Oldest Tournament?

Dormant threads from the high school sections are preserved here.
Locked
User avatar
quizbowllee
Auron
Posts: 2180
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2004 2:12 am
Location: Alabama

Oldest Tournament?

Post by quizbowllee »

Last week, we won the 44th Annual Snead State Invitational in Boaz, AL. During the announcements, Mr. Leeth - the tournament director - made the claim that this was the longest-running quiz bowl tournament in the state of Alabama. It has been held every single year since 1973. My question is this:

Could this be the oldest continuously-held tournament in the nation? Is anyone aware of a tournament that has been around longer?

Thanks.
Lee Henry
AP Lit and APUSH Teacher
Quiz Bowl Coach
West Point High School
President-Elect/Past President- Alabama Scholastic Competition Association (ASCA)
jonah
Auron
Posts: 2383
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 5:51 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: Oldest Tournament?

Post by jonah »

The Streator Rotary tournament in Illinois ran 50 times, ending in 2013. I don't know for sure that it never ran more than once a year or skipped a year, but if there were no such irregularities it would have started in 1964. I'll see if I can dig up any articles with more details.

Update: An article from November 2006 claims that the tournament began in 1962.
Jonah Greenthal
National Academic Quiz Tournaments
User avatar
Important Bird Area
Forums Staff: Administrator
Posts: 6113
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2003 3:33 pm
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Contact:

Re: Oldest Tournament?

Post by Important Bird Area »

Chris Chiego pointed out to me that the Delaware County (Pennsylvania) Hi-Q has apparently been running continuously since the late 1940s.
Jeff Hoppes
President, Northern California Quiz Bowl Alliance
former HSQB Chief Admin (2012-13)
VP for Communication and history subject editor, NAQT
Editor emeritus, ACF

"I wish to make some kind of joke about Jeff's love of birds, but I always fear he'll turn them on me Hitchcock-style." -Fred
User avatar
quizbowllee
Auron
Posts: 2180
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2004 2:12 am
Location: Alabama

Re: Oldest Tournament?

Post by quizbowllee »

Is this an invitational or a local-only tournament?

I guess I should've said oldest "invitational," as I actually think our local county championship has been going since the 60s.
Lee Henry
AP Lit and APUSH Teacher
Quiz Bowl Coach
West Point High School
President-Elect/Past President- Alabama Scholastic Competition Association (ASCA)
User avatar
Ike
Auron
Posts: 1063
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 5:01 pm

Re: Oldest Tournament?

Post by Ike »

Is there any way we can get questions from any of these tournaments? I think they would be fascinating on many levels, - if we ever had a grant for quizbowl historians, I think it would be worth the while to dig some of them up.

Ike
Ike
UIUC 13
jonah
Auron
Posts: 2383
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 5:51 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: Oldest Tournament?

Post by jonah »

Ike wrote:Is there any way we can get questions from any of these tournaments? I think they would be fascinating on many levels, - if we ever had a grant for quizbowl historians, I think it would be worth the while to dig some of them up.
I agree, but I am somewhat skeptical that they will ever be found.

What are the oldest actual questions anyone has? (I don't mean to threadjack and would be fine with this getting split.) I got the 1982 Emory NIT from Eric Hillemann's archive.
Jonah Greenthal
National Academic Quiz Tournaments
User avatar
quizbowllee
Auron
Posts: 2180
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2004 2:12 am
Location: Alabama

Re: Oldest Tournament?

Post by quizbowllee »

I have contacted Blake Leeth at Snead State and have asked whether any of the questions from the tournaments held in the 1970s-1980s are still available if they could be scanned. I will let you know what I find out.
Lee Henry
AP Lit and APUSH Teacher
Quiz Bowl Coach
West Point High School
President-Elect/Past President- Alabama Scholastic Competition Association (ASCA)
User avatar
J. Young
Wakka
Posts: 106
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 4:21 am
Location: Old Virginia

Re: Oldest Tournament?

Post by J. Young »

quizbowllee wrote:I have contacted Blake Leeth at Snead State and have asked whether any of the questions from the tournaments held in the 1970s-1980s are still available if they could be scanned. I will let you know what I find out.
Is it possible that there could be results from the early Snead State Invitationals?
Justin Young
Longfellow MS '16
McLean HS '20; Captain
Achievement: Walked route of Pickett's Charge
User avatar
quizbowllee
Auron
Posts: 2180
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2004 2:12 am
Location: Alabama

Re: Oldest Tournament?

Post by quizbowllee »

J. Young wrote:
quizbowllee wrote:I have contacted Blake Leeth at Snead State and have asked whether any of the questions from the tournaments held in the 1970s-1980s are still available if they could be scanned. I will let you know what I find out.
Is it possible that there could be results from the early Snead State Invitationals?
The brochure they print every year has the champion listed from each year.
Lee Henry
AP Lit and APUSH Teacher
Quiz Bowl Coach
West Point High School
President-Elect/Past President- Alabama Scholastic Competition Association (ASCA)
Locked