Sports History Resources
in the University Archives and Special Collections

Sources in University Archives

Standard University Histories:
Babcock, Donald C., A History of the University of New Hampshire, 1866-1941, 1941

Sackett, Everett, New Hampshire's University, 1974
These are the general histories of the University. Babcock tends to be very detailed; however, the history trails off around 1938. Sackett takes the history to late 1960s and early 1970s. The histories tend to focus on staff changes and building programs for athletic fields and superficially cover developments in the sports programs at the University. Good for quick reference, chronologies and general facts about UNH.

Bardwell, John, and Ronald Bergeron, Images of a University: A Photographic History of the University of New Hampshire (1984)
A selection of historical photographs of the University; includes some images of sports at UNH.

Slomba, Elizabeth and William E. Ross, Wildcat Hockey: History of University of New Hampshire Ice Hockey, 2002.
Selection of hockey images from 1924-2002; covers both men's and women's hockey. Generally a photographic history.

There are some additional histories available in the Archives but these in general are not very thorough or up-to-date; for example, we have a history about the Lewis Fields that was written in 1938. Contact Archives staff for more information.

Publications:

The New Hampshire, 1911-present
Student Newspaper. Index available for years 1911 through 1944 in the Archives. The newspaper is available on microfilm for the years 1911-1994.
The New Hampshire is an excellent resource for information about athletics at UNH. It covers everything from games to student opinion and trends in sports coverage. The newspaper has always been a student publication. Coverage for sports changes through the years, mostly reflecting general changes in reporting on sports. After the introduction of the Campus Journal in the early 1960s, The New Hampshire became more focused on covering student life and activity on campus. The newspaper contains event information, advertisements, and photographs (mostly after 1950).
The Enaichsee and New Hampshire College Monthly are earlier student publications, similar to The New Hampshire but with less coverage, and cover the years prior to 1911. An index is available for these as well in the Archives.
Campus Journal, 1962-present
Faculty and staff newspaper. Index available for years 1962 through 1978. The newspaper is available on microfilm for the years 1962-1994.
The first few years of the Journal tends to have light coverage, focusing on staff changes and a few news items. Since the 1970s, the Journal with a staff and administrative perspective has covered UNH and USNH policy information and changes, news of interest for the staff, staff appointments, promotions and resignations, information from faculty and staff councils and groups, staff letters to the Journal, and photographs of events and places on Campus.
The Granite, 1909-present
Yearbook. Athletics coverage is very spotty. An excellent resource for team photographs and sports information prior to the mid 1940s. However, changes in yearbook design and concepts during the mid 1950s led to less detailed information about sports and few if any team photographs in the Granite. Yearbooks from about 1945 to the mid to late 1960s are a good resource for sports in action. But the yearbooks after the late 1960s have little information on organized sports at UNH, although in recent years more information is covered. The yearbooks after the 1960s are good for candid photographs of recreational sports and pick-up games.
Additional publications
The University Archives holds many University publications, such as the 1993 UNH Self-study, Student Handbooks, Course Catalogs, the University Fact Book, academic plans, Affirmative Action reports, Women's Commission reports, building reports, the Viewbook, financial reports, such as the USNH Budget report, and newsletters.
The Archives also collects the Alumni office publications (The Alumnus, Alumni Companion, UNH Magazine); these publications occasionally cover sports and alumni reunions from alumni perspective. An index to these publications are available in the Archives.
The publication collection can be searched either through the Library Catalog or on the Archives website. Not all publications have been cataloged; please contact the Archives staff for further information or to learn what other items we may have.
Manuscript/Archives:

These collections are office files, correspondence and related materials from various offices on campus. Because of the nature of this type of material, the content of the collections is described in a finding aid. All the finding aids for Archives and Special Collections holdings are available at www.izaak.unh.edu. The website has a handy keyword search. For further help with using manuscript collections, please contact Special Collections and Archives.

The collections listed below are likely to hold a lot of material of interest to researchers. Collections not listed may have a few items but not a significant amount of information; for further information, please contact Archives staff.

