The Harvard University Foot-Ball Club was formed in
December of 1872.
In its first
full year (1873), membership certificates for this club were issued. Morton Prince,
player and secretary for the HUFBC, designed and had made these certificates as
well as a seal for this organization. The seal, made by Henry Mitchell (master
engraver of Boston), features a round football, a motto of “Semper Surgens”,
and the letters H.F.B.C. (see photo). Pictured is one of the earliest football
documents in existence.
Morton Prince also authored a section of the H Book of
Harvard Athletics (1923) entitled “History of Football at Harvard, 1800 – 1875
(June)” (pgs. 311 – 371), and he is considered the preeminent early Harvard
football historian. This exact certificate is reproduced on pg. 351 of the H
Book, as part of Prince’s work.
Morton
Prince’s 1873 Harvard University Foot-Ball Club Certificate (or “Shingle”)
Close-up
of the wax seal
The Shingle
The membership certificate was referred to as a
“shingle” and required a one-dollar fee to purchase. This membership allowed
for support of the organization and for members to play football recreationally
as part of the club.
Interestingly, this shingle is the only example that
would have been completed and signed by the team captain. It is signed by the football
team’s captain, Henry R. Grant, as Morton Prince “did not wish to sign, as
secretary, on his own shingle”, according to his accounting in the H Book of Harvard
Athletics. This certificate remained one of Prince’s prized possessions
throughout his life.
Harvard Rejects Yale’s Request
In October of 1873, Yale contacted Columbia, Harvard,
Rutgers, and Princeton, proposing to establish an intercollegiate football
association with a standard set of rules. Many from Harvard felt uneasy about
Yale’s proposal. For example, the Harvard Advocate wrote on October 17, 1873: “If
we should attend such a convention, as Yale proposes we should naturally feel
bound to agree to the code of rules favored by the majority of the committee.
It is evident that the result could not fail to be unsatisfactory to the
football players at Harvard”. What was termed the “Boston game” was equivalent
to the Harvard Game in 1873, in which “a player was permitted to pick up the
ball, run with it, throw it, or pass it. He could also seize and hold an
adversary to prevent him from getting the ball”. In contrast, the games
played by the other four schools were essentially “all foot work” during this
time. Given the drastic changes they
would have needed to implement into their game, is quite understandable why
Harvard might have viewed Yale’s request with apprehension.
Upon receipt of Yale’s letter by the HUBFC, a meeting
was held by the officers of this football club (headed up by Captain Grant and
Secretary Prince) and other members of this organization. It was at this
meeting that Captain Grant and the rest of the team decided to reject Yale’s proposal
to form an intercollegiate football association. In a letter from Grant to the
secretary of the Yale Football Association, he explained the differences in the
style of games Harvard played from the other institutions and, some say, tactfully
belittled the others’ style of play. In his reply to Yale, Captain Grant states,
“The feeling in the college was unanimous in maintaining our rules at the
expense of matches with other colleges”. Harvard thus did not join the
intercollegiate football association, and the path of American Football was
forever changed.
Harvard plays McGill
In early 1874, Captain Gant received an unexpected
letter from David Roger, captain of the of McGill University team in Canada,
suggesting the schools play several matches against one another. Harvard’s Grant
and Prince were the two key Harvard team members to work out the games’
specifics and the rules under which they would be played. The games needed to be played in Cambridge, as
the Harvard administration would not allow the team to travel during the school
year while classes were in session.
Two matches were scheduled for the 14th and
15th of May, 1874, at Jarvis Field in Cambridge. The first was played
under Harvard rules, and the second under McGill’s rugby regulations. The
McGill players showed up in uniform (the first time this had been seen by
Harvard players) and the Harvard players, although not in their normal “oldest
clothes”, appeared in white undershirts, dark pants, and magenta handkerchiefs
on their heads. Still, the Harvard players were a bit embarrassed. They won the game by a score of 3-to-0, and
fought to a 0-to-0 tie the following afternoon. This second match is considered
the first intercollegiate rugby game to take place in America.
In each of these two games, the teams played with
eleven men per side. The “Boston game” allowed for between ten and fifteen per
side, although they were normally referred to as “the eleven”. McGill was accustomed
to playing with any number between ten and twenty. Originally, the matches were
to be played with fifteen men, however only eleven men were able to make the
trip from Montreal.
In the famous composite photograph from the Harvard
vs. McGill 1874 fall contest, when Harvard travelled to Montreal, Morton Prince
is easily recognizable. I have him circled in the photograph. I have also
included a photograph of the Harvard’s spring 1874 foot-ball team, inclusive of
Captain Grant. In the fall of 1874, Arthur Ellis assumed the position of
Captain.
Harvard vs. McGill, Fall of 1874.
Morton Prince is circled.
Harvard University Foot-Ball Club Captain
Henry Grant is seated at center
This certificate, or shingle, is an extraordinary
example of football documentation from the absolute earliest days of football. Certainly the most significant early American football document that we are aware of. It stems from two of the most pivotal players from an historic and crucial
phase of the game. Harvard’s
rejection of the style of play that constituted association football in 1873 and its subsequent adoption of the rugby game
as a result of the Harvard games against McGill in 1874 are the only reason we
have football today as we know it and not a game than more closely resembles
soccer. In the words of Morton Prince,
“If Harvard had not refused (to join the Association …) it is highly probable
that the modern game played today – like American Rugby – would ever have been
evolved. Instead, all the Universities, colleges and schools today would be
playing Association rules, - practically soccer”. After playing McGill, Harvard
adopted their rugby game, considering it a worthy extension, even a superior replacement,
for its own brand of football.
In 1876, the Intercollegiate Football
Association was formed by Harvard, Columbia and Princeton using slightly
modified rugby rules. The rest quickly fell into place and, as is stated so
often, the rest is history.
