In 1919, a group of male students from the University of Washington formed the Knights of the Hook as a service group. In 1922, along with groups from Montana State University, University of Montana, State College of Washington (WSC, later WSU), University of Idaho, and University of Oregon, they became a national service organization as the Intercollegiate Knights (IKs). The first national convention was held at WSC in 1924. As of 2012 there remain four organizations which make up the IKs: The Intercollegiate Knights, the International Order of the Knights and Nobles, International Guild of Nobles and the Intercollegiate Knights Foundation.
The IK chapter at WSU, the Cougar Guard, existed from 1922 through 1985. The name comes from one of the first duties of the IKs, to guard the cougar mascot and other trophies of the college. Another duty of theirs was to ring the victory bell after each Cougar victory. The victory bell was finally fixed atop College Hall in the 1930s, after being moved to several locations, and rung by the IKs until the 1970s when safety concerns stopped the practice. In 1998 the bell was removed and placed in front of the Alumni Centre, where it is again rung after Cougar victories.
This collection consists of one main scrapbook, spanning from 1963 to 1969. There is also a folder of photographs from April 1982 and a folder of undated images.
The scrapbook was received out of order. Pages were reorganized into chronological order utilizing information on the pages. Archived Daily Evergreen articles were used to place pages lacking specific dates.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply.
[Item description]
Intercollegiate Knights Cougar Guard Chapter Scrapbook, 1963-1982 (Archives 414)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Sara Refsland, office manager in WSU Housing and Residence Life, donated this collection to the Washington State University Libraries in September 2024, where it was retained without an accession number. It had been in storage in various McCroskey Hall locations for years.
WSU student Steinar Goheen processed this collection in September 2024.
These materials came as part of a set of Washington State University McCroskey Hall Scrapbooks, 1953-2003
Intercollegiate Knights Cougar Guard Chapter (Pullman, Washington) Papers, 1941-1985
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.