Brown’s first humor magazine, the Brown Jug, was published from 1920 until 1933. Editor S. J. Perelman, Class of 1925, went on to be a noted humorist, penning scripts for the likes of the Marx Brothers and writing for the New Yorker from 1934 until his death in 1979.

Pembroke College’s student newspaper was published from 1922 to 1970. Known initially as The Record, “Pembroke” was added in 1931 after the change in name of the Women’s College.

Although there were informal bands that played at campus occasions prior to 1924, it was Irving Harris, Class of 1928, who organized what would become the Brown Band. The resourceful Harris borrowed some drums stored on campus by the Navy after World War I and led the band in their first parade to the Stadium (following its dedication in 1925), in which they enthusiastically played the one song they knew, on repeat. Within just a few years, the band was playing at football, hockey and baseball games, as well as community concerts, the welcoming of first year students and campus sings.

In the Fall of 1925, just a decade after passing 1,000 students, Brown began the year with more than 2,000 students for the first time. Of these, 604 were women and 1,465 were men.

Built completely by subscription, the stadium complex known as Brown University Field opened in 1925 with just the south stand (shown here) fully completed. The intention was to eventually mirror that stand to the north. However, the capacity today stands at 20,000, short of the planned 32,000. The football stadium joined the adjacent Aldrich Baseball Field. The Brown Gymnasium (later named Marvel Gymnasium) was completed across Elmgrove Avenue two years later.

Bronze Bruno, the first bear statue on campus, is placed on his base (which includes a piece of "Slate Rock" on which Roger Williams supposedly landed in 1636) at the new Brown Gymnasium. Watching intently are (left to right) Athletic Director Fredrick W. “Doc” Marvel, Class of 1884; Theodore Francis Green, Class of 1887; and Robert B. Jones, Class of 1907. The statue was moved to the College Green in May 1992, after the closing of Marvel Gym.

In the early 1900s, seniors celebrated the day on which they first wore their caps and gowns with a snake dance, followed by a humorous speech by a class member and a presentation of the class “mascot” – a plaster sculpture that represented that year’s politics or happenings in student life. Over the years, topics irreverently addressed included: compulsory chapel attendance, the undefeated “Brown Iron Men” football team and town-gown relations, specifically community parking and dog walking on and near campus.

This is a recording of the Brown University Band, made in October of 1927, when they stopped at the The Victor Talking Machine Company on the way back from a football game.

In 1928, the Women’s College was renamed Pembroke College in Brown University. The chosen name made sense, given that the College was informally called Pembroke in reference to the name of its main building (Pembroke Hall). However, some objected to the change as they perceived it to be an effort to marginalize female students by giving the coordinate college its own name.

Clarence Barbour, Class of 1888, began his presidency just two weeks after the stock market crash that would usher in the Great Depression. With all expansion plans on hold, Barbour focused instead on the task of connecting with Brown’s far-flung alumni and the University's public relations in general. Just days before his death in 1937, he said, “Holding Brown steady in a very critical time was, I feel, the greatest accomplishment of my administration.”

Although the note on the University Hall bulletin board promised a lecture by one J. S. Carberry, the presentation did not take place. Josiah Stinkney Carberry, the immediately legendary “Professor of Psychoceramics” (cracked pots), would go on to not appear numerous other times. In his honor, every Friday the 13^th, brown jugs are available in which to deposit loose change to support the Carberry Book Fund, which is used to purchase “such books as Professor Carberry might or might not approve of.”