Athletics and Recreational Sports Series (UA16)
This series contains press releases, office files, games reports, newsletters, publications, Sports Information Office files, and all sorts of materials relating to organized sports at the University. Coverage of a given sport varies greatly; the football and men's hockey programs have a lot of information while there is little on wrestling. Best place to start if studying a certain sport at UNH. Some information on sport booster groups.
Vice-president of Student Affairs Series (UA 7/5/1, 7/5/2 and 7/5/3)
Covers the administration of organized and recreational sports at the University. Source of information about the building of facilities, administration of sports programs, student athletes and services, and development and management of recreational sports program and facilities for students and staff. Sometimes has additional information and newsletters on sports.
Presidents Series (UA 2)
President's Papers are a resource for studying the administration of athletics on campus, finances, relations with the athletic department, building facilities, and so forth. Correspondence from coaches and athletic directors may be found in these collections. Nature of the material changes as the President's Office and the Vice-President of Student Affairs Office change; for example, you are likely to find William Cowell's correspondence in the President's Office files and Judy Ray's in the Vice-President of Student Affairs files.
Board of Trustees Minutes, 1866-present (UA 1/2)
This series contains the minutes for the meetings of the Board of Trustees for the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanical Arts (NHCAMA), the Board of Trustees of the University of New Hampshire (UNH), and the Board of Trustees for the University System of New Hampshire (USNH). Also contains the reports from various Board of Trustee Committees, such as Capital Projects Committee, Finance Committee, Property and Physical Plant Committee and so forth.
Board of Trustees Minutes general cover broad issues, such as the naming of facilities, giving the stamp of approval for the creation of new programs, policy changes and so forth. The source for official policy decisions by the Board for the System and the campuses. The earlier minutes refer only to the University; after the creation of the University System in the early 1970s, the minutes cover the whole system.
Annual Reports Given to the President, 1925-1956 (UA 2/3/1)
Contains annual reports from the Department of Physical Education and Athletics.
Student Scrapbooks (UA 7/3)
In general these scrapbooks date from 1900s to 1930s and cover the interests of the scrapbook creator. Often the scrapbook contain tickets, photographs, programs and other memorabilia from athletic events on campus.
Faculty Tennis Club Records, 1894-1930 (UA 3/1/6)
Records of the Faculty Tennis Club which maintained two tennis courts and held tournaments.
Gail Griffith Scrapbook, 1976-1980 (UA 22/79)
This scrapbook was compiled by Gail Griffith's mother and documents the first four years of the varsity women's hockey program.
Photographs, Film and Video:

There are few finding aids for the photograph and film collections. If you are interested in using these collections, please contact the Archives staff before coming in so that the staff can pull together the images you are interested in. Or you can request a collection by name, such as the Sport Information Office Hockey photographs, if the collection is small enough. There is a in-house database for the Clement Moran collection which a staff member can show you.

Photographs:

Sports Information Office Photographs Series (UV 16)
Collection of photographs from various UNH sports teams through out the years collected by the Sports Information Office. Photographs are organized by sport and date.
New Hampshire College series
These photographs date from around 1890 to 1930s (mostly 1890-1910s). Includes some sports images, such as team photographs and coaches.
Clement Moran series
Clement Moran, a UNH faculty member, photographed extensively the UNH campus and community during the 1910s through the late 1930s. For example, subjects may include team and individual players, construction projects on athletics fields (including New Hampshire day projects), student activities such as the rope pull and poster fight, coaches, a few games in progress, athletic facilities, and women's gymnastics and dance routines.
University Photographers series
These photographs cover approximately from 1940 to 1997/1998. Anything after 1998 is in Photographic Services. Photographs are sorted into broad categories, such as Athletics, and subjects include players, games in progress, recreational sports, buildings, and so forth. Team photographs however are in Photographic Services.
William Cowell Albums
Cowell, in charge of athletics at UNH prior to World War II, kept two photo albums concerning construction on athletic fields during the 1930s.
Ray Foss Photograph Albums
These albums date from the mid 1990s and contain photographs of men's and women's hockey.

