On Tuesday, April 20, the legend of one of the most recognized college mascots in the country—the Nittany Lion—turns 100. To mark this important occasion, Penn State will hold a ceremony at the gravesite of the legend’s creator, Joe Mason ’07 EMS, in Monongahela, Pa., near Pittsburgh.
Harrison Denning "Joe" Mason was the intrepid freshman third baseman of the 1904 Pennsylvania State College baseball team. On April 20 of that year, while being shown around the Princeton campus, two Princeton sophomore tour guides bragged about their Bengal tiger mascot. Since Penn State lacked a mascot, Mason replied with an instant fabrication of the Nittany Lion, "fiercest beast of them all," which could overcome even the tiger. Penn State went on to defeat the heavily favored Princeton Tigers that day, 8 to 1, and the idea of a school symbol for Penn State was sparked.
Three years later, the anonymous editor of Penn State's first humor magazine, The Lemon, called for the Pennsylvania Mountain Lion, the Nittany Lion, to become Penn State's official school symbol. The Class of 1908 voted in favor of that editor's suggestion, and the first lion appeared on the Class of 1908's La Vie. That editor was, of course, Joe Mason.
The original Nittany Lion is currently displayed in the lobby of University Park’s Pattee Library.
The ceremony, sponsored by the University Libraries, is open to the public and will be held at the Monongahela Cemetery (route 88 south of Pittsburgh). For more information, please contact Steven Herb of the University Libraries at 814-863-2141.
