & Special Collections.