{"id":1173,"date":"2010-06-01T11:23:27","date_gmt":"2010-06-01T16:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/library\/?page_id=1173"},"modified":"2026-03-18T16:23:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T21:23:54","slug":"mulerider-1920-1940","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/archives\/history\/mulerider-1920-1940\/","title":{"rendered":"History of the Mulerider Name and Mascot 1920-1950"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although the nickname Aggies lingered for many years, in the early 1920s, the Muleriders became firmly identified with the school. Several steps expanded this symbol beyond the football team. In 1922, the school yearbook was changed from The Monitor<\/em> to The Mulerider<\/em>. When the newspaper began in 1923, [Professor Earle E.] Graham, the agriculture teacher, suggested to its staff that Bray<\/em> would be a fitting title as the Mulerider school\u2019s student voice. Finally, according to Milton Talley, a student in the 1920s, a mascot began to appear from time to time on the sidelines at football games. A student riding a mule was captured in a 1925 yearbook photo captioned \u201cOur Mulerider.\u201d In those days, this Mulerider rode the animal as poor farmers had always done\u2014while dressed in overalls riding the mule without a saddle. A mule logo appeared on the masthead of the Bray<\/em>; later the logo became a rider on a mule. In 1949\u201350, the logo took on the appearance of a Western bronco-breaking rider astride a bucking mule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The pep squad and a Mulerider practice for a 1927 game. (Click photo to enlarge)<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Whether there was a mule at the 1929 game went unrecorded, but the practice was common in the 1920s and 1930s. There were four cheerleaders\u2014known at the time as yell leaders (two men and two women)\u2014elected by the student body. There was also a large supporting pep squad. A pep squad member occasionally rode a mule to home games. Arie Dwight Mackey, a student of the era, later recalled a scene from the 1932 homecoming, \u201cWhat a wonderful memory on a beautiful autumn afternoon . . .. Just before the game the Muleriders coming on to the field and the Mascot, the Mule, with his rider upon him, running up the sidelines at full speed and braying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Student pep-rally with co-ed Mulerider before 1933 game. (Click photo to enlarge)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n[Football at Magnolia A&M was discontinued from 1937 to 1939 in favor of an enhanced Intramural program. Football was played again in 1940 and 1941. No intercollegiate sports were played during the Second World War and were resumed only in 1946. During these years, the tradition of having a mule mascot was, like football itself, largely abandoned. It was resumed on a regular basis only in 1950.]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although the nickname Aggies lingered for many years, in the early 1920s, the Muleriders became firmly identified with the school. Several steps expanded this symbol beyond the football team. In 1922, the school yearbook was changed from The Monitor to The Mulerider. When the newspaper began in 1923, [Professor Earle E.] Graham, the agriculture teacher,… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":811,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-1173","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1173"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4274,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1173\/revisions\/4274"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}