The Legend of Jack Trice and the campaign for Jack Trice stadium, 1973-1984

Journal of Social History, Summer, 2008 by Jaime Schultz

Afternoon classes at Iowa State were cancelled the following day so that the university community could mourn Jack Trice. His teammates carried his casket to a crowd of approximately estimated three thousand students and faculty members gathered at center campus for his memorial service [Figure 4]. Earlier that morning a folded piece of Curtis Hotel stationary had been found in the breast pocket of Jack Trice's coat. It was a note he had written to himself the night before the Minnesota game. Following the invocation at the memorial service, Iowa State's President Pearson read what has come to be known as Jack Trice's "last letter." It is the cornerstone of his legend, for it depicts a man who sees his performance on the field as something larger and more significant than a game. It indicates the pressures he must have felt and his determination to prove his worth as well as that of his entire race.

[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]

To whom it may concern,

My thoughts just before the first real college game of my life. The honor of my race, family, and self is at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will!

My whole body and soul are to be thrown recklessly about the field tomorrow. Every time the ball is snapped, I will be trying to do more than my part.

On all defensive plays I must break thru the opponents' line and stop the play in their territory. Beware of mass interference--fight low with your eyes open and toward the play. Roll-block the interference. Watch out for cross bucks and reverse end runs. Be on your toes every minute if you expect to make good.

(7:45 Jack

That the letter was preserved as a college document indicates the depth of reverence the Iowa State community felt for both the man and his message. Additional efforts demonstrate the school's intent to honor his memory. At the funeral, plans for "a fund to express in a material way the sympathy of the college," were announced.(25) Members of the university campus and the surrounding Ames community contributed $2,259 to help ease the Trice family's financial burden. The impressive sum covered funeral expenses, lifted the mortgage that his mother had placed on her home to assist him with tuition, and provided her and Cora Mae with $580.(26)

[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]

Almost immediately, tributes served to acknowledge the death of Jack Trice, demonstrating that he was "mourned by millions of football fans of both races throughout the country." (27) First published in a Minnesota paper, the following poem later appeared in the Iowa State Student and the Bomb, ISU's yearbook. The author, listed only as "C.A.W.," has never been identified, a point consistently made throughout the legend of Trice to indicate both anonymity and universality of the sentiment. (29) The figure of Trice, in this instance, is one of loyalty, honor, "steel of character," "true manhood," and a "true modern knight." It would be difficult find a way to express the opinion that he was a hero in a more obvious manner. Significantly, the issue of race is not raised in this elegy. In fact, racialized commentary only briefly emerged in the 1920s, such as in the following article from the Minnesota Alumni Weekly, entitled "Death Scores a Touchdown" where it was stated that Trice was