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CARLTON
GOES TO HARVARD.....FOR AN HOUR
I
had just enough time to move into my hotel and race to
Harvard using my GPS. I got their a few minutes early and waited standing next to my
car. 4:02...4:03...pretty soon it was five after and I
started to panic...did I get the right time....was I at the
right gate...darn this was no time for a mistake. All a
sudden a white haired gentleman pulled up in little rice
burner car full of stuff. He rolled down the window and said
Carlton? Yes Sir I said...Sorry I'm late, come on down to
the parking gate and I'll get you in he said...No problem OK I said....As I got out of my car he apologized again and
explained he was helping one of the student athletes move or
store her items for the summer I think the scenario
was...and that he didn't know there would be so much stuff
or something, and it made him late...This is my kind of guy
I thought...he's going out of his way to help a student!
As
mentioned I was both nervous and excited...which is never
good when you're covering a story....you get occupied with
something you see, you forget your mission...you forget to
ask the right questions and so on...and because it was a
surprise early visit I didn't have notes on what to ask and
look for...When you cover something, especially something as
important as the Harvard trophy collection, you want to sit
down before you get there and draw up a game plan...a check
list of sorts, so you don't forget the basics.....I had none
of that, everything was wrong as far as prep...So it was
sort of a shoot from the hip visit. Plus it was a quick one,
my host was short on time and only had about an hour. But it
went OK...anything is better than nothing. Besides Renny
seemed a little under prepared himself...He forgot the keys to
the display cabinets...which hurt since I
had to shoot thru glass.
So
with the given circumstances and my exuberated racing mind,
here's how it all unfolded as best I recount. Renny,
Harvard class of 55', 
was a genial host. We walked from the
parking to what I guess was the front entrance to the Murr
Center and into a large entry hall with modern type exhibits
of mostly modern sports memorabilia....I took a few
photos of the displays and we continued up some stairs to
the next floor. The Murr Center is a new complex in Harvard
years...The building opened in 1998 and houses Harvard's
squash courts as well as the executive offices of the
Athletic Department....and as we'll see shortly the Lee
Family Hall of Athletic History. The Murr center sits
contiguous to the open end of the horseshoe shaped Harvard
Stadium. Murr Center may not have
been 19th century beaux arts style the style I like buildings, but it appeared very well built. I was impressed how
well kept it was....spotless throughout.
The
Murr center was donated by Michael C. Murr class of 1973,
MBA 1975. Mr. Murr grew up in Wala Wala Washington and is
partners in a winery there called Garrison Creek Cellars
with two grade school friends. According to
recordsbase.com Mr. Murr is currently 60 years old...which
would have made him roughly 45 when he bestowed Murr Center.
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Original
Flag from the first
Harvard
Yale Football Game |
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Renny
walked me thru a few executive offices of the Athletic
Department pointing out Harvard sports artifacts here and
there. I met Bob
Glatz, Executive Director of the Harvard Varsity Club as we
peeked into one office. I
was polite as can be but wasn't seeing any memorabilia worth
writing home about....That is until he showed me
a boring looking stained and tattered tan colored flag about
17 inches wide by 12" tall. It was framed hanging on a
wall and it's only inscription was
"1875"....Phew!...that caught me by surprise...I
went from yawning to wide eyed staring at one of the
most important sports artifacts I'd ever seen. The
inscription below it explained how It had been carried on
the field of the first Harvard Yale game in 1875....I've
seen the 75' Harvard Yale program surface maybe once or
twice but never something from the environment!...Part  of the reason an item like this is
so rare is it's documentation....If an item like this were
to surface on the open market, it would need evidence, a
letter etc., i.e. a verifiable account of some kind to
support it's history. In this unique case it comes direct
from the source, or at least nearly direct, from an alum's
family! That one piece was enough to make my visit
successful!...I
also saw and got to hold another pennant or flag of sorts
with an "H" that has been to every Harvard Yale
football game since 1880. After that we walked around some
offices a little more but I didn't see much exciting. That
is, in
archaic 19th early 20th century relics...not to
disparage the modern memorabilia...it's just not my focus.
Renny didn't say where we were heading and I just
followed....And then we turned into a large room with
an incredible panoramic view of the Harvard stadium. It was
the Lee Family Hall of Athletic History.
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PANORAMIC
OF HARVARD STADIUM FROM BALCONY
OF
LEE FAMILY HALL OF ATHLETIC HISTORY
click
photos
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The
first thing I noticed walking into the Lee
Family Hall of Athletic History was the twelve foot tall windows allowing an expansive view of
the Harvard Stadium field. When you
walk out onto the balcony you're almost right on the goal
line....No doubt this is where the dignitaries party. When
the school isn't using it they rent it
out to associates for private events
and functions.
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c1878
Aprox.
7' wide x 5' tall Cabinet
HARVARD
TROPHY
BASEBALLS DISPLAY
Gift
of Harvard University Base Ball Clubs of
1878 79'
80' 81'
Center
piece of Lee Family Hall of Athletic History at Murr
Center
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c1878
Harvard Trophy Baseballs Display Case |
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Above
- Close in top left |
Above
- Close in top right |
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Above
- Close in bottom left |
Above
- Close in bottom right |
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Lee
Family Hall of Athletic History - baseball trophy
case far wall
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The
next thing I noticed was about a seven foot wide by five
foot tall dark wood display cabinet with about one hundred
sixty 19th century hand painted trophy baseballs. It was a
common tradition in the 19th century for teams to decorate
baseballs used in a game, with the teams and score. You see
them offered in sports auctions occasionally; referred to as
"trophy balls". At top center the cabinet was
engraved " H.U.B.B.C. January 1878 - Ex Dono - 78'
79' 80' 81' ". The acronym H.U.B.B.C. stands for
Harvard University Base Ball Club. The Latin term "Ex
Dono" would be translated as "by gift of" or
"donated by". Therefore the Harvard University
Base Ball Clubs of 1878 thru 1881 are indicated as the
persons who commissioned this great display. It's a
phenomenal treasure; in all my time in the hobby it's the
only cabinet I've seen engraved with the team and
dates like that. It's a big country though and
trophy rooms were and are common on college campuses'
so there are probably others out there.....I speculate
if there's any as nice as this one though. The
cabinet was basically the centerpiece of the room.
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