Springfield College Football Team, 1890

Item Information

Title:
Springfield College Football Team, 1890
Description:
This is a hand colored lantern slide showing the eleven members, in uniform, of Springfield College’s 1890 football team (known as "Stagg's Eleven" or "Stubby Christians"). They are outside and either standing, sitting, or kneeling near a fence, a large rock, and two trees. The top row left to right shows W. J. Kellar, James A. Naismith (inventor of Basketball), J. P. Smith, D. W. Corbett, W. O. Black, and W. H. Barton. The bottom row, left to right, shows W. C. McKee, F. N. Seerley, Amos Alonzo Stagg (the captain), A. E. Garland, and W. H. Ball. In this picture, Naismith does not have the mustache that he was so famous for.
Date:
1890
Format:
Photographs
Location:
Springfield College Archives and Special Collections
Collection (local):
College Archives Digital Collections
Series:
Lantern Slide Collection
Subjects:
International Young Men's Christian Association Training School (Springfield, Mass.)
Springfield College--Sports
Springfield College
Springfield College--Football
Springfield College--Sports--Men
Keller, William J.
Naismith, James, 1861-1939
Smith, John P.
Corbett, David W.
Black, Walter O.
Barton, William Henry
McKee, William C.
Seerley, Frank N.
Stagg, Amos Alonzo, 1862-1965
Garland, Albert E.
Ball, William Henry
Sports
Football players
Footballs
Football
Places:
Massachusetts > Hampden (county) > Springfield
Link to Item:
http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15370coll2/id/2651
Terms of Use:
Text and images are owned, held, or licensed by Springfield College and are available for personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that ownership is properly cited. A credit line is required and should read: Courtesy of Springfield College, Babson Library, Archives and Special Collections. Any commercial use without written permission from Springfield College is strictly prohibited. Other individuals or entities other than, and in addition to, Springfield College may also own copyrights and other propriety rights. The publishing, exhibiting, or broadcasting party assumes all responsibility for clearing reproduction rights and for any infringement of United States copyright law.
Contact host institution for more information.
Publisher:
Springfield College
Language:
English
Notes:
An All-American Yale player, Stagg brought football to what is now Springfield College and coached the institution’s first team in 1891. After arriving as a graduate student and instructor in 1890, Stagg posted a notice inviting students and faculty to play football for the institution. On an open field overlooking Lake Massasoit, the team would practice and play the less important games, while playing bigger games downtown. The first year ended with a 5-3 record, highlighted by a 26-0 defeat of Amherst and a contest against Yale at Madison Square Garden, the first-ever indoor football game. Yale fielded a team of five varsity players, two substitutes, and a group of Yale graduates. Springfield College, at this time, had less than fifty students from which to draw. Stagg was the only experienced player on the Springfield College squad and found his team outsized by an average of twenty pounds per man. In a great contest, Springfield College showed true courage and pride, but ultimately lost 16-10. The newspapers labeled Stagg’s team the “Stubby Christians,” commending the team for the surprise they gave everyone in attendance and how they outplayed the giants from New Haven. After coaching for fifty-seven years at number of different institutions, he became the dean of college football coaches. Stagg pioneered the huddle, the man in motion, the end-around, and the Statue of Liberty play, among others. During October 2006, the refurbished Benedum Field was renamed the Amos Alonzo Stagg Field. In The Fireside Book of Football, Edwin Pope describes Stagg as “football’s Ben Franklin, Alexander Bell, and Thomas Edison all rolled into one.” As of the 1890s, standard football rules had not been established, and punching, kicking, and holding were commonplace tactics while the play field was any length agreed upon by the participants. There were no five-yard strip lines running across the field and no linesmen. The game was divided into forty-five minute halves, and once the game started no player could leave the field unless injured. There was no neutral zone between the two scrimmage lines, and instead of a kickoff to start the game, the center merely touched the ball to his toe, then tossed it to a running back while the other players provided interference.
There is a duplicate photograph of this lantern slide, see: http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15370coll2/id/2632
Identifier:
LS-01-22