The first McDonogh Alumni Athletic Club Field Day competition was held on July 4, 1893, as part of the school’s annual Fourth of July celebration. Founded on December 10, 1887, by five McDonogh students, members paid an admission fee of 50 cents and a monthly fee of 10 cents to use the “old star troupe room” in the basement of Old Main, which went toward outfitting a small gymnasium. Within a month, there were 24 members in good standing and enough money to purchase a variety of equipment. The Association was also referred to interchangeably as the McDonogh Alumni Athletic Club, but it was not affiliated with the McDonogh Alumni Athletic Society, aka Alumni Athletic Club, which was established in January 1895 by alumni football players.
