Photograph by David Carmack

Wall of Glory

Consider this cavalcade: the first catcher's mask; the invention of football's forward pass and of shift changes in ice hockey; the Davis Cup; the introduction of field hockey to the United States; the first intercollegiate athletic contest. They all happened at Harvard, and all are now documented, along with scores of other milestones, in the Hall of History at the newly opened Murr Athletic Center. There, a mural sprawling 120 feet across the lobby unfurls a timeline whose words and pictures describe significant people, events, and turning points in the history of Harvard athletics from 1780 to 1998. Though many celebrated names from Crimson teams are evident, "This is a hall of history, not a hall of fame," notes its volunteer curator, Warren "Renny" Little '55.

Movable display cases contain athletic apparel and memorabilia. A slice of Harvard's athletic past from the Hall of History timeline. Visitors enjoy a photomontage depicting a quarter century of Ivy women's competition. Photographs by David Carmack

Consequently, the visitor to Murr can take a mini-course in the history of sports in America, viewed through Crimson-colored lenses. That catcher's mask, for example, was adapted from a fencing mask in 1877 by Fred Thayer, class of 1878, with the help of a local blacksmith. The catcher who wore it in its first game made only two errors, an extraordinarily low number at the time. The visitor will learn that in 1905, football rules came up for revision after 18 men had been killed and more than a hundred seriously injured on the gridiron the previous year. "One proposal was to go to rugby rules and widen the field by as much as 40 yards," says Little. But Harvard Stadium, built in 1903 of reinforced concrete, could not accommodate such a change; instead the rules were modified to allow forward passes, and the game took to the air in 1906. There are also feats spread out over years, like the seven straight national singles tennis titles recorded between 1881 and 1888 by Richard Sears, A.B. 1883, an accomplishment never equaled.

The Hall of History project, which also includes six exhibits in movable display cases in the lobby, began two years ago. It is actually a museum, whose collection embraces items like a beautiful Tiffany silver trophy given by West Point to Harvard in 1896, in recognition of the strong athletic bond between the two colleges. Little hopes to involve interns from the Extension School's program in museum studies to assist in designing and developing exhibits, and to help with archival work and historical research. "A lot of Harvard athletic artifacts show up in bars in South Boston, or in places like the Leavitt & Pierce tobacco shop in the Square," he says.

Little is collecting old scrapbooks, programs, scorecards, clippings, pictures, equipment, films, and videotapes connected with Harvard's sporting past. * Eventually, he would like to develop an interactive touch-screen monitor that would put Crimson athletic history literally at the visitor's fingertips: "You could put in your grandfather's name, sport, and the years he played," he says, "and within seconds, perhaps, see him in action."