Guide to the Records of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Athletic Association
AC.0070

Summary Information

Repository
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections
Creator
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Athletic Association
Title
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Athletic Association records
ID
AC.0070
Date [inclusive]
1906 to circa 1971
Extent
9.5 cubic feet (28 manuscript boxes, 1 half manuscript box)
Location
Materials are stored off-site. Advance notice is required for use.
Language
English
Abstract
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Athletic Association was a student organization established in 1904, under the supervision of the Alumni Advisory Council on Athletics, to manage and promote athletic activity at MIT. The organization oversaw the activities of athletic teams, distributed Institute funds to the teams, and participated in planning and policy decisions. The collection documents the business of conducting athletics at MIT in the first half of the twentieth century, after which the Institute assumed more responsibility for the athletics program. Records include budgets and other financial information, annual reports on various teams, programs from athletic events, and Athletic Association publications.

Citation

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Athletic Association Records, AC 70, box X. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Institute Archives and Special Collections, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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Historical note

Athletic activities in the early years after the establishment of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, Massachusetts in 1861 were student run and supported; in order to participate, individual students paid their own expenses. Competition was largely intramural, with keen competition between classes. Intercollegiate events were also held, involving sports such as football, baseball, track and field, and tennis. Each team was responsible for raising funds to support its activities and for regulating and managing competitions, which after some years resulted in confusion sufficient to necessitate the establishment of an umbrella organization to provide oversight of athletic activities.

In 1904 the MIT Athletic Association (MITAA) was founded to manage and promote athletic activity at MIT, under the supervision of the Alumni Advisory Council on Athletics. A student organization, MITAA was responsible for distributing Institute funds to various sports teams, for providing general management and promotion of athletic activities at MIT, and for participating in planning and policy decisions. Membership included captains and managers of individual Institute teams and undergraduate members of the Alumni Advisory Council. When the campus moved from the Back Bay in Boston, to the much larger site in Cambridge in June 1916, new facilities and space were available for athletic activities.

MITAA oversaw the activities of several athletic teams, including baseball, basketball, crew, fencing, golf, hockey, lacrosse, swimming, and tennis during the first half of the twentieth century. The Association also sponsored various events, including Tech Field Day. Field Day, an annual MIT tradition of intramural competition between the freshman and sophomore classes, included favorite contests such as tug-of-war and the glove fight, a free-for-all in which participants attempted to capture the gloves and clothing of opponents.

After World War II, increased enrollment in undergraduate programs and in the Graduate School led to an awareness of the limitation of an advisory body to serve the sports, recreation, and athletic needs of MIT’s larger student population. Governance of athletic activities was reorganized, and more responsibilities were assumed by the Institute. In 1947, Ivan J. Grieger became the first athletic director and director of physical education at MIT.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The records of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)Athletic Association (MITAA) document the activities of MIT athletics during the early and mid-twentieth century. The records provide a window into a substantial activity of student life from the perspective of student leaders and athletes, and illustrate a long-standing tradition at MIT that encourages student self-governance. The bulk of the collection covers the time period 1925-1955.

Records in this collection reflect the day-to-day business of conducting athletics at MIT and chronicle the results of a wide variety of team sports in the twentieth century.

Field Day, an annual MIT tradition of intramural competition between the freshman and sophomore classes, is detailed in the reports of Field Day managers (Series 2. Manager’s Reports) and in Field Day programs (Series 4. Athletic Association Events Records).

The management of the MIT Athletic Association and information about its membership and committee activities is also included. Programs from various MITAA events and MITAA publications (including their constitution and by-laws) chronicle the history of athletics at MIT and the role this student association played in promoting sports activities.

Two volumes of athletic budgets, covering the years 1929-1931, were removed and discarded due to mold and water damage.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections (Copyright 1981, 2002)

MIT Libraries
Building 14N-118
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139-4307
617.253.5690
mithistory@mit.edu

Revision Description

  2010

Access note

The collection is open for research.

Intellectual Property Rights

Access to collections in the Institute Archives and Special Collections is not authorization to publish. Separate written application for permission to publish must be made to the Institute Archives.

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Related Materials

Related Archival Materials

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Gymnasium Committee minutes, AC 2

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Athletic Association

Subject(s)

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology--History.
  • Sports
  • Student activities.
  • Student Life
  • Student participation in administration.

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Bibliography

Balch, Richard L., “The Role of Athletics at M.I.T.,” Technology Review, November 1959, pages 30-50.

Berg, Warren, “Athletics at M.I.T.,” Technology Review, April 1950, pages 315-330.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Athletics at M.I.T., A Handbook, Cambridge, Mass., 1978.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Intercollegiate Athletics at M.I.T., Cambridge, Mass., 1971.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Intercollegiate Athletics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., 1966.

Technique (MIT yearbook), 1887-

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Collection Inventory

 Series 1. Athletic Budgets and Financial Records 1917-1958 

Scope and Contents note

This series constitutes the bulk of the collection. It consists mainly of financial statements and related material, with the exception of the academic years 1943-1944 and 1944-1945. In the athletic budget volumes (1917-1948), each entry includes current and previous year budget statistics, itemized travel and equipment expenditures, season schedules with scores and meet outcomes, and income lists. Date ranges refer to academic years, not calendar years.
Box Folder

