Thursday, November 13, 1919

Fair cold autumn day. To college 7:45 to 12 M. Long chapel exercises to make arrangements for Hamilton trip. Helped candle 25 cases eggs. Studied. Down to Hayes' room. Walked around. Took bath. To bed 10 P.M.

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After some puzzlement over what Stanford meant by Hamilton trip, I looked ahead a couple days in the journal, did a bit of research on the internet, and determined that the trip was to Hamilton College in Clinton. Apparently five busloads of students went to what was a game of some sort (probably football, though Stanford doesn't say).

I looked up Hamilton College, still going strong today as an expensive liberal arts college in Clinton, NY. It's a very attractive school with a long history, having been planned as an academy in 1793 by a missionary to the Oneida Nation, Samuel Kirkland, with the goal of educating the children of the Oneida as well as the children of New York settlers recently migrated from New England. The list of people involved in the school's origins is impressive, as shown by this excerpt from Hamilton College's history, taken from their website:

In 1793 the missionary presented his proposal to President George Washington in Philadelphia, who "expressed approbation," and to Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who consented to be a trustee of the new school, to which he also lent his name. The Hamilton-Oneida Academy was chartered soon thereafter. On July 1, 1794, in colorful ceremonies attended by a delegation of Oneida Indians, the cornerstone was laid by Baron von Steuben, inspector general of the Continental Army and "drillmaster" of Washington's troops during the War for Independence.

The school celebrated its bicentennial last year, having been opened as a institute of higher education in 1812.

Hamilton's athletic director (and football coach) in 1919 was Albert I. Prettyman, whose main claim to fame was bringing ice hockey to the Utica area and Hamilton College in 1917. He coached the football team from 1917-1920; his record was 11-10-3. What is most interesting about Coach Prettyman, though, in my estimation, is the fact that he coached the U.S. ice hockey team in the 1936 Winter Olympics.  Here is a fascinating little story about that event, taken from the Hamilton Alumni Review:

Hamilton's hockey coach, Albert I. Prettyman, had charge of the ice hockey team that represented the United States in the 1936 Winter Olympics held in Germany. When the regular goalie for the team fell ill, Fran Baker, the Continentals' first-string goalie, was invited at the last minute to join the squad as a reserve player. He accompanied Coach Prettyman (who had become a kind of father-figure to him) to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and, as luck would have it, the United States drew the host country as its first-round opponent. Before the game was played, however, Germany's leader, Adolf Hitler, asked to speak with a member of the U.S. team, and Fran, who had studied German at Hamilton, was asked to do the translating. When the Nazi dictator boastfully assured the two Americans that their team would lose to Germany, Fran summoned up his courage and best German to forcefully assert that there would be no such outcome. On the contrary, "The United States will always defeat Germany."

The game, played in a blinding snowstorm, was close, but the result was a 1-0 victory for the U.S.A. The American team went on to reach the medal round, in which Great Britain captured the gold, Canada the silver, and the United States the bronze. Ironically, Fran Baker never took to the ice because the regular goalie had recovered from his illness and was able to play after all. However as a member of the squad, Fran was awarded the bronze medal along with his teammates, becoming the only Hamiltonian ever to have taken home an Olympic medal.

Little did Stanford know he would be witnessing a future Olympic coach at work when he attended the game! More on the trip is forthcoming in the November 15th post.