Film and Video:

The Archives holds a collection of 16mm sports films at the University, mostly football and basketball, shot prior to 1960. Some of the film has been transferred to video as listed below. If interested please contact archives staff since arrangements must be made to view these films. However film quality varies greatly and in general the games were not recorded in full or using modern techniques for recording games (most of the film was shot for scouting purposes).

On the Campus (UV T1)
Thirty minutes long, no date, contains clips concerning athletics and Winter Carnival.
Campus Activities, 1930's (UV T3)
Twenty-three minutes long, circa 1930s, contains clips concerning athletic teams (football and track and field), William Cowell, Winter Carnival and Memorial Field; transfer from 16mm.
University Day (UV T4)
Eleven minutes, no date, contains clips of the cane rush, centipede race, rope pull and poster fight; transfer from 16mm.
May Day, 1933 (UV T7)
Nine minutes, 1933, footage of the May Day Celebration with May Day Nymphs and several dances as part of the pageantry; transfer from 16mm.
Campus Activities, 1930s (UV T10)
Nineteen minutes, 1930s, contain clips of student activities such cane rush, athletic events, Outing Club, and Memorial fields; transfer from 16mm.
Glimpses of the University of New Hampshire (UV T11)
Eighteen minutes, no date, contains clips of athletic events such as a football game and women's field hockey; transfer from 16mm.
Campus Activities (UV T12)
Sixteen minutes, no date, contains clips of athletic events and coaches; transfer from 16mm.
Campus Activities, 1930s (UV T13)
Eighteen minutes, 1930s, contains baseball clip and coaches; transfer from 16mm.
University of New Hampshire Football Films (UV T17)
Tapes cover games from 1941-1949; may not contain complete games; transfer from 16mm. Partial listing on Archives website; contact Archives staff for full list.

Miscellaneous:

Archives vertical files
Contain ephemera and information about various topics, such the opening of the Whittemore Center, programs and facility fees, and New Hampshire Day. Listing of topics available on webpage.
University Museum collections
The University Museum holds some athletic equipment used at the University. Contact Curator Dale Valena (862-1081) for further information.
Also, images of past Museum exhibits are online; of interest to researchers of UNH athletics are Lucy's Legacy: A Review of Firsts for UNH Women Students and Bulls, Wildcats and Mayors: Early UNH Football, Winter Sports and Social Traditions. These online exhibits have brief but informative captions about athletics at UNH.

Sources in Special Collections:

Milne Angling Collection
The Special Collections Department maintains one of the largest collections of angling literature in the United States. The collection, which now numbers over 3,500 volumes, is particularly rich in materials relating to fly fishing for trout and Atlantic salmon with special emphasis on fishing in New England and eastern Canada. Beyond containing the classics of angling literature - such as numerous editions of Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler - the collection boasts a vast array of books on fly tying, rod making, and stream tactics. The items in this collections can be searched on the Library Catalog. For more information contact Bill Ross, curator of the collection.
New Hampshire Collection
Contains a variety of materials on hiking, skiing and outdoors recreation, tourism, and state and town histories. The collections also contains state government documents, such as Fish and Game Department publications. The New Hampshire Collection can be searched through the Library Catalog; the collection is also available for browsing.
Elizabeth Knowlton Papers, ca 1891-1989 (MC 147)
Knowlton was an early women pioneer in mountaineering and her papers reflect her career and involvement in climbing. The collection consists of correspondence, verse and prose manuscripts, published material, diaries, notes, clippings, ephemera and photographs. Finding aid available at Special Collections website.
Henry Ives Baldwin Papers, 1919-1988 (MC 129)
The Baldwin collection contains materials on skiing history. Finding aid available at Special Collections website.
Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests Collection (MC 80)
This collections includes materials concerning the recreational uses of forests. Finding aid is available in Special Collections. For more information about the materials in this very large collection, please contact Special Collections.
Charles E. Holt Archives of Collegiate Hockey
Collections of materials relating to college hockey in the United States. Still being processed; please contact Elizabeth Slomba at the Archives for more information and access to the collection.
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