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1917-1922 

 1 1

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1923-1924 

 1 2

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1924-1925 

 1 3

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1925-1926 

 2 1

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1926-1927 

 2 2

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1927-1928 

 3 1

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1928-1929 

 3 2

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1931-1932 

 4 1

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1932-1933 

 5 1

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1933-1934 

 6 1

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1934-1935 

 6 2

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1935-1936 

 7 1

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1936-1937 

 7 2

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1937-1938 

 8 1

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1938-1939 

 8 2

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1939-1940 

 9 1

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1940-1941 

 9 2

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1942-1943 

 10 1

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association 1945-1946 

 10 2

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget 1946-1947 

 11 1

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget: vol. 1 1947-1948 

 11 2

Budget Committee, MIT athletic budget: vol. 2 1947-1948 

 12 1

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 1 1948-1949 

 12 2

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 2 1948-1949 

 13 1

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 1 1949-1950 

 13 2

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 2 1949-1950 

 14 1

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 1 1950-1951 

 14 2

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 2 1950-1951 

 15 1

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 1 1951-1952 

 15 2

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 2 1951-1952 

 15 3

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 1 1952-1953 

 16 1

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 2 1952-1953 

 16 2

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 1 1953-1954 

 16 3

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 2 1953-1954 

 17 1

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 1 1954-1955 

 17 2

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 2 1954-1955 

 17 3

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 1 1955-1956 

 18 1

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association: vol. 2 1955-1956 

 18 2

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association 1956-1957 

 18 3

Financial records, MIT Athletic Association 1957-1958 

 19 1

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 Series 2. Manager’s Reports 1921-1955 

Scope and Contents note

This series consists of annual reports of the managers of various teams. Sports covered include: baseball, basketball, boxing and wrestling, crew, fencing, golf, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, pistol, rifle, sailing, skiing, soccer, squash, swimming, and tennis. Also included are annual reports on equipment and field days, which contain clippings and programs. Date ranges refer to academic years, not calendar years; for some years reports are not included.
Box Folder

Baseball 1924-1925, 1931-1933, 1935-1936, 1947-1948, 1949-1950 

 19 2

Basketball 1929-1932, 1933-1934, 1935-1942, 1949-1951, 1953-1954 

 19 2

Boxing 1921-1922, 1936-1937 

 19 3

Wrestling 1929-1934, 1935-1942, 1946-1954 

 19 3

Crew: vol. 1 1930-1931, 1932-1940, 1943-1948 

 20 1

Crew: vol. 2 1948-1951 

 20 2

Equipment 1935-1942, 1946-1949, 1950-1951, 1952-1953, 1954-1955 

 21 1

Fencing 1930-1933, 1934-1939, 1940-1943, 1946-1947, 1950-1951, 1952-1953, 1954-1955 

 21 2

Golf 1930-1931, 1935-1940, 1941-1942, 1949-1951, 1954-1955 

 21 2

Gymnastics 1929-1937, 1938-1940, 1941-1942 

 21 2

Field Day: vol. 1 1929-1936 

 22 1

Field Day: vol. 2 1937-1941, 1943-1944, 1946 

 23 1

Field Day: vol. 3 1947-1949, 1951, 1954 

 24 1

Hockey 1930-1931, 1936-1940, 1941-1942 

 24 2

Lacrosse 1930-1931, 1932-1943, 1945-1947 

 24 2

Pistol 1938-1941, 1946-1947, 1948-1949, 1951-1952 

 24 2

Rifle 1931-1933, 1935-1940, 1948-1950 

 25 1

Sailing 1950-1953 

 25 1

Skiing 1951-1954 

 25 1

Soccer 1930-1933, 1934-1941 

 25 1

Squash 1931-1935, 1936-1941, 1943-1944, 1946-1949, 1950-1951 

 25 2

Swimming 1929-1932, 1935-1941, 1942-1943, 1945-1954 

 26 1

Frosh swim results 1923-1957 

 26 2

Swimming team meet reports 1915-1948 

 26 3

Swimming team meet reports 1948-1954 

 26 4

Tennis 1930-1932, 1933-1935, 1936-1939, 1940-1942, 1943-1946, 1952-1955 

 27 1

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 Series 3. Athletic Association Committee Records 

Scope and Contents note

This series consists of Publicity Committee reports, Executive Committee reports and minutes, and membership lists for some of these years.
Box Folder

Publicity Committee reports 1930-1932, 1936-1938 

 28 1

Executive Committee reports 1921-1922, 1942-1943, 1944-1945 

 28 1

Executive Committee minutes 1940-1950 

 28 1

Executive Committee minutes 1956-1963 

 28 2

Athletic Association minutes 1956-1965 

 28 3

Athletic Association membership lists 1952-1965 

 28 4

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 Series 4. Athletic Association Events Records 1906-1950 

Scope and Contents note

This series includes programs from events sponsored by the Athletic Association, including dual track meets between Harvard and MIT (1920-1922), Tech Field Days (intermittent issues between 1906-1950), and the 1947 Tech’s-A-Poppin, a weekend of athletic competition and social activities.
Box Folder

Dual Track and Field Meet, Harvard vs. Technology 1920-1922 

 29 1

Tech Field Day 1906, 1922, 1939, 1941, 1943-44, 1946-47, 1950 

 29 2

Tech’s-A-Poppin 1947 

 29 3

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 Series 5. Athletic Association Publications 1911 to circa 1971 

Scope and Contents note

This series is composed of publications produced by the Athletic Association, including various editions of the constitution and by-laws of the MIT Athletic Advisory Board and Athletic Association (1911-1932), informational brochures about athletic activities at MIT, and “Beaver Sports Brief,” a summary of sporting activities and results in the 1940s.
Box Folder

Constitution and By-Laws of the Advisory Council on Athletics and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Athletic Association 1911, 1919, 1922, 1929, 1932, 1937 

 29 4

“Athletics at MIT” and “Intercollegiate Athletics at MIT" undated and 1966-197? 

 29 5

“Beaver Sport Briefs” undated 

 29 6

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