This is a story about an amazing event in Dickinson sports history and about a family that has chosen to remember a special man by making a gift to the college.
This, too, is a story about a football … and a sweater.
Chances are, if you saw a football score that read Dickinson 10, Penn State 6, you might wonder if it was a misprint. But 75 years ago, which was the last time those two schools met on the gridiron, the Red Devils beat the Nittany Lions by that score—and they did it on the Lions’ turf.
The event is so important in the history of the college that it was featured in a 2004 issue of Dickinson Magazine, and the original game ball is carefully preserved in Dickinson’s Archives and Special Collections. |
Eddie Johnson ’32 was on that team, along with some other Dickinson notables with names you might recognize, like Ben James ’34 and Milt Davidson ’33.
Eddie was team captain. He is shown in the photo on the right, wearing the “D” sweater that only the captain wore in those days, and he’s holding a football upon which that infamous score has been painted.
Above: Ben James '34 and Eddie Johnson '32 in a photo taken in June, 2002. |
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After a long and successful life, including being a family man and an educator, Eddie died on June 24, 2006.
As a way of honoring him and preserving the memory of one of his achievements, Ann Johnson Jobbins ’63, one of Eddie’s three daughters, decided with her family to donate her father’s cherished team-captain sweater to the college.
On Oct. 14, Ann and a dozen family members gathered at Dickinson’s Sports Hall of Fame—into which Eddie had been inducted in 1972—to hand off the sweater to Ben James, who accepted the garment on behalf of the college.
A few tears were shed. There was laughter, too, and some stories that began with “Remember when.” And Eddie’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren got a special glimpse into his life.
After 75 years, the football and the sweater were together again. They’ll be preserved in Dickinson’s archives, where future generations can come to hear a story about good men at a small college who once had a very happy day in Happy Valley, Pa.
Top right: Ann Johnson Jobbins ’63 talks with her father's teammate, Ben James '34. |
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Above: Eddie Johnson's sweater will be placed in the college archives, joining the game ball from Dickinson's win over Penn State.
Left: Ben James with Eddie Johnson's great-grandson. |
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