Category: University Archives

1924 Olympic Regional Tryouts Held at Hayward Field

Only 3 years after the first track meet held at Hayward Field in 1921, Bill Hayward touted the new track as “the fastest one on the coast.” In his November 1923 letter to A.A.U. (Amateur Athletic Union) Secretary-Treasurer Frederick W. Rubien, Hayward proposed the University of Oregon host the Far West Olympic tryouts for track and field.  Prior to the modern Olympic Trials format, winners of regional Olympic tryouts advanced to a final tryout for the chance to represent the United States. In January 1924, the Old Oregon reported Hayward received and accepted an invitation from the A.A.U. to coach the USA track and field team.

Bill Hayward’s letter to the A.A.U.:

“Olympic Games, 1923-1924,” UA 001.004, Box 17, Folder 37, Office of the President: Prince Lucien Campbell records.
“Olympic Games, 1923-1924,” UA 001.004, Box 17, Folder 37, Office of the President: Prince Lucien Campbell records.
“Olympic Games, 1923-1924,” UA 001.004, Box 17, Folder 37, Office of the President: Prince Lucien Campbell records.

Preparations and upgrades to the track were approved by the UO Board of Regents:

“Completion of the straight-a-way track on Hayward Field, to make it 220 yards in length, was also recommended by the committee and will no doubt be accepted by the regents this afternoon. This assures the Pacific coast Olympic team tryouts here May 30-31 in conjunction with the Pacific coast intercollegiate track meet. All the sprints and hurdle events, with the exception of the 440-yard dash, will be held on this stretch of cinderpath, says Jack Benefiel, graduate manager. The straight-a-way starts at the north end of the east bleachers and runs south to the baseball field abutting Hayward field.”
The Eugene Guard, March 8, 1924.

In April, A.A.U. officials confirmed Hayward Field as the site for the western regional tryouts. Preliminaries were held on May 30th and finals took place on May 31st. The national tryouts were held 15 days later in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“1924 Ticket,” UA Ref 5, Box 28, University Archives Sports Information and Media Guides.

In his letter, Hayward mentions Ralph Spearow, as a UO athlete with the potential to make the Olympic team. Spearow broke the intercollegiate record with a jump of 13 feet, 2.95 inches in a dual meet with UW, and a few weeks later qualified for the Olympic team. He competed in Paris and finished in 6th place.

“Sailing to Paris on S.S. America, 1924,” UARef3_b060_f010_003, University Archives photographs

– Lauren Goss, Public Services Librarian

Exhibit Highlight | UO Women’s Track and Field

We proudly celebrate the recent accomplishments of the UO women’s track and field team winning third place, winning 1st place in the distance medley relay, and winning the 3,000m individual title at the 2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships.

The current exhibit, “Oregon Spirit: The Legacy of Track and Field,” highlights some key moments in the history of women’s track and field. The Women’s Athletic Association was founded in 1913, which offered additional opportunities for women to engage in athletics beyond physical education courses. According to the 1914 edition of the Oregana:

The first athletic organization ever to be perfected in the University in the interests of women’s athletics is the Women’s Athletic Association, which was organized during the past year. The purpose of this association is to encourage athletics among the women of the University and to develop a physically more efficient Oregon woman. (p.261)

Women participated in intramural, interclass and intercollegiate contests.  The exhibit includes two field day programs featuring track contests held on the hockey field, and on cemetery ridge.

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New Exhibit | Oregon Spirit: The Legacy of Track and Field

 And her spirit’s always loyal,
And we’ll have the world to know
That the bonds can ne’er be broken,
Formed in the dear old U.O.

—“There’s a Pretty Little Village,” circa 1910

University of Oregon Libraries is pleased to announce an exhibit titled Oregon Spirit: The Legacy of Track and Field, now on display from January 7th to March 22nd in the Special Collections and University Archives Paulson Reading Room. The exhibit is curated by archivist Lauren Goss.

The University of Oregon proudly celebrates over 100 years of track and field.  Led by illustrious coaches, student-athletes defied the limits of human performance before an audience of devoted fans. Drawing upon 20 collections, these curated items reveal a palpable spirit that transcends generations. The legacy of track and field is built on enduring tradition and dynamic innovation.

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A Look Into the Past: The Debate Clubs Everyone Wanted to Join

Laurean and Eutaxian Society Meeting, University Archives Photographs, UA Ref 3

Campus societies are a large portion of any university history, older universities such as Harvard or Yale pride themselves on their societies. The men and women who have participated in literary societies historically have found lucrative jobs and connections due to the unique experience that these societies provide to undergraduates. Literary societies were regularly founded in pairs in order to foster competition and growth. This history often brings to mind older institutions on the east coast. However, the University of Oregon is no stranger to the benefits of literary societies on its campus.

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Progress With Limits: President Olum’s Quest for Change

This is the ninth of a series of blog posts highlighting the ongoing work of the Documenting UO History Project within the University Archives. A major part of this project is researching and documenting the often untold and hidden histories of the university’s diverse and underrepresented communities. This year our focus will continue to highlight Black history on campus, specifically Black student activism from the 1960s to present. Prior posts can be seen here.

The Governor — and others — have complained that President Olum can’ t have it both ways — continue to assert that the University of Oregon is of the quality of some of the best public universities in the United States and argue at the same time that faculty salaries at the University of Oregon are abysmally low compared with other institutions, and that this makes it extremely difficult to compete in the hiring of the best young faculty and in retaining our leading senior faculty against very large offers from various universities. Now, the truth is that it really is both ways. Our salaries are terribly, dangerously low and yet we are surely among the best 20 public universities in the United States and, in a number of areas, significantly better even than that.                            -President Olum, State of the university Address, 1987

Wartime ID badge photo of Paul Olum, courtesy  Los Alamos National Laboratory

Paul Olum stepped into the role of university president at Oregon with decades of academic experience. Having just served as provost at the University of Oregon, Olum had been groomed to take over for President Boyd (see previous post on Boyd).  Olum started his illustrious academic career in mathematics, even working on the Manhattan Project at one point.  He earned his bachelors in physics from Princeton in 1940, an M.A in physics from Princeton in 1942, and a PhD in mathematics from Harvard in 1947. Olum later served as a very popular and distinguished professor of mathematics at Cornell, and had a short stint at the University of Texas before beginning his tenure at Oregon.

Olum quickly developed a positive repoire with both students and staff.  Politically progressive, Olum publically called for nuclear disarmament and fought to make the University of Oregon more inclusive for all students. Although Olum’s tenure avoided the contention that filled the 1960s and 1970s, Olum faced recurring budget restraints and struggled to recruit more minority students to the Eugene campus.

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