Descriptive Summary

Title: Athletic Council Records, 1903-1958

Collection Number: 1000-7

Creator: Wesleyan University Athletic Council.

Extent: 0.56 cubic ft. (1 Hollinger box and 1 slim legal-sized Hollinger box).

Abstract: Records of the first administrative body supervising Wesleyan athletic teams.

Administrative Information

Provenance: Donated by the Physical Education department, 1989 & 1999.

Preferred Citation: [Item], Athletic Council Records, Collection 1000-7, Special Collections & Archives, Olin Library, Wesleyan University, Middletown CT.

Publication Rights: All rights reside with the repository. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact Special Collections & Archives.

Processed by: Jeffrey Makala, 2000.

Scope and Contents Note

The Wesleyan Athletic Council was formed by trustee authorization in 1903 to formally oversee the administration of athletics at Wesleyan. It was composed of three faculty members, three alumni members, and three students. The Council regulated most aspects of athletics including the administering of budgets, negotiations with other schools for intercollegiate matches and scheduling, player eligibility rules, hiring and supervising coaches, establishing records, and the awarding of varsity letters. The Wesleyan Alumni Athletic Association (founded in 1904) elected the three alumni members and worked with the Athletic Council, especially with fundraising, which was primarily directed toward coaches’ salaries. Prior to the Athletic Council’s formation, athletics at Wesleyan were overseen beginning in 1891 by a joint athletic committee composed of members of the student athletic associations (i.e., the teams) and student-elected alumni.

In 1923, the Board of Trustees approved a faculty proposal to move primary control of intercollegiate athletics to the faculty. The department of Physical Education, which had existed since 1910, was now responsible for most of the administrative functions of Wesleyan athletics. The Athletic Council retained control over regulation of eligibility rules, approval of team captains and managers, establishing records, and the awarding of letters to Wesleyan athletes.

This collection contains complete minutes of the meetings of the council from 1903-58, a redrafted constitution following the 1923 change in responsibilities, and account books containing departmental and individual teams’ expenses. For the first constitution of the Athletic Council, see the Argus, May 18, 1904.

Related Materials

Athletics Teams Records, collection 1999-65, Wesleyan University Archives.

Nicolson, Frank W., ed. Athletics at Wesleyan. Middletown: Wesleyan University Alumni Council, 1938.

Vertical files collection – athletics (general) and Physical Education department folders, Wesleyan University Archives.

Container List

Box	Folder
1	1	Constitution, 1925 revision
1	2	Financial Reports, 1915-16, 1921-22
1	3-4	Minutes Books (2 volumes), 1903-17
1	5-9	Minutes (5 folders), December 1917 – May 1958
1	10	Receipts and correspondence, 1905, 1921-22
Box	Folder
2	1-3	Account Books (3 volumes), 1916-21. Contents include examples of weekly balance sheets, departmental accounts for athletic and medical supplies, intramural athletics, coaching salaries, and complete budgetary and account information for the following teams: basketball, baseball, football, swimming, tennis and track.