By Amy Allen, University Archivist
Once you start looking for them, you find razorbacks all over Arkansas and especially in Fayetteville. While the wild razorbacks have long since left, their memory has been immortalized as the mascot of the University of Arkansas. Images of “the Razorback” can be found on clothing, vehicles, signs, and on game days on the cheeks of spectators and spirit squads alike.
Razorback Baseball Team as shown on page 186 of the 1913 Razorback Yearbook.
“The Razorback” was illustrated in different forms over the years, many of which can be traced through the Razorback yearbook. The title of the yearbook was changed to the Razorback in 1916. Previously, the yearbook was named the Cardinal after the U of A’s original mascot. The first page of the 1916 yearbook features an illustration of a razorback walking down the front steps of Old Main.
1916 Razorback Yearbook
The athletic teams were referred to as the Razorbacks several years before this. The legend states that coach Hugo Bezdek announced to a crowd after a successful game against LSU in 1909 that the football team played “like a wild band of razorback hogs.” The baseball team appears to be an early adopter of a Razorback on their uniforms. The 1913 yearbook features a photo of the baseball team with Razorback patches on the uniform.
At first, the Razorback was always illustrated as standing or walking. In the 1920s, the running Razorback was born. The idea of the running razorback is credited to student Hank Hancock. For more information, see the digital collection of Hancock’s book, A History of the Arkansas Razorbacks. The first running Razorback in the yearbook appeared in 1924 as the illustration accompanying the yearbook staff.
Happy Razorback….
….and Sad Razorback from the 1953 yearbook.
The Razorback has continued to evolve and can be seen in many other illustrations through the many decades of yearbooks. In 1953, happy and sad Razorbacks were used to illustrate the recap of winning or losing football games that season. Later still, the Razorback began to take on more human qualities, such as in the 1986 yearbook. However, the classic running Razorback continues to be a favorite.
A very athletic Razorback from page 201 of the 1986 yearbook.
It’s clear that Arkansans love the symbol of the Razorback in all its many forms. To see more examples of Razorbacks, visit the second floor of Mullins Library and view the exhibit “Calling All Hogs: A Razorback Mascot History.” If you would like to see more images from the Razorback yearbook online, consider donating to the fundraiser going on during the month of October to help make digital copies of every U of A yearbook available online: https://fundrazor.uark.edu/project/11241.
Go Hogs!