Tommy Trojan, The Mascot of USC

• Roger Noble Burnham, "Tommy Trojan", 1930. California Art Bronze foundry.
  • Plaque with Helen of Troy on the east side of the base
  • Plaque on north side of the base with University seal.
  • Plaque with athletes on the west side of the base.
  • A torch on the south side of the base.

  • An earlier iteration of the mascot, called The Trojan, by Finn Haakon Frolich, probably from the late 1920s. The circumstances for the creation of the piece and the number of copies created are currently unknown. A Los Angeles Times article "Old World Made New" (January 6, 1929, page H5), describes use of replicas of ancient art in public schools with specific examples of the practice, including: "A bronze figure of the Trojan was a gift from the University of Southern California and is the work of Finn H. Frolich, a teacher in the Fairfax High School".

Bibliography of sources relating to the making of Tommy Trojan:

• For Burnham: Daily Trojan, March 16, 1962;
  
• For history of the statue: Daily Trojan, October 7, 1948, Daily Trojan, May 28, 1930;
  
• For dedication: Hill, H. W., ed. The Semicentennial Celebration of the Founding of the University of Southern California, 1880-1930. Los Angeles: University of Southern California Press, 1930;
  
• For Saunders: Los Angeles Times, April 8, 1976, section IV, p.1.

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