A Thanksgiving Rivalry

Football Memories From a 1920s Scrapbook

In June 1935 our 28 year-old maternal grandfather Leon Harman Grayson, a native of Savannah, Georgia, was offered a temporary appointment in the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. Mary Bell Grayson, Leon’s 25-year old bride, joined him that October. After a Christmas visit to Georgia, Mary lingered to comfort Leon’s ailing mother. In a January 6, 1936 letter Leon wrote Mary, “When you get ready to pack up, I wish that you would bring up my diploma (Georgia); admission to the Savannah Bar; and my scrap book containing my military records (if you can find them.)” Each of these items has been preserved.

Group Photos

In addition to his military records, within the scrapbook Leon saved mementos from his experience as a high school football player. Leon drew an arrow on his light colored jersey in a clipping titled “Savannah High School Grid Warriors.” He was 15 years old. He saved a glossier image from the 1923 season in which he stands eighth from the left, his prominent ears protruding slightly.

Honor Among Teammates

Another unsourced clipping is headed, “MEMBERS HI FOOTBALL SQUAD TAKE PLEDGE TO GO TO BED BY 10:30 O’CLOCK EACH NIGHT.” Within it quotes a pledge circulated among the football players, listing the names of the student-athletes who signed it, including Leon. It read in part, “Recognizing the seriousness of training I pledge on my honor I will not – Smoke or chew tobacco; drink intoxicating wines or liquor, eat pastries, pickles or sweets in excess; drink any carbonated drinks; betray my team or discuss any plays in public; dissipate in any form. I will cooperate in every respect and give all my help to make a winning team. Honor is the trade-mark of a gentleman. Don’t lose it.”

Hi Scrub Team

Young Leon was not a starting player, but perhaps he was the most promising of the “scrubs,” as illustrated by two additional undated clippings. “HI SCRUB TEAM TO PLAY BEAUFORT,” the first was headed, followed by “The local second string men are unusually strong this year and are expected to give a good account of themselves.” The next clipping reported, “HIGH SCHOOL LOSES TO BEAUFORT TEAM. Savannah High School’s second football team returned late last night from Beaufort, S.C., where they were defeated 25-0…. The latter’s goal line was at no time threatened.” Both clippings gave the surnames of the seventeen players who made the trip. “Grayson” led both lists.

Football Banquets

Leon saved the invitation to the 1922 Savannah High School football banquet (“Bannon’s Lodge, Thunderbolt”), and preserved the souvenir program from the 1923 banquet, held at the Forsyth Tea Room on the eve of his 17th birthday. The menu from the latter boasted “Shrimp Cocktail, Roast Chicken with Oyster Dressing, Stuffed Green Peppers, Neapolitan Ice Cream, Layer Cake, Demi Tasse, Cigars and Cigarrettes [sic].” Given the ages of the honorees, these last items are interesting, though their pre-season pledge would no longer have applied.

The back page of the banquet program lists the surnames of the 40 young men that comprised the football team, and gives the results of the eight games in which the squad competed.

“The Rivalry”

For the final game, the competitors were written in capital letters, emphasizing its importance. Benedictine College, later Benedictine Military Academy, was located at 34th and Bull Streets and founded in 1902 to educate the sons of Savannah’s Irish-Catholic immigrants. A retrospective in the local newspaper reported that “BC and ‘High School’ first met in 1903 – when football was still a new game. By 1920, the [Thanksgiving Day] game had grown into a rivalry pitting the city’s private and public schools. Mothers would serve turkey and fixins before noon to ensure the family got seats at the game. Fans would wear their Sunday best, with women donning corsages of white mums and colored ribbons – blue and white for Savannah High, maroon and white for BC. The game’s intensity for the respective student bodies was unparalleled, as evidenced by the post-game tradition of burning caskets decorated in [the opposing] team colors. The ceremony took place at the intersection of Bull and Broughton streets downtown and sometimes deteriorated into a brawl.” ¹

The scoreless 1922 game, held at Fairview Park, was “a clean, gentlemanly, sportsmanlike exhibition. Neither party could get the ball over the line of the other. Then the boys rode around town on trucks; there was no argument and no controversy and the contest seems to have been the ending of a perfect day.” ²

Fairview Park, “that yawns out in the southwestern part of town, away from the bustle of the city’s traffic,”³ once again hosted the 1923 SHS vs. BC Thanksgiving Day game. “The day was dark, the field was slow, the ground was wet and the soggy field was ideal for football. The red Benedictine team was a sport to the end, but they met a High School team that outpunted, outfought, out-generaled and outscored them 9-6.” The box score does not mention Leon, but a snip from what looks like a game-day scorecard reads, “19 — Grayson, End — 17 — 150. Perhaps, in order, Leon’s player number (a very recent addition to some uniforms), position, age, and weight. Leon graduated high school the following June, but football would continue to be a theme into his college years.

Savannah High School and Benedictine played the annual Thanksgiving day rivalry game until 1959, when the Georgia High School Association implemented rules to preclude regional games that late in the season. Shortly after Leon’s time the game was regularly played at Municipal Stadium in Daffin Park, renamed Grayson Stadium in 1941 following the death of Leon’s influential father William.

¹ Van Brimmer, Ann, “BC vs. Savannah High: A Thanksgiving tradition,” Savannah Morning News, March 25, 2010

² The Savannah Press, Sat. December 2, 1922 pg. six

3 The Savannah Press, Thu. November 29, 1923 pg. seven