Joseph Lucius “Jake” Hanna, Jr. papers

Collection

Identifier: SC-Cent. Misc. Mss. 306

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Joseph Lucius “Jake” Hanna, Jr. papers primarily document his time playing and coaching football at Centenary College of Louisiana. The collection includes a scrapbook (1927-1993), clippings (1921-1985), a football program (1929), a fan’s memories of Centenary football (circa 1957), and photographs (circa 1915-1987). Also included are Hanna’s United States Navy Officer Service Record file (1942-1954) and navy photographs (1944).

The scrapbook mostly consists of newspaper clippings and handwritten descriptions of games played by the Centenary College of Louisiana football team from 1927 to 1930. Also included are photographs (team, coach, and individuals), season scores and schedules for 1928 and 1929, and tickets from games against the Louisiana Polytech Bulldogs (1929 November 23) and Loyola University (1929 December 6). According to a note in the scrapbook, Hanna’s friend Mattie Schafer assembled the material prior to 1928, then Hanna’s girlfriend Ouida Campbell maintained the scrapbook. Photographs and printed items document his induction into the Centenary Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987. Hanna’s 1988 obituary also appears.

Dates

1915 - 1993

Creator

Hanna, Joseph Lucius “Jake” Jr., 1907-1988 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Physical rights are retained by the Centenary College of Louisiana Archives and Special Collections. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. copyright laws.

Biographical / Historical

Joseph Lucius “Jake” Hanna Jr. (1907-1988) is the son of Joseph Lucius Hanna (1870-1960) and Carrie Shrock Maxwell Hanna (1877-1966). The Hanna family moved from Camden, Mississippi, to Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1920. Jake Hanna attended Shreveport High School (renamed C. E. Byrd High School in 1926) and graduated in 1927. He enrolled at Centenary College of Louisiana in 1927, was a celebrated college football player, and graduated in 1930. Hanna then worked as a coach and teacher at high schools in Louisiana and Texas – Franklin High School (1930-1931), Corsicana High School (1931-1933), Leesville High School (1933-1934), and Gladewater High School (1934-1940). From 1940 to 1942, he was Centenary College’s athletic director and football coach. During the Second World War, Hanna served in the United States Naval Reserve from 1942 to 1946. From 1948 until his retirement in 1978, Hanna worked for a car dealership run by his brother, William T. Hanna Jr. For his football achievements, he held numerous honors: Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (1978), Louisiana Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame (1982), Distinguished American Award from the Northwest Louisiana Chapter of the National Football Foundation (1982), Centenary College Alumni Association Athletic Hall of Fame (1987). He was an honorary life member of the administrative board of the First United Methodist Church (Shreveport, La.). In 1934, Hanna married Mary Elizabeth Atkins Hanna (1910-2002).

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

Arranged by document type, then chronologically.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Unidentified donation of scrapbook in 1996 (accession number 1996-74). Additional accruals: United States Navy Officer Service Record (originally cataloged as Cent. Misc. Mss. 467), photographs donated by Dorothy Kristin Hanna in 2018 (accession number 2018-48).