There’s No Place Like Home: A Howard University Homecoming flashback 

Another October at Howard doesn’t just bring cooler days and spookier nights, it also marks the beginning of the excitement for the historic Howard tradition that is Howard University Homecoming. While Howard’s undergraduate students enjoy most of the festivities of Howard Homecomings, it’s about the alumni coming home to celebrate the school’s legacy with its current students. As we prepare for the revival that is Homecoming 2023, the previous years of Homecoming indicate how far Howard’s legacy has come.

Crowd at a Howard Homecoming football game in 1920. (Photo courtesy of the Moorland- Spingarn Research Center) 

Miss Howard University Dovey Madeline Davis in Homecoming Howard vs. Hampton Program from the Family and Reunion album in the Howard Magazine in January 1959. (Photo courtesy of the Moorland- Spingarn Research Center) Students cheering at Howard homecoming football game in Homecoming Howard vs Hampton Program from the Family and Reunion album in the Howard Magazine in January 1959. (Photo courtesy of the Moorland- Spingarn Research Center) Students rode on a float in the 1949 Howard Homecoming parade in the Howard Homecoming vs Hampton program from the Family and Reunion album in the Howard Magazine in January 1959. (Photo courtesy of the Moorland- Spingarn Research Center) 

Class of 1953 on a float at Howard Homecoming at Burr Stadium. (Photo courtesy of the Moorland- Spingarn Research Center) 

Howard University Homecoming queen and court in 1967. (Photo courtesy of the Moorland- Spingarn Research Center) A float in Howard University’s 1970 Homecoming parade. (Photo courtesy of the Moorland- Spingarn Research Center)

Howard’s Homecoming dome interior on the yard in 1974. (Photo courtesy of the Moorland- Spingarn Research Center) 

Students cheering at the 2008 Howard Homecoming football game as seen in The Hilltop Homecoming edition issue. (Photo courtesy of the Moorland- Spingarn Research Center) 

Howard University 2006 Homecoming Miss and Mr. Howard as seen in The Hilltop Homecoming edition. (Photo courtesy of the Moorland- Spingarn Research Center) 

Howard University Homecoming Mr. and Miss Howard University Joseph N. Hawthorne and Vallyn Lea Smith, as seen in The Hilltop special Homecoming issue in 2000. (Photo courtesy of the Moorland- Spingarn Research Center)

Copy edited by Alana Matthew