Name-a-Day Calendar, March 16: Kansas Jayhawks
Page 130 of 365
Chosen in: 1890
Chosen by: The community
You probably know that a “jayhawk” is not a thing, but you might not quite be familiar with where the term originated.
It all started in Bleeding Kansas back in the 1850s. At the time, the Kansas Territory - it was not yet a state - was in the midst of a miniature civil war that would end up becoming a precursor to the larger Civil War: settlers fought for over half a decade over whether Kansas should be admitted to the Union as a free state or a slave state. Aggressors on both sides were often called “jayhawkers”, a term most likely coined in the late 1840s in reference to a group of thieving pioneers who were somehow simultaneously noisy like blue jays and stealthy like hawks.1
The abolitionist side won this conflict in 1861, leading to Kansas’ admission as a free state…and then the whole country imploded three months later. Kansas was on the North’s side and their army regiment was known as the Independent Mounted Kansas Jayhawks. The result was that the term “Jayhawk” became intertwined with the abolitionists’ fighting spirit.
The University of Kansas was actually founded during wartime but they wouldn’t begin instruction until 1866. The start of intercollegiate athletics at the school can be traced back to a rowing squad in the mid-1880s, but sports didn’t truly take off until they formed their football team in 1890. From the beginning, this team was known as the Jayhawks.
The “Jayhawks” identity is among the most unique in college sports. In being a reference to vandalism and ruffianism, it’s similar to Idaho. In having its origins directly tied to wartime, it’s similar to Duke. And, of course, it’s aesthetically similar to the countless dozens of bird mascots throughout collegiate athletics. But in the end, it stands alone; no mascot is quite like the Kansas Jayhawk.
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I don’t really get it either.