This is a sale for a 100% original Program for the University of Illinois Illini at the University of Michigan Wolverines for the 1934 game. This program is in FAIR condition.
This PROGRAM is INCREDIBLY SIGNIFICANT for a multitude of reasons:
* The program features Michigan's MVP and future President of the U.S. Gerald Ford.
* The program also features Harry Kipke on the cover and internally All-American's Willis Ward (UM) and Charles Galbreath (IL)
NOTE - I Just scored many Michigan programs ranging from 1907 to 1949. Please reach out if you have specific requests!!!! I
am looking for several ticket stubs to this rivalry: 1969 & 1963 - your help will be rewarded significantly.
The less than ideals are: The most notable flaw is the several creases across the cover. Otherwise, normal period soiling /handling/spine/surface/edge/corner/page turn wear is present. Internal pages are a cream white (if pix show more yellow, it's just the lighting). The inside pages show similar wear and the center page is solidly held by the staples. The back cover shows similar wear. Please see pix. This program is a historical gem as it's a game from the infamous Ford/Ward history.
Gerald Ford / Willis Ward Story: Gerald
Ford (48) threatened to quit the University of Michigan football team
in 1934 if fellow Wolverine Willis Ward (61) was benched against Georgia
Tech because of the southern school's refusal to play against black
players. Just two weeks into its 1934
season, the University of Michigan football team faced mounting
adversity. The Wolverines had been shut out by teams from the University
of
Chicago and Michigan State, and a home game against Georgia Tech loomed.
But off the field, athletic director Fielding Yost had a decision to
make. The Yellow Jackets still observed the Jim Crow laws of the South,
frowning upon the participation of black athletes within their program.
They frowned upon lining up against them, too. Georgia Tech publicly refused to meet the Wolverines at Michigan
Stadium if Yost and head coach Harry Kipke sent out Willis Ward, the
team’s star end. But Ward was no ordinary end. In his track career, he
bested Ohio State’s Jesse Owens in the 100-yard dash and was a
three-year starter for the football team. Ward also was black. At
Ford’s funeral services on Jan. 2, 2007, President George W. Bush
eulogized the Grand Rapids native and nation’s 38th president with a
speech that featured a segment on the two former U-M teammates. “Gerald
Ford was furious at Georgia Tech for making the demand, and
for the University of Michigan for caving in,” Bush said. “He agreed to
play only after Willis Ward personally asked him to. The stand Gerald
Ford took that day was never forgotten by his friend. And Gerald Ford
never forgot that day either — and three decades later, he proudly
supported the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in the United
States Congress.” As the story goes, Georgia Tech expected Michigan to follow the
“gentleman’s agreement” which coerced Northern schools into benching
their black players when playing teams from the South. Yost — a West Virginia native who had ties to Southern schools —
obliged, despite pressure from local media and protesters, as well as
the opportunity to call off the game well before the season started. “(Georgia Tech coach) W.A. Alexander said to Fielding Yost, ‘Michigan
has this tradition and we have ours. In order to avoid this
embarrassment, we can cancel the game.’ But Fielding Yost was not
interested in canceling the game,” said Tyran Steward, a doctoral
student in history at Ohio State, who wrote his master’s thesis on the
topic while studying at Eastern Michigan University. “We understand Fielding Yost to be very influential in making
contributions to the University of Michigan. He is, in many ways, to be
thanked for putting U of M on the map in becoming a football powerhouse.
He is, in all intents and purposes, the architect of the Big Ten. But
he is also an individual who was committed to racial bigotry and racial
prejudice. He’s a son of the South.”
Ford, the team’s starting center, was enraged at the idea of taking
the field without his close friend. Ward called Ford the first friend he
made at Michigan, as the two entered as freshmen together and roomed
together on road trips. “But when Ford found out about it, he was just outraged and went to
Harry Kipke and told him if (Ward) didn’t play, (Ford) was going to quit
the team,” said Buddy Moorehouse, a Michigan film director who is
partnering with filmmaker Brian Kruger to create a documentary on the
incident they hope to include in a 10-part series this year about the
history of Michigan football. In the end, it was Ward himself who encouraged Ford to play in the
game, citing the team’s poor start and need for Ford’s play. “Apparently
it was one of the best games Ford ever had,” Moorehouse
said. “During the game, there was this player on Georgia Tech that was
using racial slurs and talking trash. Ford and this other Michigan
lineman put a hit on this guy that knocked him out of the game.
Afterward, they went and told Ward, ‘That was for you.’” Michigan won
the game, 9-2. It would be the team’s only win of the season.
Ward earned a law degree and went on to serve as the chairman of the
Michigan Public Service Commission, as well as a probate judge in Wayne
County. His friend, Jerry, went on to be president of the United States.
Neither of them forgot 1934. “Willis Ward becomes one of those individuals in the same vein as
Jackie Robinson, Booker T. Washington, Joe Louis — figures who attempt
to work within the framework of American democracy and believe in
working side-by-side with whites to attack these injurious racial
issues,” Steward said.
PAYMENT & RETURNS:
Payment due no later than 3-days after auction closes. Will ship to continental U.S. (48-states) for listed price with Tracking but no Insurance. Please contact me if you want to make any changes to this shipping structure, cannot be liable for USPS damage.
Returns are welcome, but Bidder pays return shipping and return postage will need to have tracking - original shipping not refundable. I am happy to combine shipping to save you $ too if any other auctions appeal to your interests.
Questions? Please contact me before bidding.
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