RG 39/A0/02

Inventory to the Records of the Rutgers University Director of Intercollegiate Athletics (Albert W. Twitchell), 1931-1977

By Adam Barth

May 1999

Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries

Administrative History of the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics

The history of Rutgers University athletics is a significant one. The school hosted and won the first-ever collegiate football game (against Princeton) in 1869, priming the way for future participation and excellence in various collegiate sports. Albert W. Twitchell was involved in athletics in many ways. A native of Dedham, Massachusetts, he was captain of the football team and was an All-American in lacrosse prior to graduating in 1935. In 1947 he returned to his alma mater to join the lacrosse and football coaching staffs, becoming the lacrosse head coach in 1950. Additionally, he became the assistant athletic director in 1952. In 1961 he was named to replace Harry J. Rockafeller as Rutgers' Director of Athletics. He preserved the school's undefeated football season that year, by curiously rejecting at least two informal Bowl bids. Another eventful year was 1967, when Twitchell was inducted into the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, but then had to deal with Rutgers athletics being placed on probation while under his watch. An academic violation prohibited Rutgers from participating in championship sports events for a period of eight months. The year 1969 marked the 100th anniversary of the first collegiate football game, and for the occasion Twitchell arranged home games against Navy and original foe Princeton. Twitchell would remain as athletic director until 1973. After refusing to resign, he was dismissed and replaced by longtime assistant Frederick E. Gruninger. After his dismissal, he became a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee and directed the sports administration program at Miami's Biscayne College.

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Scope and Content Note

The records of the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics are dated between 1931 and 1977 but are mostly from the 1960s and early 1970s. These records mostly detail Albert Twitchell's actions as the director of intercollegiate athletics between 1961 and 1973. There is also a fair amount of Fred Gruninger's correspondence from his days as assistant athletic director, as well as from his early days as the athletic director. In addition, there is some correspondence from Don Heilman, an assistant athletic director under Gruninger. The records consist of letters, contracts, schedules, expense reports, receipts, drawings, and other correspondence that signify the role the Athletics Department played at Rutgers during this period. This includes the administration of varsity and freshman teams, student recreation, physical education curriculum, and management of the athletic fields and gymnasiums. The study of these records reveal the secretive seven-year negotiation process which led to the Navy football team visiting Rutgers to celebrate the centennial year. They also discuss the 1969 elimination of physical education as a required part of the curriculum, and contain some records of future film star Brian Dennehy as a member of the Columbia football team (a Rutgers' opponent), in 1962. The records document the student-athlete recruiting process of this time, which was largely concentrated in New Jersey and in surrounding states. Records pertaining to the athletic facilities demonstrate their use not only for Rutgers team events, but also how they were made available for high school tournaments and even a Billy Joel concert. While these records indicate little or no personal information about the Rutgers administrators, they might occasionally be of great personal nature to students and their families, especially through letters concerning injury and university admission.

The records are divided into five series: I. Correspondence, II. Physical Education, III. Subject Files, IV. Intercollegiate Events, and V. Letter Awards. Information relating to a particular subject or event will often be found within more than one series, particularly Series I, III, and IV. The majority of the records are on letter-size (8 1/2" x 11") paper, but a large portion are on smaller, index-card-sized forms. Carbon copies of this correspondence are common as well. In some instances, multiple copies of a blank form were saved by the records creator, and in processing the records most extra copies were discarded, as were some carbon masters that would be difficult to preserve. In an effort to most efficiently preserve the records, newsprint clippings were transferred onto bond paper. In addition, a few spiral notebooks were disassembled, the pages flattened, and the acidic covers replaced with photocopies. In the first three series, the dates--unless set off by parentheses--indicate the scope of the record creation. The dates listed on the files of series IV, Intercollegiate Events, indicate the calendar date of the event, but may contain material leading up and subsequent to it.

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Arrangement Note

The records of the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics (Albert W. Twitchell) are arranged in the following series:

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Name and Subject Tracings

Personal Names

Corporate Names

Subjects

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Inventory to the Records of the Rutgers University Director of Intercollegiate Athletics (Albert W. Twitchell), 1931-1977 (RG 39/A0/02), Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.

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Selected Bibliography

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Detailed Description of the Records/Container List