Herky The Hawk Comes To Life.

Our favorite college mascot – Herky The Hawk – has been the face of The University of Iowa since 1948.

While Herky looks a bit different than he did when he was first hatched on paper by SUI graduate Dick Spencer III, he looks pretty spry for a 70-something year-old bird – don’t you think?

Herky celebrated his 75th birthday in 2023. Read more here.

In another post, we spell out – in detail – Herky’s history. So, on this page, we want to give you the story of how Herky transformed from a two-dimensional cartoon character in 1948 to being the real-life mascot we all love today. So, here we go…

Above left is a very rare photograph (from the collection of Rich Franklin) of his father, John Franklin (with Rich’s brother, Bob, behind) “shaking hands” with Herky. The inscription reads: Best wishes to the man who named “Herky” from the guy who drew him! Dick Spencer III.

After Dick Spencer’s Herky was chosen as SUI’s official mascot in 1948, Herky began appearing on paper, and without question, he was well-received by Hawkeye fans.

Because of his growing popularity, in the early 1950’s – Herky began making his first “live” appearances at Iowa Stadium and at pep-rallies around campus. As you can see from the pics (below), the first Herkys were nothing more than a SUI Delta Tau Delta student wearing a headpiece made of chicken wire and papier-mâché…

But, as the new Hawkeye head coach – Forest Evashevski – was making forward progress with his football team, so Herky advanced in his colorful costuming as well (see pics below)…

As Herky grew in popularity – both with in-person appearances and by appearing on pennants, football programs, Homecoming buttons, and more – it was now time for one more Herky the Hawk first…

The 1956 Hawkeye football season opened with a 27-0 road win at Indiana on September 29th. The next Saturday, October 6th, 1956 – Oregon State from the Pacific 8 Conference traveled to Iowa City to take on the Hawks in Iowa Stadium. With this being our home opener, who knew, at that time, that Iowa’s exciting 14-13 win over the Beavers that day would be a precursor to the January 1, 1957 Rose Bowl game where Iowa would whip OSU once more – 35-19.

Thanks to John B. Keeline – a farmer from near Cherokee, Iowa – Herky – the red-tailed Hawk appeared on campus for the first time on October 5, 1956. According to The Daily Iowan article (see above), Keeline and his sons decided to give their favorite pet to the SUI Hawk-I Pep Club so the University could have a real, live mascot attending Hawkeye events. And, from what we read in The Daily Iowan the next day, Herky – red-tailed Hawk gave a memorable performance!

On game-day – October 6, 1956 – The Daily Iowan runs a front-page story on Herky – the red-tailed Hawk’s first appearance – which includes a photo-op with Iowa Governor Lee Hoegh, who was in Iowa City to celebrate the Hawkeyes’ first home game of 1956. Of course, this was also an election year, so the free publicity certainly was appreciated by the Governor – who lost his election later that fall. Interestingly, Hoegh did rightly predict that Iowa would go on to play in the January 1, 1957 Rose Bowl, and from his perspective, this would come to pass because the Hawkeyes now had a real, live mascot here in Iowa City!

***Herky the Hawk gets a 1956 Homecoming badge.***

When the Hawkeyes won the Big Ten Championship that year (1956), Iowa fans went crazy. Herky, of course, was primed and ready to go “national” with live TV appearances from Pasadena. Read more here. Sadly, we don’t know if Herky – the red-tailed Hawk made the trip, but we do know – thanks to one of our Iowa City friends, Scott McQuillen – that Herky appeared at home football games during the 1957 season. Here’s a beautiful shot that Scott’s father – Don McQuillen – took along the west sidelines of Iowa Stadium that year…

***Kudos to Scott McQuillen for providing this magnificent pic of both Herkys on the west sidelines at Iowa Stadium in 1957!***

At the time of this post, we’ve been unable to find any records of just how long Herky remained on the sidelines in Iowa City. If you have any pics or info, be sure to let us know!

As you might know, hawks, like all birds of prey, are certainly not animals to be tamed. As a matter of fact, in recent years, the Iowa Raptor Project in Johnson County has become a compassionate refuge for birds of prey that need our loving care and attention.

In 2021 and 2022, the University attempted to bring a red-tailed hawk back to Kinnick Stadium, hoping its flight across the field would give more awareness to the Iowa Raptor Project. This practice, however, was discontinued when it was believed by many that even such a well-intentioned effort like this was proving to be stressful to the hawk itself.

So, for now, we must be content, as true Hawkeye fans, to catch an occasional glimpse of a wild red-tailed hawk as it journeys around our city, making the Iowa River valley of Johnson County its home. Below are a couple of cool photographs of wild hawks hanging around some of our favorite Iowa City landmarks…

Click here to read how Iowans first took on the name Hawkeyes…

So, there you have it, from the 1950’s to today, Herky the Hawk has evolved in his outward appearances, but without a doubt, once a Hawkeye, always a Hawkeye! On Iowa! Go Hawks!