Brunonia and Bronze Bruno
On May 1, 1922, seniors introduced their Class Day Mascot, Bruno. The Brown Daily Herald gushed about the $50 six-week old cub “Bruno has already won his way into every heart.” The bear attended baseball games at Andrews Field and even appeared on stage, playing the role of a lamb in the student production of Three Live Ghosts. Sadly, Bruno died in early July after ingesting chemicals in his rooftop home at Arnold Biology Lab. Bruno’s preserved body, complete with his studded collar inscribed “Mascot of the Class of 1922 of Brown University,” was placed in the Trophy Room. Bruno’s premature demise stirred up campus debate about funding, housing, and care of future live mascots.
In 1922 Eli Harvey, the country’s foremost animal sculptor, was hired by the Bronze Bruno Committee to create “a statue of our mascot Bruno on the campus to be a rallying center for student celebrations.” A campaign to “Put Hair on the Bear” was undertaken, with student donations limited to one dollar. Harvey is pictured at the Bronx Zoo feeding his model Ivan, a seventeen year-old Alaskan Brown Bear.
On November 23, 1927, Bronze Bruno was finally placed on its pedestal at the new Brown Gymnasium. After being cast at Gorham Manufacturing Company, the statue languished there while debate about its true meaning and placement dragged on.
The cheerleaders eventually decided that students needed another bear mascot, and in November Bruno’s sibling was purchased from a Catholic church in Rumford for a trial run. Student donations covered Bruno II’s $40 cost, and the bear, who possessed “all of his sibling’s best characteristics,” appeared at the Bates game on November 11. Known as Brunonia, the full grown bear is pictured with her handler at Brown’s new stadium in 1925.
Brunonia’s final appearance as mascot was Thanksgiving Day, 1928. Her top billing on the program cover recognized Brunonia’s seven-year tenure, the longest in Brown history. She had grown to over 500 pounds and had become grouchy and difficult to handle, despite the tender care of Willard Walcott (1923). Walcott solved the mascot housing issue by keeping Brunonia at his farm in Greenville, RI. He called her Lady, and trucked her to home and away games. In winter, Brunonia burrowed into Walcott’s barn hayloft to hibernate. This bear, who had entertained Brown fans with her somersaults, retired to Roger Williams Park Zoo to quietly live out her life. There are those who said that on fall Saturday mornings, Brunonia paced and pawed the ground in anticipation of a stadium appearance.
A huge rendering of Bruno provided the focal point in a fundraising brochure soliciting alumni support for a new 1920s athletic complex on Elmgrove Avenue. The whirlwind campaign was an overwhelming success. The new facilities gave life to Athletic Director “Doc” Marvel’s dream of “A Team for Every Man and Every Man on a Team.”
