By Olivia Turner | Arts & Life Editor

Since the turn of the 20th century, The Lariat has been reporting on the major events relevant to campus, Texas and our nation at large. Among these events were several pop culture moments, which defined generations and made each decade something to remember. Through all — the good, the bad, the funny and the sad, The Lariat was there.

Here are 12 major moments in Lariat history, hand plucked from the archives.

The first homecoming (1909)

Little did Baylor know it had kick-started what would become one of the most iconic aspects of high school and university culture when it launched the nation’s first homecoming celebration in 1909. This print issue described the occasion as “a scene of activity” with “hundreds of old Baylorites” pouring into campus for a band concert, faculty reception and several special features from the individual departments.

Women’s suffrage (1919)

In April 1919, Dr. Anna Howard Shaw came to speak at Baylor on the topic of women’s suffrage, which a Lariat reporter attended. In her speech, Shaw argued for women’s rights, reminding students that a democracy should promote equal rights for all people, and thus, women deserve the same advantages as men.

“The only way to refute that argument is to prove that women are not people,” Dr. Shaw said.

The coverage of this event marks the influence the women’s suffrage movement had on the nation, especially considering the 19th Amendment was passed only a year later, which finally gave women the right to vote.

The U.S. enters WWII (1941)

Only a day after America entered the second World War, the largely printed words, “‘It Can’t Happen Here’ Attitude Fades As Baylor Readjusts To Reality Of War’” stood out on the front page of the Dec. 9 Lariat paper. Under these words were a series of stories — headlines like “Registration is made difficult as news remains” and “Baylor Girls Feel Hardships of Crisis, Too” — which detailed all the complicated feelings of students, staff and faculty that came with joining yet another world war.

For the next four years, The Lariat would be littered with stories about battle victories, student war effort organizations and those students who were killed in action and would never again return to Baylor. Like much of the rest of the country, some stories detailed women students stepping up to fill roles and complete tasks that the men who were drafted would typically do.

Regardless of the pain and sorrow detailed in these prints, The Lariat made clear that the students remained strong through it all and made every effort to help their boys overseas.

WWII ends (1945)

After all the loss and tragedy of war, the joyful announcement came on May 8: “War Ended in Europe.” Under the all-caps hammer, reads “Five Years, Eight Months, Six Days of War in Europe Concluded by Surrender.”

The end of the war marked a period of hope, renewal and rebuilding that too would be reflected in The Lariat editions following this one.

Billy Graham visits Baylor (1951)

With the rise of evangelism in America came Billy Graham, one of the most beloved spreaders of the Gospel at the time, and somewhat of a Christian celebrity.

This front page of this print details an address Graham gave at chapel class in Waco Hall on Jan. 11, 1951. Writer Catherine Osborne described a passionate speech in which the evangelist spoke on divine intervention, “the shrine of science” and how communism is “inspired, controlled and given supernatural power by the devil.”

The Hollywood Golden Age (1958)

Through the late ‘50s and into the ‘60s, an increase in the production of films swept America with an overwhelming adoration of these Hollywood movies and the lovely actors and actresses who starred in them. These figures shaped everything from fashion and beauty standards at the time to expectations and stereotypes of romantic relationships.

Among the likes of legends like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Bridget Bardot were rising stars like actress and model Sandra Dee, who graced Baylor’s campus on Nov. 17, 1958, for a reception in the university drawing room in light of her recent role in the film “The Restless Years.”

Race to space (1962)

Along with the rest of the nation, Baylor celebrated the U.S. getting the first man, John H. Glenn Jr., in space on Feb. 20, 1962, as told in this paper. Under the larger headline, “US Gets First Astronaut In Orbit,” The Lariat ran a wire from Cape Canaveral, Fla., where the rocket had launched, along with a piece which detailed student opinion poll results on whether or not they believed the government should have spent such a hefty sum on the accomplishment.

Some responses were positive, saying that the trip was necessary for further scientific development and saw the event as historic. Others weren’t so supportive, saying that “if God wanted us to fly, we’d have wings.”

The piece also noted that on the day, several students cut classes to witness the event on television or listen over the radio, even bringing portable radios with them to their classes and meetings.

With the implications of the competition with Russian astronauts and the rapidly growing scientific discoveries occurring during the ‘60s, space flight was possibly the most defining moment of a generation.

JFK assassinated (1963)

On Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was tragically assassinated in a parade tour through Dallas. There, witnessing the horror unfold was an associate Lariat editor, Ed DeLong. In response to the event, which would become an assassination that conspiracy theorists would puzzle over for decades to come, The Lariat printed a one-page release to inform the Baylor population of several aspects of the day.

In two articles, DeLong described the details of the event as he experienced them and the account of Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough, who rode in the third car of the procession. With DeLong was Lariat staff writer Ray Hubener, who wrote a second article accompanying the description of the shooting. A final article collected the student’s reactions to the president’s death, in which several devastated students gave their shocked answers.

Campus contraceptives approved (1971)

With the ‘70s came addressing several social issues, such as the continuation of the civil rights movement, anti-war ideology and the furthering of women’s rights. With those came the integration of contraceptive methods as a more acceptable part of the social conversation.

According to an article from the Oct. 1, 1971 issue of The Lariat, the student court officially approved the distribution of contraception in the campus health center for female students in a close roll-call vote. Paul Parsons, a Lariat staff writer, wrote that the contraceptives were only available to married women 21 years or older with a doctor’s note or for women under 21 years with a parent’s permission, but a step toward completing the larger picture for women’s rights nonetheless.

Willie Nelson banned from campus (1988)

Willie Nelson, an American folk music icon and Baylor alumnus, was officially banned from campus in November of 1988. A Nov. 15 article by Lariat reporter Cathy Hobbs didn’t recount the official banning, but documented the relocation of a show that Nelson originally intended to perform at Baylor to a local bank, which led up to his eventual banning.

This piece marked an event that would be referenced in the conversations of several Baylor generations to come, and even written about in later Lariat articles.

9/11 (2001)

In a single morning that shook the entire nation, America experienced the deadliest terrorist attacks in its history. This large-scale tragedy would change the way Americans navigated airport security, viewed Middle eastern immigrants and, unfortunately, influence the way Generation Z processes trauma through memes.

Among images of the smoking towers, rubble and vehicles on fire, The Lariat provided ample coverage of the day and the events that followed in its print edition the day after, with wires from the Associated Press, a student reaction piece and a staff editorial.

Obama inaugurated president (2009)

Witnessing the inauguration of America’s first black president live in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 20, 2009, were four Lariat editors and writers: Anita Pere, Sommer Ingram, Ashley Corrine Killough and Jordan Wilson.

In a print issue distributed the day after, these journalists documented everything from the president’s first speech to the sheer reactions and volume of attendees from all over the world they encountered throughout the day. They collected images, moments and quotes from a day which went down in history as one of the most memorable presidential inaugurations to date.