Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education Records, 1890-2015

Summary Information

At a Glance

Arrangement

Arrangement

This collection in arranged in 8 series.

• Series I: Rosters and Statistics, 1911-2006
• Subseries I.1: Pink Sheets, 1911-1986
• Subseries I.2: Sports Binders, 1945-1983
• Subseries I.3: Scoresheets and Record Books, 1922-2006
• Series II: Publicity, 1929-2014
• Subseries II.1: Lines on Lions, 1946-2005
• Subseries II.2: Media Guides, 1939-1974
• Subseries II.3: Programs, 1929-2006
• Subseries II.4: Press Releases, 1959-1985
• Subseries II.5: Events: Varsity "C" Dinner, 1940-2014
• Series III: Biographical Files, 1920s-2000s
• Series IV: Athletic Information Cards, 1940s-1990s
• Series V: Administrative Files, 1890-2015
• Subseries V.1: Minutes, 1890-2015
• Subseries V.2: Director of Athletics Jonathan Reeves records, 1940-2004
• Series VI: Subject Files, 1901-2005
• Series VII: Photographs and Media, 1934-1990s
• Series VIII. Scrapbooks, 1926-1941

Description

Summary

This collection consists of the official records of the Columbia intercollegiate athletic teams as well as the administrative records, minutes, press releases, media guides, programs, photographs, and scrapbooks from the Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education Department. It includes the records of former Director John A. Reeves.

• Series I: Rosters and Statistics, 1911-2006

  This series contains the official game records for intercollegiate contests. Organized by sport and by season, the records include dates, locations, opponents, rosters, and final scores. The bulk of the records document games from the 1940s to 1980s.

• Series II: Publicity, 1929-2014

  This series contains the materials produced by the Office of Sports Information (later, Athletics Communications). It includes the Varsity "C" newsletter, Lines on Lions, media guides, game programs, press releases and event records, such as the annual Varsity "C" Dinner.

• Series III: Biographical Files, 1920s-2000s

  This series contains the "coaches' files," which are biographical files on not just coaches and trainers but also Columbia administrators, former student-athletes and other friends of Columbia Athletics. The files start with figures from the 1920s up to the 2000s. A file may include photos, negatives, slides, press releases, coaching questionnaries, resumes, newspaper clipplings, and memorial service programs.

• Series IV: Athletic Information Cards, 1940s-1990s

  This series contains four sets of index cards with student-athlete information. Organized roughly by date, each set contains cards with the students' biographical details (hometown, school and class year) and a record of their participation in Columbia Athletics. Cards are organized alphabetically, except for the last set, 1988-1994, which is organized by sport (e.g. archery) or division (e.g. lightweight crew) and then alphabetically.

• Series V: Administrative Files, 1890-2015

  This series contains the administrative records related to athletics. There are a series of official minutes from the early days of intercollegiate athletics at Morningside. The bulk of this series is made up by the records of the former Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education Director John A. Reeves.

• Series VI: Subject Files, 1901-2005

  This series contains files organzined by subject as well as other publications and reports.

• Series VII: Photographs and Media, 1934-1990s

  This series contains photographs, mostly black-and-white prints but also some color prints. There are also 2 film reels with footage of the 1934 Rose Bowl game against Stanford University.

• Series VIII. Scrapbooks, 1926-1941

  This series contains scrapbooks, mostly with newspaper clippings but some photographs, programs, tickets and other ephemera. They document Columbia Athletics from the 1920s to the 1940s.

Using the Collection

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

All administrative records of the University are restricted for 25 years from the date of creation.

The following boxes are located offsite: 1-52. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least two business in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

Gloves must be worn while handling photographic prints and negatives in the collection. All audiovisual materials must be digitized before use.

The RBML cannot provide access to original time-based media material which has not been first been reformatted for preservation. Researchers are welcome to examine archival time-based media items and decide whether they wish to place an order for Audio/Video reformatting. If copyright and/or condition restrictions apply, it may not be possible to digitize a requested item. Please note that A/V reformatting is handled by an outside vendor and typically takes 6-8 weeks.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education Records; Box and Folder; University Archives, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.

Related Materials

For materials related to the early days of athletics, please consult the Columbia University Committee on Student Organizations records (UA#0011), Nicholas Murray Butler football correspondence (UA#0305) and the Lou Little Papers (MS#0791)

For photographs of the sports teams, games, coaches, student athletes and managers from the 1930s to the 1960s, please consult the Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education negatives (UA#0319).

Materials about individual sports and the physical education curriculum can be found in the Historical Subject Files (UA#0002). For photographs, please consult the Historical Photograph Collection (UA#0003), John Mladinov Photograph Collection (UA#0204) and the Office of Public Affairs Photograph Collection (UA#0109).

Accruals

Additions are expected.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

2015.2016.M022: Source of acquisition--Alex Oberweger, Department of Athletics. Method of acquisition--Transfer; Date of acquisition--6/25/2015.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Revision Description

2020-02-06 Added materials in Box 9. The materials were donated to the Columbiana Collection by Gustavus T. Kirby (EE 1895, LLB 1898), who served as manager of the Columbia University Athletic Association.

2021-01-11 Removed expired restrictions (JR)

2022-01-07 Removed expired restrictions (JR)

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Historical Note

In 1867, the Trustees gave a student-led baseball team a $200 grant to purchase equipment and with that, Columbia went on to defeat NYU and City Colloege, but lose to Yale and Princeton, in its first season of intercollegiate athletics. In 1870, Columbia played its first football game, only the fourth intercollegiate contest in the history of the sport, on November 12, 1870. Columbia lost to Rutgers by a score of 6-3. In 1873 in its first outing, Columbia crew placed fourth in a field of thirteen, but, the very following year, they won the first regatta of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association. Track fielded its first team in 1876. Early sporting events such as these were both student-run and student- and alumni-financed. There were numerous alumni-controlled organizations in charge (e.g, Columbia College Athletic Union (CCAU) and later the Columbia University Athletic Association (CUAA), and some for separate sports (e.g. Columbia University Football Association).

In 1901, the University Council passed a resolution to appoint a University Committee of Student Organizations to supervise and control all student organizations, athletic and other. And so, the faculty were put in control of athletics at Columbia, but alumni remained involved. Each team had a graduate manager. It was in this period, that the Columbia Lion was adopted as a sports symbol (1910).

In 1931, the University Trustees took control over intercollegiate athletics when the Athletic Association's debt exceeded $200,000. The Trustees argued that athletics should be considered a student activity, conducted by the University for the benefit of students. The takeover also coincided with the glory days of Lou Little's football teams. Between 1931 and 1934, Columbia won 30 games, tied 2 and lost 4, and won the 1934 Rose Bowl.

Ralph J. Furey, who had been appointed Director of Athletics in 1943, was the first to be appointed Director of Physical Education and Athletics in 1946. Centralizing control under one department allowed administrators to enhance the educational value of the physical education curriculum. This joint arrangement has been in place since.

Ralph J. Furey (1946-1968); Kenneth G. Germann (1967-1973); Alvin Paul (1974-1991); John A. Reeves (1991-2004); Dianne Murphy (2004-2015); Peter E. Pilling (2015-present).