Every Dog Has Its Day

While his paws trotted on campus for only four years (1916-1920), Dam-it is still a celebrated figure in Hardin-Simmons’ folklore. Today, January 20, marks the 102 anniversary of Dam-it’s death and famous funeral.

In 1920, Dam-it contracted pneumonia and died suddenly. On this day 102 years ago, students gathered to honor their canine friend. The ceremony was a serious and solemn occasion as students and faculty gathered to lay Dam-it to rest on the campus he loved most.

The Associated Press ran a story about the funeral, bringing national and global attention to Abilene:

DAM-IT, DOG MASCOT, DEAD
College Mourns

ABILENE, Texas, Jan. 21- Six hundred students and the entire faculty of Simmons College here attended the funeral late yesterday of Dam-it, a white bulldog, which for four years had been the college mascot. He was found dead early yesterday. Funeral arrangements were on a large scale. Dam-it was buried in a casket on the college campus. A band played mournful airs and a student delivered the funeral oration on ‘Every Dog Has His Day.’ Over the grave was placed a marble headstone bearing the inscription: ‘Dam-it, he’s dead.’

A ‘self-made’ dog was Dam-it. Rising from a pup in the slums of town to an honored place in the household of J.D. Sandefer, president of Simmons College, he was a senior and never missed a class or “cut chapel.”

Associated Press,
January 21, 1920.