Amherst vs Wesleyan Football

In honor of Homecoming Weekend, and the Amherst vs Wesleyan football game tomorrow, here are a few glimpses of past games, mostly from our Athletics Collection. Here’s hoping the score tomorrow is more like the one in 1915 or 1935, and less like 1899!

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“Howdy” Groskloss, Renaissance man

Howard Groskloss (AC 1930) and young Rosemary Sprague, ca. 1931

It was the name that caught my eye. I’ve been working on the Sprague Family Collection: Atherton Sprague (AC 1920) taught mathematics at Amherst College and coached tennis. His wife, Marion Whittemore Sprague and daughter Rosemary Sprague were both Smith College graduates and fixtures on the Amherst theatrical and literary scene. I was processing a photo album from Rosemary Sprague’s childhood when I came across photos of her and a young man, captioned “Howdy Groskloss.”

I Googled the name and discovered that Howard Hoffman “Howdy” Groskloss was a 1930 Amherst College graduate. A look into his Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Alumni Bio File reveals just how extraordinary Howdy Groskloss was.

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Poet Toasts Coach

I think this little find should rank high in the annals of Art and Sports.  It’s a poem written by Rolfe Humphries (AC 1915) in tribute to Amherst College football coach James Ostendarp in 1966.  Humphries had at that time recently retired from Amherst as a professor of English; Ostendarp had just finished his seventh football season at Amherst and would go on to become the winningest coach in the college’s history.

From: Rolfe Humphries (AC 1915) Papers, box 3, folder 44.

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