Death and Honors
Trueblood died in Bradenton, Florida in 1951 at age 95. At the time, the Associated Press noted: "He pioneered the teaching of speech in the nation's colleges during his 42 years on the University of Michigan faculty." His brother, Professor Edwin P. Trueblood, also a speech professor at Earlham College, died earlier the same year. Thomas Trueblood's obituary reported that he "devised the famous college cheer 'The Locomotive.'" He devised the University's famous "locomotive" cheer in 1903 while returning to Ann Arbor on a train from a Big Ten football game. However, other sources indicate that the locomotive cheer began at Princeton in the 1890s.
Trueblood's papers are at the Bentley Historical Library in Ann Arbor. Trueblood has been the subject of two articles by Linda Robinson Walker in the University of Michigan alumni publication Michigan Today. Much of the factual information in this article is distilled from Walker's articles.
In 1921, students of Professor Trueblood honored him by establishing the Trueblood Fund. Today, the Trueblood Fellowship is open to students majoring in Screen Arts & Cultures. In 1981, Trueblood was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor as part of the fourth induction class. The Trueblood Theater was located in the Henry S. Frieze Building at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance and named in Trueblood's honor. The Trueblood Theater closed its doors in 2006 when the Frieze Building was razed to make room for the North Quad Residential and Academic Complex.
A portrait of Trueblood painted in 1920 by Merton Grenhagen was originally hung first in Alumni Hall (now the Museum of Art) and then in the Theater Library in the Frieze Building. In 1998, the Trueblood portrait was hung at the University of Michigan Golf Course. At the time of the installation, the University Record noted: "Known as 'Chief' to his teaching associates and 'Trueby' to his students, Thomas C. Trueblood now resides among U-M's golf history."
Read more about this topic: Thomas Trueblood
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