The University of Louisville Alumni Magazine: for alumni, faculty, staff, students and anyone that is a UofL Cardinal fan.
Issue link: https://louisville.epubxp.com/i/460537
2 8 | L O U I S V I L L E . E D U Fea th e r ed Fri e n d THE FIRST BIRD The story of Louie (or simply, the Cardinal Bird, as it was known for several decades) stretches back all the way to 1913 when the wife of Liberal Arts Dean, John Patterson, suggested the athletics department adopt the state bird as their own. In fact, she also suggested the red and black colors. We owe a lot to Mrs. Patterson! According to "The University of Louisville" history book by Dwayne Cox, 76GA, and William Morison, 01L, a two-dimensional version of the cardinal was created early on—although there were no specif cs. Unfortu- nately, none of the art was documented. In fact, the next historical evidence of the Cardinal Bird doesn't come until almost 40 years later! In 1953, again according to "The University of Louisville," two female cheerleaders escorted their fellow cheerleader, T. Lee Adams, 54A, 54DE, to the Home Economics department and introduced him to "Mrs. Gold," former department chair, Frances Goldsmith, PhD. "They told her they wanted her to make a Cardinal head for me," Adams recalled. "She looked at me and said, 'You must be a total extrovert to do this.' And I said, 'Yeah I am, kinda.'" After agreeing on a pattern, Mrs. Gold created a cloth Cardinal head. "It was really more of a black head with a yellowish beak," Adams said. "There was hardly any red on the head at all. And then I had my red cheer- leader sweater. I used it for the rest of the football season and one or two basketball games at the Armory," said the retired dentist. "And then I quit because I got teased so much. They would just harass and aggravate me." Sounds like Adams had a rough start, but that's often what happens when you're a pioneer. He blazed the trail for our feathered icon. Several years later, a group of marching band mates picked up the Cardinal Bird torch. You see hi m everyw h ere! As a l ogo, h e's on T-s hi rts, b umper st i c k ers, ones i es, we l come mats, penc il s a nd blogs. As a mascot, he makes hundreds o f a ppearances at events all around town. He pumps u p t h e crow d at count l ess sport i ng events. He h as even been known to parachute into Papa John's C ardinal S tadium. Today, Louie is the beloved, f un - l oving f ace o f the University o f Louisville, but his path t o distinction was a humble one. LOUIE 2 8 | L O U I S V I L L E . E D U y T he Birth o f a