Confederate and White Supremacist Imagery as Identity: Dixie State Through the 20th Century

Minstrel shows continued at Dixie College with announcements appearing in the Washington County News in 1931, 1934, and 1944. Soon after, other forms of white supremacist and Confederate imagery joined minstrelsy as the college's identity coalesced in the mid-century.

One of the earliest and most troubling adoptions of a white supremacist identity associated with the American South emerged in 1951. The Dixie Journalist Chatter student newspaper features the headline "Ku Klux Klan Splits Rule" in the April 27, 1951 edition in relation to what appears to be a recent student body election. It is unclear how long the Ku Klux Klan student group was present on campus or what the scope of their group was. It may have well been an overt white supremacist student group or a group of college students from Utah "playing" with Southern identity. Regardless, the student KKK group shows an early and overt embrace of white supremacist names and imagery as the college and its student body shaped its identity. The imagery of the Confederate South was then offically integrated into the college's identity in 1952 when Dixie Junior College athletics adopted "The Rebels" as a nickname, and in 1956 a Confederate soldier became the official school mascot.

A little more than a century after the American Civil War, there appears to be a willful ignorance of the atrocities of the Antebellum South - no doubt influenced by the popularity of Gone With the Wind. A 1959 letter in the Dixie Sun student newspaper asked "What’s wrong with making Dixie more southern, with having the Confederate flag as a secondary emblem?...The South was the most colorful and fun-loving section of the United States before the trouble with slavery began… " By 1960, the Confederate battle flag was flown on campus and eventually became an official campus emblem. "Slave Auctions" as fundraisers on campus and in the community emerged in 1959 and were a regular occurrence until the 1990's. The college yearbook was then renamed The Confederate in 1966, a name it retained until at least 1994. New residence halls were also built in 1963 and named the "Shiloh Dorms."

No series of events better captures Dixie College's infatuation with the Confederacy than the 1968 D-Week event themed “Days of Southern Glory.” The week's events featured a battle between faculty and students, a slave auction, and a fifty-person minstrel show culminating in a Tara-themed formal dance.

Confederate imagery and identity appeared to experience a lull through the 1970’s with a resurgence of “Rebel” pride in the 1980’s, kicked off with "Rodney Rebel" becoming the named, plush character mascot in 1981 (Bancroft). The Confederate battle flag was heavily used as an emblem of the college during that period and was only retired in 1994 (Bancroft) after a white supremacist bombed black students' dorms in 1993 (Associated Press). There were no injuries or fatalities (Jury).

~Spencer Potter

Announcement in the December 10, 1931 edition of the Washington County News of a " A 'negroe' minstrel show for the boy's day program is being planned at the Dixie College..."

1934 Washington County News section for Dixie College noting “Mr. McAllister’s department is preparing a minstrel show, “The Land O’Cotton.”

1944 Dixie College News clipping discussing the freshman class's minstrel show.

Headline in Dixie Journalists' Chatter April 27, 1951 announcing the result of what appears to be a recent student body election. One of the student government parties is called the Ku Klux Klan.

What's wrong with making Dixie more Southern.tif

Letter to the editor in the February 13, 1959 edition of The Dixie Sun. The letter asks why shouldn't Dixie adopt more Southern imagery and songs and states "The South was the most colorful and fun-loving section of the United States before the trouble with slavery began."

Yearbook page with a photograph showing a Dixie Jr. College homecoming parade float with a man and woman in black face in what appears to be a cotton field with a white man behind them with either reins to the plow or a whip. The year is likely 1963 - 1966.

1968 yearbook photograph showing students raising the United States flag and the Confederate battle flag on the campus of Dixie Jr. College.

Yearbook page describing the 1968 D-Day week activities including many Confederate-themed events. The summary of the week's events includes the phrase "what would the South be without its slaves?"

1968 yearbook photo collage showing many college events displaying the Confederate flag. Then College president Dr. Ferron C. Losee is shown standing behind a Confederate battle flag at a lectern. The caption at the bottom left of the page notes that the theme of the D-Day dance was Tara - the fictional plantation from Gone With the Wind.

1968 yearbook page with two photographs. The top photograph show a group of fifty students onstage in some type of performance. Of the fifty students shown, at least twenty-four can be seen wearing blackface makeup and many are also waving miniature Confederate battle flags.

Yearbook page summarizing student activities for the year including a slave auction

Yearbook page with an inset photograph of two students in blackface

WORKS CITED

Associated Press. “Abolition Movement May Rid Dixie of Rebel Flag.” Desert News , 23 Oct. 1993, www.deseret.com/1993/10/23/19072334/abolition-movement-may-rid-dixie-of-rebel-flag.

Bancroft, Kaitlyn. “Confederate Flags, Mock Slave Auctions, Minstrel Shows: Can Utah's 'Dixie' Be Separated from Past Associations?” St. George Spectrum & Daily News, 17 July 2021, www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2020/07/17/dixie-name-racist-history-confederacy-st-george-utah/5370233002/.

“Jury Convicts Man of 1993 Pipe-Bombing at Dixie College.” The Chronicle of Higher Education , 24 May 1996, www.chronicle.com/article/jury-convicts-man-of-1993-pipe-bombing-at-dixie-college/.

Confederate and White Supremacist Imagery as Identity: Dixie State Through the 20th Century

Facing the Truth of the Alma Mater