Daily Hall and Red Shirt Sidewalk

Daily Hall and the Tiger Statue as they appeared in the Thirties. Note that the Tiger still has his teeth and tail. Both the Tiger and Daily Hall figure prominently in the history of Rho Sigma.

Many Red Shirt activities have centered around one area of the campus, an area now occupied by the McClellan Hall Rotunda. Without even realizing it, Red Shirts have been continued a tradition begun over 60 years ago. The site was formerly occupied by Daily Hall, which served as the fine arts building, college cafeteria and a meeting area for campus social organizations, including both the literary societies and -- later -- the social clubs. Built in 1923, Daily was the location for Rho Sigma's regular 6:30 p.m. Monday night meetings until it was demolished in the mid-Seventies to make way for McClellan Hall. On occasion, Rho Sigma met in nearby Walton Gymnasium or the Old Book Store next door, but the meeting site was always close to the original site. Daily Hall was the center of campus social life it its early years. Students wore a footpath in the grass from Daily to the Administration Building. Known as "Old Main," the old administration building was located near the site of the plaza in front of Evans Student Center. Students making this trek often had to contend with dusty or muddy ground, and the trail was unsightly. In Fall 1941, the Red Shirts -- under President Newell Blakely -- decided to do something about it. They scrounged materials and equipment and constructed a broad sidewalk from Daily to Old Main. Known as "Red Shirt Sidewalk, the walkway was completed in November, 1941. The construction of Red Shirt Sidewalk is the first known instance of a campus service project by a social club. The utility of the sidewalk was short-lived, however. Old Main was struck by lightning and burned to the ground in Spring 1949. The sidewalk itself was torn up four years later, in 1953, to make way for a circular campus drive. Many Rho Sigma activities continued to take place on or near Red Shirt Sidewalk, even after it had long been forgotten. For example, pledge lineups began there, decades after the sidewalk was destroyed. Dr. Blackmon, professor emeritus and unofficial Ouachita historian, saved the cornerstone of Red Shirt Sidewalk when it was demolished. For years, it remained in the Ouachita historical archives -- where it may still exist.