The Sideways Grave of Sideways the Dog

The girl who stole Georgia Tech’s heart was a white terrier puppy with a sideways walk. 

In 1945, an unlikely soul became the most popular girl on campus at Georgia Tech. Her name was Sideways and she was a white terrier with an endearing black patch on one eye. 

Sideways is said to have been born on March 1st, 1945. At just eight months old, the puppy terrier was cruelly thrown from the window of a driving vehicle on North Avenue and found by Mrs. Schofield, a local resident who owned a boarding house on North Avenue. 

Severely injured from the fall, the young terrier underwent surgeries that saved her life but left her walking at an angle that earned her the name, Sideways. Quickly, the young pup became a popular personality on campus as she wandered in and out of lecture halls, marched with the drill team, and even led the Georgia Tech football team onto the field. 

Beloved by the student body, it was a tragic day when Georgia Tech’s unofficial mascot passed away in 1947 at roughly three years of age. While the exact cause of death for Sideways isn’t known, the assumption is the ill-fated puppy accidentally ate some rat poison left in one of the student dorms.  

Today, Sideways can be found buried to the west of Tech Tower with a marble grave featuring a black-and-white photo of the puppy and the words: “Ever faithful and true, companion of the student body and G.A. Tech.” It is a tradition for students to leave pennies on the grave for good luck on future tests and assignments.

Originally, the tombstone was positioned straight until the university found it more fitting to slant the grave to remember Sideways forever as she was in life.