Edward K. Hall's Services to Dartmouth—Resolutions by the Athletic Council

Mr. Edward Kimball Hall, member of the law" firm of Powers & Hall, 101 Milk St., Boston, graduated from Dartmouth College in 1892, having entered that class in its sophomore year. His freshman year was spent at Oberlin College, which he entered after having prepared at St. Johnsbury Academy. Mr. Hall immediately took a prominent part in Dartmouth athletics, and in his senior year was captain of the football and track teams, as well as second baseman on the baseball nine. He maintained a high stand in scholarship and was identified with nearly every branch of college activity.

Directly following his graduation, Mr. Hall was appointed a member of the Committee on Athletics of the Dartmouth College Alumni Association, later changed to the Athletic Council, which was organized June 28, 1893, with Dr. Edward Cowles '59 as president. This controlling body was organized and made possible by the alumni who raised sufficient funds to build and equip the Alumni Oval, which was formally opened October 4, 1893, with the understanding that the control of athletics should be placed as completely as possible in the hands of a governing board appointed by the General Alumni Association. Mr. Hall took an active part in the work of this committee, and in 1896 embodied many of the serviceable customs of the unwritten laws of the College in a constitution which has remained unchanged to the present time, except in so far as it has been found necessary to suit new conditions due to the great growth of the College.

Mr. Hall's term of service as a member of the Council has been unbroken until the present time. He has throughout exerted his influence for clean, strong,- amateur sports among men who should engage in them for pleasure only and the glory of representing their college. In accomplishing these ends he has always shown keen foresight in anticipating the future direction of athletics well in advance of other colleges. This is illustrated in the movement which he started which barred medical and other graduate students from the teams and allowed only the playing of undergraduates of the academic department, a condition now in force in all universities. His stand against all forms of professionalism, including summer baseball, in college athletics, was also, in advance of the general sentiment, which now completely indorses and justifies his attitude.

Mr. Hall has always had the interests of other colleges in mind and has insisted upon friendly intercollegiate relations. His advances in that' direction have made him well known among other college men and have done much to establish the well earned reputation for good sportsmanship which Dartmouth teams now enjoy. This made him the logical choice for representative of the New England colleges upon the General Rules Committee, when the very future of football was in danger, and his appointment immediately followed. The wisdom of this has been proved many times, and he has long continued as efficient secretary of the committee, where his judgment and suggestions are always sound and to the point.

The present efficient organization of the Athletic Council, perfected after the most exhaustive and careful study; the creation of the office of graduate manager; the organizing of a business-like system of accounting for all who handle public funds; the providing for better coaching, care, equipment, and transportation of teams, and the shaping of prominent policies with other institutions, nearly all had their inception in Mr. Hall's fertile brain. The crowning achievement of all, however, is found in the building of the magnificent gymnasium which in a way stands as a monument to his business enterprise and push, and to his unswerving loyalty to the College. It had long been his aim to see Dartmouth equipped with a gymnasium which should be in keeping with the requirements of the growing institution, but the need for other buildings had been so urgent and the raising of funds for their erection had been so steady a drain upon the alumni that it had seemed best to postpone the building of the gymnasium a little longer. The movement which was started by Doctor Bowler and the undergraduates, however, hastened the event, and though the country was just emerging from a financial panic which had affected the Dartmouth alumni, as it had all classes of people, Mr. Hall threw himself into the movement with all his characteristic energy, gathered around him a group of young, hustling, loyal alumni who were willing to sacrifice time and money to the cause, and began a campaign for raising funds which will end only with the completion of the best gymnasium in the country, one which for a century will meet the needs of the physical and athletic development of Dartmouth College. Only a few know the amount of work he has done in accomplishing this great work, but by it he has endeared himself to that great body of alumni who are jealous of every athletic record of the College.

These things have been done by him in the midst of the ever increasing pressure of a successful law practice, in which his qualities of energy, straightforwardness and devotion have won him an enviable position.

Last June Mr. Hall found it necessary because of his many duties to resign from his membership upon the Athletic Council. The resignation was accepted with reluctance and feelings of regret by those who had worked so harmoniously with him. The absence of Mr. Hall from the Athletic Council is a great loss to the College, but his advice and experience are always at its command and will be frequently sought in the solution of those important problems which are constantly arising. The best wishes of the alumni are with him. At its fall meeting, September 24, the present council drew up the following resolutions relating to Mr. Hall's long period of usefulness to Dartmouth:

RESOLVED:. That the Athletic Council of Dartmouth College directs the ention, as a member of the Alumni Athletic the following expression of its regret upon the resignation of Mr. Edward K. Hall as a member of the Athletic Council.

MINUTE

Edward Kimball Hall entered Dartmouth College in the year 1889, and since that time has taken an active interest in Dartmouth Athletics.

As an undergraduate he was a member of the Varsity Football, Baseball and Track Athletic Teams, and Manager of the Track Athletic Team.

By intelligent effort he accomplished much in the proper organization of the sports of the College. After graduation as a member of the Alumni Athletic Committee, of the Athletic Council as later formed, and finally as President of the Athletic Council, he unselfishly devoted himself to the advancement of Dartmouth Athletics and to the establishment of relations with other colleges. Setting a high standard, he stood staunchly for a rigid adherence to the principles of true amateur sport.

By his resignation from the Athletic Council, Dartmouth College has suffered a distinct loss, and to the members of the Council who have worked with him, his retirement has brought keen regret.

This regret is somewhat lessened, however, by the knowledge that his interest in our work will continue, and that his judicious counsel will be always available.

RESOLVED: That a copy of the foregoing minute be sent to Mr. Hall and published in The Dartmouth and THE ALUMNI MAGAZINE.