Name-a-Day Calendar, May 29: Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
Page 204 of 365
Chosen in: The mid-1910s (probably 1916-17)
Chosen by: Unclear
The Northern Arizona Normal School was established in 1899 and, best I can tell, began playing intercollegiate sports when their men’s basketball team first took the court in 1909.
The school has always cherished its location in the high coniferous forest. Its student newspaper, founded in 1914, was originally titled The Pine,1 and a couple years later, its yearbook was named La Cuesta (Spanish for “the slope”).2
Perhaps playing off of this, these print sources began to refer to Northern Arizona’s sports teams as the Lumberjacks. The first reference I could find to this name was in the 1917 edition of La Cuesta, though I could not find who chose this nickname, why, or how.
After almost half a decade of unofficial but ubiquitous use, the nickname finally became official in 1964 by an act of the Arizona State Legislature. And in 1966, after a bunch of confusing name changes,3 the school itself finally became known as Northern Arizona University.
A costumed lumberjack mascot, Louie the Lumberjack, would finally debut in 1986.
Previous page: Northeastern Huskies
Next page: Northern Colorado Bears
Find every page at the Name-a-Day Calendar hub!
This paper is now known as The Lumberjack.
The school has not published a yearbook since 1978.
Northern Arizona Normal School (1899–1925), Northern Arizona State Teachers College (1925–1929), Arizona State Teachers College at Flagstaff (1929–1945), Arizona State College at Flagstaff (1945–1958), Arizona State College (1958–1966)