Texas Technological College joined the Border Conference in 1932. For the next several years, the college tried to gain entrance into the Southwest Conference but was repeatedly turned away. Finally, during the morning of May 12, 1956, a radio dispatch from Fayetteville, Arkansas, brought news that Texas Tech had at long last been invited to join in the Southwest Conference. Thousands at Tech and in the city of Lubbock, Texas, joined in on the impromptu festivities to celebrate the long awaited event. The campus Victory Bells rang non-stop as the crowd marched from the Science Quad toward Broadway to go downtown. The Toreador, the student newspaper, also ran a special edition marking the event. The raw footage of the festivities is of poor quality and very grainy. There are several sections where there is no sound. It contains images of people participating in the rally around the Science Quad where speakers such as Glen Carey and Polk Robinson address the crowd; the Tech Band performing for the crowd and leading the parade downtown; and the Victory Bells ringing to mark the occasion. Texas Tech Joins the Southwest Conference part 1 is comprised of edited segments from the original raw footage of the rally from May 12, 1956. Though the footage is very pixelated image-wise, the viewer can get a taste of how excited participants of the rally were that historic day. The sound component has been amplified for better hearing as well. The segments included on this digital file are the victory march leading downtown, the ringing of the Victory Bells, and the special edition of the Toreador student newspaper.

• published: 06 Sep 2013
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