Barney the Beaver, Blackburn College’s lovable mascot, celebrated his 70th Birthday on Feb. 2. Barney’s celebration had cake, drinks and even a place where students could build their own beaver stuffed animal, complete with a Blackburn t-shirt. In order to properly celebrate Barney’s life, it is important to understand his origins.
Barney was created in 1947 as a mascot for Blackburn College which had been established in 1837. The first mention of the name Beavers in regards to Blackburn was in the Feb. 8, 1947 issue of “The Blackburnian.” In an article titled “The Camera’s Eye,” writer Tim Lane said, “It has been suggested that the name ‘Beavers’ be adopted for the Blackburn basketball team. This name was suggested because it has a direct bearing on the work plan. I think the connotation is good. If there are no indignant protests to the proposal, and if a better one is not contributed, the team will hereafter be known as the ‘Beavers.’” Now deceased, Lane went on to become a scientific glassblower. There was also a paper in his alumni file in the archives that claimed he went on to work on the atomic bomb project.
There is a bit of controversy as to Barney’s origin story. In Blackburn’s archives there is another source that states Barney’s birthdate as happening a week earlier in Clegg Chapel. In this story, he was introduced to “ward off the February blahs” and decrease stress before final grades came out. This other source was not located in the archives although it was referenced in numerous other documents. One of these being an interview with Tim Lane himself. History major and Blackburn archivist Autumn Haas said, “I like the way old Barney looked, I feel like his current rendition looks a little smug.”
In any case, the name caught on pretty fast. The Blackburnian began to refer to athletics teams as the “Beavers” and, shortly after, the name began to appear on athletic clothing. In the early 1950s Barney appeared as a cartoon in the college newspaper and, later, in the yearbooks. These cartoons depicted a long necked beaver wearing a derby hat and a Blackburn sweater, but they were still pretty different looking from our current rendition. According to Blackburn’s records Barney was not represented as a full costumed mascot until 1976 when the first known picture of the mascot was taken.
Since then, Barney’s mascot costume and cartoon representation have grown to resemble their contemporary forms. In 2012, Barney was replaced in athletics by Buzz, a simpler and easier beaver design to produce. Buzz the Beaver’s minimalistic look and aggressive face makes him a perfect candidate to adorn sports jerseys. Director of Marketing and Public Relations Peter Oswald said, “There was some concern after he was designed that Barney would go away…he (Buzz) is just a little simpler and a little more contemporary which makes him good for jerseys and merchandise but the old Barney can’t be replaced.”
Beavers typically do not live to be older than 20; however, Barney is special case. It seems that as long as Blackburn is around we will always have a him.