The Trophy Room
As one enters the main floor of the Alumni gymnasium one finds one's self in the Trophy Room, the treasure chest of all the past and present trophies of Dartmouth athletics. Therein lie memorials to the athletic prowess of Dartmouth teams over a period of more than fifty years. Plaques, banners and exhibits in show-cases all go to illustrate the successes of the "wearers of the Green." Banners, discolored by time, still uphold the fame of the grads of yesteryear. A pity that worthy defeats are not also registered.
Within these portals one may pass, in retrospect, the glory and rivalry which featured every conflict—every one an epic in itself. From the most insignificant painted baseball to the dazzling cups—each has its own particular history and feature. One of the most treasured of all is the oar used in the Intercollegiate regatta of 1875, held at Saratoga. It was presented by Dr. W. G. Eaton of Lowell, Massachusetts, who was a member of the Dartmouth crews of '74 and '75. While the oar represents no world-shaking accomplishment, it does give due honor to the athletes who first organized the crew at Dartmouth.
An old banner gives evidence of the only interclass race ever held at Dartmouth. (At least according to Trophy-Room Records.) In the fall of 1874 all four classes were represented in this regatta. The senior crew, after defeating the junior eight, won from the sophomores, who easily beat the yearling boatmen. The D. B. C. (Dartmouth Boating Club) banner perpetuates the fame of the class of 1877. Two red and blue colored pennants are the spoils of the University of Pennsylvania's twelfth and seventeenth annual Relay Carnivals. Dartmouth tracksters succeeded in capturing the two-mile intercollegiate championship in 1906, and the freshmen one-mile championship in 1911. The "knights of the Dartmouth cinder path" carried away the honors at the twenty-fourth and twenty-six annual championship meetings of the New England Intercollegiate Athletic Association, held at Springfield, and Brookline, Massachusetts, respectively. The first annual cross-country run held at Brookline also, on November 16, 1912, was won by Dartmouth. The records of these live in handsome green banners.
PLAQUES AND BASEBALLS
Striking plaques add additional charms. Numbered among these are two New England Swimming Championships, gained through the efforts of the natators of '25 and '26. The Hotchkin Point Trophy, Olympiad, marks another victory of the tracksters as does the Triangular Indoor Meet emblem which records a close victory of Dartmouth over its old rivals, Harvard and Cornell. The baseball trophy case is of artistic as well as sentimental value. Within it are found approximately four hundred baseballs, each one signifying conquest of a Dartmouth nine over its opposition. Each one tells its own story. A striking novelty is the coloring of each ball. As a result we have within the glass case the colors of West Point, Amherst, Brown, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Pennsylvania and numerous other schools.
Diagonally across the room is the football niche. To a majority of Dartmouth men, this is most prized. This case evidences tokens of Dartmouth superiority in football conflicts with rivals and arch-rivals. Similarly to the baseballs, each football tells when and what concerning the "damage done." One cannot help noticing the drastic change in the size of the football over a score of years. Anyone "evolutionarily inclined" will find much food for thought in the comparison of the oldest football with that used in the 1930 Harvard game. Among the inflated pigskins is one besmeared with blood, giving evidence of a hectic afternoon with Pennsylvania. After a tie game (7-7) the flip of a coin gave Dartmouth possession of the ball. The footballs are symbolical, not only of victories, but also of friendly relations with other colleges—even though blood stains decorate the ball! And the blood probably is blood of the enemy!
Within the confines of two other glass cases are twenty-nine cups and trophies. True, time has acted harshly on some, and what was "the last word" along trophy lines in the nineties does not equal the splendor and beauty of the cups won during the past decade. (Still silver polish might make a difference). Though not of equal monetary value perhaps they are on a par, sentimentally speaking. The first Dartmouth Intercollegiate trophies were won through the efforts of E. C. Stimson, '76 on July 21, 1876 at Saratoga, N. Y. He was first in the three mile intercollegiate run and also in the mile. His triumphs enabled Dartmouth to place second to Princeton in the day's score. His cups are the costliest and most artistic of the whole collection.
THAT STADIUM DEDICATION
One of the most attractive of the loving cups is that given by the Dartmouth Club of New York City. It was given in appreciation of the football record of the 1903 eleven which dedicated the Harvard Stadium by an 11-0 victory. A New England Lawn Tennis Association trophy points out Dartmouth power in that sport several years ago. A huge silver bowl is symbolical of the big Green's conquest of Pennsylvania and Harvard in an Indoor Triangular Track Meet on February 17, 1917. In 1910, Hoffman, Noyes, Holmes and Frances succeeded in winning the mile college relay at the Penn games. This quartet was rewarded with a handsomely engraved cup.
The solitary evidence of Dartmouth supremacy in basketball, of late years, is the souvenir of that hectic season of '27. The big Green quintet, led by Superman Picken overpowered a fighting Princeton tiger at Philadelphia in the playoff contest to gain the championship of the Intercollegiate Basketball League. Way back in 1902, before the birth of the new league, Dartmouth was awarded the New England Intercollegiate prize (Hobart, Bankart, McGrail, Rix). The banner which signifies the success of the boys of that era is fading in color but "the memory lingers on."
Not only intercollegiate athletic accomplishments are registered in the Trophy Room. Perhaps the latest addition to the loving cups was that donated by the Dartmouth Athletic Council. It is annually given to that class which is judged the winner of the spring hum. (Is this custom dying out?) Neatly painted panels, suspended on the walls of this historic room, show the all-time college records for the various track and field events. New records receive their due publicity on these boards.
Through generous alumni donations the room has been simply and comfortably furnished with chairs and sofas. In a corner of the room is a piano which is the principal source of entertainment at many impromptu social gatherings.
It is of surprising interest to note the casual Dartmouth regard for this trophy room, with its historical contents. The full value and beauty of the Trophy Room are little realized by the average student.
It may be that this is not a sentimental one or it may be that athletic prowess is not so highly regarded in these times. But laurel leaves are bound to fade!
EAST NICHE Dominated by Moose-head gift of E. K. Hall
CUPS
THE FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP
LAURELLED PIGSKINS
