The dedication of Hoffa Field and the Sheathing of the Sword at McDaniel College in June 1922
On Saturday, June 10, 1922, the formal dedication of the Hoffa athletic field took place on the campus of Western Maryland College - now McDaniel College.
Of course, many know the field as where the Baltimore Ravens hold their summer practices.
Others know the field for the great tradition of tailgating at McDaniel football games. The running track, which circles the field, is always a favorite spot for health conscious walkers and runners.
Today McDaniel College is accepted as presiding prominently in the center, more or less, of Westminster. However, this was not the case until around the 1970s when housing developments began to grow to the west of the campus.
In 1922, the campus was on the outer western edge of Westminster on the brink of a frontier of forest and farmland that stretched for ten miles until one arrived in Taneytown.
According to a definitive history of the college, “Fearless and Bold,” published just recently by Dr. James E. Lightner; the Geiman property, a 65-acre farm contiguously situated to the west of the campus became available to the college, in 1920, upon the death of W. H. Geiman.
As an aside, for anyone who is even remotely interested in the social, economic, political, or academic history of Westminster, McDaniel College, and Carroll County, “Fearless and Bold” is a must addition for your library.
Those of us, who were aware that Dr. Lightner was laboring to write the book, were very eager to lay our hands on a copy after it was printed in 2007.
We were not disappointed. Do not be put off by its sheer volume. At 713 pages, it can easily intimidate. However, it is well segmented. One may open the book to any page and find that Dr. Lightner packs facts together, in an easily read and engaging conversational approach that makes the book quite hard to put down.
It is a spellbinding story of intrigue and success against all odds; that will captivate even the reader who is not easily drawn to tomes of history.
It is chapter six that Dr. Lightner writes that the trustees of the college, “were always alert to possible campus expansion…”
After the death of Mr. Geiman, the property “suddenly came on the market, and the board authorized (college president Thomas Hamilton) Lewis to purchase it for $26,201…
“It was formally deeded on March 31, 1920, using endowment funds. The purchase agreement allowed Charles Geiman to lease back part of the farm, while a portion would be used for new athletic fields.
“At the June meeting (of the board of trustees,) the alumni visitors to the board stressed the urgent need for improving the fields, and the Buildings and Grounds Committee was empowered to act.”
And “act” they did. In the following chapter, Dr. Lightner reports that “on Saturday, June 10, a warm and sunny day, the formal dedication of the Hoffa Field was held before an audience of 5,000.”
The dedication was followed by the “presentation of ‘The Sheathing of the Sword: A Pageant of Peace,’” according to another local historian, Jay Graybeal.
Fortunately, in the late 1990s, Graybeal reprinted a June 16, 1922 front-page article which appeared in the now out-of-print American Sentinel newspaper. According to his introduction: “The community event (which followed the dedication) was written by Miss Dorothy Elderdice of Westminster. Her introduction provides an overview of her production:
“‘In The Sheathing of the Sword, I have endeavored to select from the different ages a few significant historical episodes that lend themselves to pageantry. Peace in panoply has been my quest---Peace heralded by song, attended by art, crowned by humanity.’”
This is where we will pick up the story in a future column. We are fortunate that Dr. Lightner and the June 1922 American Sentinel newspaper article have left us with an extensive and fascinating account of the “The Sheathing of the Sword.”
Kevin Dayhoff may reached at kevindayhoff AT gmail.com or visit him at
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