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Project Overview

Mapping Carleton Football History: Then vs. Now

Carleton football has been part of campus life for more than a century. This project explores how the spaces, traditions, and culture surrounding the program have changed over time. Using archival photographs, historical records, and modern digital tools, we compare the past and present of Carleton football.

Through interactive visualizations, maps, and digital models, this project allows viewers to explore how Laird Stadium and the surrounding athletic spaces have evolved. Rather than simply presenting historical images, this project highlights both continuity and transformation within the football program and the college itself.

Project Overview

This project investigates the history of Carleton football by comparing historical and present-day views of the stadium, facilities, and program culture. The goal is to show how digital humanities tools can reveal patterns of change in campus spaces and traditions.

Instead of focusing only on written history, the project emphasizes visual and spatial evidence. By examining archival photographs, campus maps, and modern photographs taken from the same locations, we can directly observe how the football program and its environment have developed over time.

The project also incorporates interactive elements, allowing viewers to explore the data and spaces themselves rather than simply reading about them.

Methods

This project uses several digital humanities methods to analyze and present historical material.

Rephotography

One key method is rephotography, which involves recreating historical photographs from the same physical location in the present day. By aligning archival and modern images, we can directly compare how spaces have changed over time.

Image Restoration

Historical photographs were enhanced using image restoration and colorization tools. These techniques improve clarity and help modern viewers interpret details that may be difficult to see in the original images.

Spatial Mapping and Digital Scanning

The project also incorporates spatial mapping and digital scanning technologies to place the football program within the physical landscape of campus. These tools move beyond static historical images and create a more interactive and exploratory digital experience.

Laird Stadium

Laird Stadium, built in 1927, has served as the home of Carleton football for nearly a century. Because the stadium has remained in the same location for so long, it provides a unique opportunity to study how both the football program and the surrounding campus environment have evolved.

While the overall structure of the stadium remains recognizable, many surrounding facilities and features have changed over time. Renovations, infrastructure improvements, and environmental events have all shaped the space.

By comparing historical and modern photographs of the stadium, we can observe both continuity and transformation within this central site of Carleton athletics.

Environmental Events

Environmental events have also influenced the history of Carleton football facilities.

In 2010, severe flooding in Northfield affected parts of the Carleton campus, including the lower levels of Laird Stadium. These areas contained important football facilities such as locker rooms, meeting spaces, and training areas. The flood caused significant damage and required renovations to the interior of the stadium.

Flooding again affected the area in 2024, demonstrating how natural events continue to shape campus spaces and infrastructure.

Data Visualization

In addition to visual historical materials, this project incorporates data visualization to explore the history of Carleton football competition.

One example is the long-standing rivalry between Carleton College and St. Olaf College. Using historical game data, we created an interactive graph showing wins and losses between the two teams across many years.

This visualization allows users to explore patterns and trends in the rivalry over time.

Digital Exploration

To expand how viewers interact with the project, several digital tools were incorporated.

Interactive maps allow users to explore locations connected to the football program across campus. In addition, we created three-dimensional scans of parts of Laird Stadium using Scaniverse. These models allow users to explore the structure and interior spaces of the stadium from multiple perspectives.

By documenting these spaces digitally, the project highlights how tradition and recognition are embedded in the physical environment of the stadium.

Conclusion

By combining archival research, photography, and digital tools, this project provides a new way to explore the history of Carleton football.

Comparisons between past and present images reveal both continuity and change in the program’s spaces, traditions, and culture. At the same time, interactive visualizations and digital models allow users to engage with this history in new ways.

Ultimately, the project demonstrates how digital humanities methods can make historical research more visual, spatial, and interactive, opening new possibilities for understanding the past.

Interactive Plots

Stadium 3D Scans

This scan shows the exterior of Laird stadium, largely unchanged since its construction in 1927.

Laird Stadium model created in SketchUp by Dylan Linet ’10 for the Carleton College Virtual Campus Project, 2010-2011.

This model shows the ground floor of the stadium including the weight room and the newly added turf section. The interior has been remodeled a few times while the exterior has largely stayed the same.

This model shows the upstairs of the stadium, home to the football coaching offices and meeting rooms as well as storage for some campus clubs. It includes the Hall of Knights which holds Carleton football memorabilia. The upstairs has been remodeled as well. The original upstairs was home to several apartments that students could live in. These have since been repurposed as office spaces.

Interactive Map

Our home base is Laird Staidum on the banks of the Cannon River. We practice hard on the fields behind West Gym starting in the humidity of August and ending with the chill of November (hopefully December).

A typical Coach Journell home game day protocol starts with a team breakfast in LDC at exactly 9:30am, Followed by the walk to the field which follows the blue line to Laird Stadium. The parents club hosts a wonderful tailgate before each game, equipped with food and drink for the families who commute to watch the game. Occasionally there is live music as well. The goal of each home game day is a win on the historic Bob Sullivan Field at Laird Stadium. A place and program filled with tradition and history.

Timeline