Silver Streaks- History of Nickname & Logo

At one time the Galesburg High School nickname was the Red Devils or the Tigers. The school colors became gold and black, presumably to fit with the Tigers.

It is believed GHS student, Bob Hatfield coined Silver Streaks. It was inspired by the Silver Streak Zephyr that came thru Galesburg. Hatfield first yelled,”Hi Yo Silver,” on Jan. 25, 1935 in game vs Canton. It stuck! Tom Wilson’s detailed account is in the article below. 

Tom Wilson Story on Streaks Nickname

It is claimed that when Hatfield yelled,”Hi Yo Silver,” not only did he want Silver Streaks to be the schools nickname but envisioned it being paired with the highly popular radio show, The Lone Ranger. During the intro and closing of the show the phrase used was,”Hi Yo Silver, Away.” This the next 80 plus years has been a cheer used by Galesburg.

The theme music of the radio show and later the TV show in late ‘50’s and ‘60’s was the William Tell Overture. The Overture became the “spirit or pep song” for Silver Streaks teams. 

In the ‘60’s and ‘70’s with packed houses that rose to clap in unison to the song, it was impressive. One of the most impressive displays was when Sally Rynott and the GHS band were selected to perform at the IHSA Tourney in 1976, and the Streaks basketball team made it to State the same year.

Rynott was told by the IHSA that the band could only perform the GHS school song and fight song one time. The band did so in the first half. In the second half when the Streaks were struggling, she brought out the William Tell Overture not just a second but a third time. 

The song and the Galesburg crowds were always so impressive, rival high schools did not ever play the song but more and more colleges began to use it to inspire their crowds. Once listening to a college game on TV, when the pep band played the William Tell Overture, the TV announcer said,”The band is striking up Galesburg’s Hi Yo Silver to get the crowd going.”

In the 1980’s, Galesburg at different times tried to introduce versions of a Lone Ranger as a mascot that met little success. In the late ‘80’s or early ‘90’s a horse with a Lone Ranger was brought out to football games a few times. But when coaches had to clean up messes left at the 50 yard line, “Silver” was not invited back. 

When Galesburg became the Silver Streaks in the 1930’s, GHS kept the gold from the Tiger days, but added silver to make school colors silver and gold. 

During the girls basketball team’s successful State Tourney runs of the ‘90’s and ‘00’s, their home uniforms were a metallic silver. Boys basketball has continued to use both gold and silver in uniforms, girls basketball has used only silver. 

The logo/symbol for the Streaks has been a lightning bolt. The lightning bolt has represented GHS sports teams for over 80 years. It has only recently been challenged. 

One of the all-time classic warmups were worn by the Streaks in 1968 with “Streaksburg” across the front and the lightning bolts on the sleeves. 

The lightning bolt was on center court of Steele Gym. The lightning bolt was put on the new GHS gym from the start. There has been a lightning bolt on center court in Thiel Gym for all but 5 years. When another symbol was placed at center court in the 2010’s, it was unpopular enough that when it came time to repaint the court, a citizen’s committee was formed that was adamant the new court design included a lightning bolt.

The lightning bolt was on the front of basketball uniforms throughout the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. There was no “Galesburg” nor “Silver Streaks,” the lightning bolt said it all. Few if any schools in Illinois featured a uniform that just had logo/symbol on the front of their jerseys. And at that time, the player’s name was on the back. The player’s name on the back was long before colleges did such a thing. 

The only use of a train was by basketball managers to take water and towels out to players. There was a period of time in high school basketball that the players stayed on the floor and the coach could not go out. The managers had a wooden train (like a wagon) to take water and towels to players during time out.

One of the most creative use of the combination of lightning bolts while also giving a nod to Galesburg’s railroad heritage was a recent football uniform. It used the lightning bolt on the jersey, as a flashback to the ‘60’s basketball jerseys. Then the helmet had the lightning bolt on the side and had railroad tracks running down the center of the helmet.

Around 2020, the GHS baseball team began to use the front of a train engine that was configured to look like a G. It was a logo of a minor league baseball team, borrowed with the colors modified by using silver and gold. 

Within just a few years, the new “train G” was used by District #205 central office. Today it is used in all the schools. It appears on District #205 documents, clothing sold by the District, and even on building walls. And it is used on many of the athletic gear and uniforms.

So what do you think- 

Which is your favorite logo for the Silver Streaks? 

Which logo would you put on center court of Thiel Gym?

Lightning Bolt

Train G

Please share your thoughts at the bottom of the blog in the comments.