The Vulcan Bowl was a college football bowl game played at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The game was played on New Year's Day between 1941 and 1949 and again in 1952, between historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The game was one of the longer-lasting bowls for HBCUs established in the 1940s.[1] The first game in the series was called the Steel Bowl, and the bowl game served as an early era black college football national championship game by matching the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion against the best team from the other HBCU conferences.[2] The final contest was also called the Steel Bowl and was played at Legion Field.[3]

Game results

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Date Winner Loser Ref.
January 1, 1941 Morris Brown 19 Wilberforce 3 [4]
January 1, 1942 Langston 13 Morris Brown 0 [5]
January 1, 1943 Texas College 13 Tuskegee 0 [6]
January 1, 1944 Tuskegee 12 Clark (GA) 7 [7]
January 1, 1945 Tennessee A&I 13 Tuskegee 0 [8]
January 1, 1946 Tennessee A&I 33 Texas College 6 [9]
January 1, 1947 Tennessee A&I 32 Louisville Municipal 0 [10]
January 1, 1948 Wilberforce State 27 Grambling 21 [11]
January 1, 1949 Kentucky State 23 North Carolina A&T 13 [12]
January 1, 1952 Bethune–Cookman 27 Texas College 13 [3]

References

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  1. ^ Roger B., Saylor (May 2000). "Black College Football" (PDF). College Football Historical Society Newsletter. p. 6.
  2. ^ "Vulcan Bowl Game Set". Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News (p. 11). 7 November 1941.
  3. ^ a b "Daytona team Steel Bowl winner". The Birmingham News. 2 January 1952. Retrieved 13 June 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ John Rodgers (11 January 1941). "Morris Brown Tops Wilberforce In Thrilling Steel Bowl Game". Durham Carolina Times (p. 5).
  5. ^ "Langston wins Vulcan Bowl game, 13 To 0". The Birmingham News. 2 January 1942. p. 23. Retrieved 13 June 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Texas College rally wins Vulcan Bowl battle, 13–10 over Tuskegee Institute". Tyler Morning Telegraph. 2 January 1943. Retrieved 13 June 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Tigers make breaks, beat Clark, 12 to 7". The Birmingham News. 2 January 1944. Retrieved 13 June 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Tennessee State rips Tuskegee". The Tennessean. 2 January 1945. Retrieved 13 June 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Texas negros lose Vulcan Bowl crown". The Austin American. 2 January 1946. Retrieved 13 June 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Tennessee State wallops Louisville in Vulcan Bowl". The Tennessean. 2 January 1947. Retrieved 13 June 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Wilberforce cops Vulcan Bowl fray". The Lima News. 2 January 1948. Retrieved 13 June 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Kentucky State Thorobreds win in Vulcan Bowl, 23–13". Lexington Herald-Leader. 2 January 1949. Retrieved 13 June 2021 – via Newspapers.com.