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UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

 

Hudson Relay Origins

 

Origins | Rules, Routes & Winners | Celebrations | Firsts


With very few exceptions, the Hudson Relay has been run every year since 1910. The University Archives celebrates the centennial of the Hudson Relay with this web exhibit highlighting some of its little-known history.

Hudson Relay
Hudson Relay, 1911
Hudson Relay
Hudson Relay, 1910

Monroe Curtis (Adelbert Class of 1911) initiated the Hudson Relay. His intention, as described by the student yearbook, was to “fill in the hitherto blank observance of the Undergraduate Day of Commencement Week.” Hudson was chosen as the starting point to connect Western Reserve’s original home to its current University Circle location.
   
In the beginning the Hudson Relay was an Adelbert College activity. It would be many years before other schools of Western Reserve officially participated. Each Adelbert College class fielded a team of runners, who each ran one mile.

Hudson Relay
Hudson Relay, 1913
Hudson Relay Team, Class of 1918 circa 1915
Hudson Relay Team, Class of 1918, 1915?

Among the traditions established in the earliest years of the Hudson Relay was the custom of carrying a message from the Mayor of the Village of Hudson to the Western Reserve University President. Beginning in the 1930s the message was from the Western Reserve Academy Headmaster.



Information was compiled by staff of the Case Western Reserve University Archives, April 2010.

Hudson Relay images are available in the University Archives Images of Events and Activities collection in Digital Case.


Origins | Rules, Routes & Winners | Celebrations | Firsts