1882 Haverford Football and Class Cabinet Cards

"85's Football Team for the fall of 1881. Taken 4, 12, 1882"

"Class of '84. Hav. Coll. Taken 4, 12, 1882"

These two 1882 Haverford College cabinet cards were purchased together several years ago. We picked the pair up for the football image alone - it's an extremely early football albumen of an identifiable team - so the class image was really just a bonus. The individuals' names are identified on the reverse side of both images. The other night we were inspecting the football albumen and noticed that the players' names were written in different inks and the handwriting styles did not match...it turns out we unknowingly picked up a team-signed 1882 football cabinet card. What an unbelievable (and lucky!) purchase. One of the signers is Logan Pearsall Smith - who turns out to be quite a famous author. Smith is a descendant of James Logan, who was William Penn's secretary and the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania in the 18th century. Smith was also a friend of Walt Whitman and published numerous works throughout his life.

Signatures from the Haverford football team. Note that the class albumen, while identified, is not signed.