Here is a very nice image of Hamilton Park at Yale University. Many of the historical first football games from the 1870s to the early 1880s were played here. This is where Walter Camp first roamed the field. I have seen a couple other early images of Hamilton Park but I was interested to see the lettering on the front of the entrance. In other images that is blocked out by the large tree.
The first HBCU football game was played in North Carolina in 1892 between Biddle and Livingston Colleges. There were not a whole lot of football games being played in the 19th century but started to pick up around the early 1900s until WW1. I just don’t see a lot of images out there at all pre 1920s of African American teams. This is the earliest I have seen in formation. Notice the early head harnesses and melon shaped football. On the back is notated Goldsboro, NC.
Livingston Cushing played football at Harvard from 1876-1879. He was captain of the 1877 and 1878 teams. I like this image because it shows Harvard’s first uniform style. This would have been one of the earliest uniforms during the transition from Association to Rugby style football.
This is one of the largest images in my collection. It’s around two feet wide just on the photo alone. This is an early 1890s Colorado School of Mines Orediggers football team image. This school was the dominant football team in Colorado during the 19th century. In 1890 they beat the University of Colorado 105-0. This is one of the only football team images I have where they are not posed with a football.
O.D. Thompson was an early Yale athlete who alongside Walter Camp saw the transition of football from Association to Rugby. He played on the 75-78 teams. He was a part of the first forward pass and had a knack for scoring in the big games. After graduation he continued playing football for many years at the club level. He was the manager who wrote the check for the first pro football player Pudge Heffelfinger for the Allegheny Athletic Club.
Here are some images of Amos Alonzo Stagg during his Yale days. If you are unfamiliar with him he is definitely worth looking up. Unlike Harry Beecher, who I posted recently, he did not come from fame and wealth. He had to work odd jobs to put himself through school. He is one of the few individuals who is in the College Football HOF as both a player and coach. He is also in the basketball HOF for early work done with James Naismith at Springfield YMCA. He was responsible for many innovations in football throughout his lifelong coaching career. He lived to be in his hundreds.
Here is an image of George DuPont Pratt on the left and Herbert Lee Pratt on the right. G.D. Pratt was quarterback and captain of the 1892 Amherst football team. H.L Pratt was the captain of the 1894 team under head coach Parke Davis.
