The 1888 Harvard Prep School football team of Chicago represented Harvard School of Chicago during the
1888 college football season
The 1888 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the ''Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book'' listing Yale as having been selected national champions. October 18 saw the first intercollegiate game in the state of North C ...
. In (at least) their 3rd year fielding a football team (as the school played
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
in 1887, losing 0-26, and
Northwestern in 1886, winning 32-4), the Harvard's as they were called, compiled a 6–1 record (according to one unverified source).
They also had a Junior (JV) team, who reportedly won the Junior Championship of Illinois, although this was just a claim, and not an official title or award. The team played at the Wanderer's Athletic Club cricket grounds, on 37th Street and Indiana Avenue. They would play two collegiate teams during the football season, defeating Lake Forest 22 to 4 (or 22–6), and losing to
Notre Dame 20 to 0, which would become the University's first victory in a football game.
Schedules
Varsity team
Junior team
Practice games
Notes: The Thanksgiving Day game with Hyde Park and the October 27th contest against the Chicago Normal School may not have occurred. It is likely that the games against Chicago Normal school, Evanston Athletic Club, and Harvard-Yale Graduates, were wins for the Harvards, given the record discovered by historian
Robert Pruter
Robert Douglas Pruter (born July 1, 1944) is an American writer, mainly on soul and rhythm and blues music, and on sports. He was the rhythm and blues editor of '' Goldmine'' magazine from 1985 to 2006.
Career
In 1969, he was hired as an assist ...
, but his research on the team already had one known inaccuracy, announcing Harvard Prep School as "Cook County League Champions", although the Cook County League would not be formed until 1889, and would not include Harvard Prep. Both Harvard Prep's 1st and Junior teams claimed the Illinois or junior championship at certain points in the season, but these claims are not substantial, or backed up by any sources. An article in the ''South Bend Tribune'' on December 6, 1888, corroborates that Harvard Prep had not lost a contest prior to playing Notre Dame.
Roster
1st Team
*Donnelly- Center
*Allen- Rusher
*R. McDermid- Rusher
*Wright- Rusher
*Hoyle- Rusher
*Fair- Rusher
*Marriner- Rusher
*Peoples- Rusher
*Bert Hamlin- Quarterback (Captain)
*George Hamlin- Halfback
*Valentine- Halfback
*Page- Halfback
*Ritchie- Halfback
*Herrick- Fullback
*Neely- Fullback
*Sargent- Fullback
*Crawford
Junior Team
*Thorne- Center
*Young- Rusher
*R. Jocklyn- Rusher
*Wilson- Rusher
*Krouse- Rusher
*McGilvery- Rusher
*McClever- Rusher
*R. Hamlin- Quarterback
*Fargo- Halfback
*Levy- Halfback
*R. McDermid- Fullback
*Harry Hamlin
References
{{reflist
Chicago Harvard Prep School
Chicago Harvard Prep School football team
1880s in Chicago
American football in Chicago
College sports in Chicago