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COLLECTION Identifier: HUGFP 54

Papers of William J. Bingham

Overview

William J. Bingham (1889-1970) was Harvard's first athletic director. Bingham's papers chiefly document his personal and professional activities while serving as Harvard's Athletic Director from 1926 to 1951. The bulk of the collection contains correspondence and speeches, mostly relating to his work in Harvard's athletic department, as well as his World War II military service. Photographs and envelopes illustrated by artist Waldo Peirce from 1947 to 1949 are also found in the collection.

Dates

  • Creation: 1919-1958 and [undated]

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Extent

1.45 cubic feet (4 document boxes, 2 folders, 1 pamphlet binder)

The collection chiefly contains personal and professional correspondence, as well as speeches, written by William J. Bingham during his tenure as Harvard Athletic Director from 1926 to 1951. It also includes some personal papers, dating from before and after his tenure at Harvard. Most of Bingham's correspondence is incoming, with a small amount of outgoing copies. Correspondents include Harvard president A. Lawrence Lowell, various Harvard clubs and classmates, other university athletic directors, and businessmen, regarding the operations and athletic activities of the Harvard Athletic Department. Topics of conversation include Bingham's appointment as Athletic Director in 1926, his appointment as Chief Marshal of Harvard's 1941 Commencement ceremonies, and the preparation and organization of Commencement marshals and aids. Bingham's correspondence also documents his World War II army service from 1942 to 1945 and his relief of duties as Harvard's Athletic Director in 1951.

The collection contains handwritten and typed manuscripts of speeches given by Bingham at Harvard and other universities, athletic and alumni dinners, Harvard Board of Overseers meetings, local business dinners and meetings, club meetings and coaches meetings, and other events, dating from 1925 to 1958. Other papers include various articles written from Harvard newspapers and bulletins, and manuscripts prepared for Harvard and other broadcasts. It also includes photographs and envelopes illustrated by artist Waldo Peirce, from 1947 to 1949.

Biographical note on William J. Bingham

William John Bingham (1889-1971) served as Harvard’s first athletic director. Bingham received his Harvard AB in 1916; as an undergraduate, he was a star member of the track team. Bingham served in a Harvard ambulance unit during World War I after working at a small bank in Quanah, Texas. Following the war and a return to Texas, he served as Harvard’s track coach from 1920 to 1922 before becoming Harvard’s first Director of Athletics in 1926; a position he held until resigning in 1951. Bingham was a member of the National Intercollegiate Football Rules Committee from 1932 to 1950 and served as the group’s chairman for seven years. He was chairman of the United States track committee for the Olympic games held in Berlin in 1936 and a member of the United States Olympic executive committee from 1929 to 1940.

Arrangement

This series was arranged in chronological order by the archivist.

  1. Correspondence and speeches, 1919-1958 (HUGFP 54.5)
  2. Photographs, [circa 1919-1958] (HUGFP 54.5p)
  3. Envelopes illustrated by Waldo Peirce, 1947-1949 (HUGFP 54.75)

Related Materials

The Harvard University Archives also holds the William J. Bingham diaries and scrapbooks, 1908-1951 (HUM 387): https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/hua38020/catalog

Processing Information

This finding aid was created by Olivia Mandica-Hart in April 2020. Information in this finding aid was assembled from legacy paper inventories and container management data. The collection was not re-examined by the archivist. Titles enclosed in brackets were devised by the archivist.

Title
Bingham, William J. (William John), 1889-1971. Papers of William J. Bingham, 1919-1958 and [undated] : an inventory
Status
completed
Author
Harvard University Archives
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hua34020

Repository Details

Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository

Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.

Contact:
Pusey Library
Harvard Yard
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2461