INVREF#CL8-9
Very rare 1905 Harvard graduation ticket for seniors to receive their degree degree diplomas. As one of the earliest black American major college athletes as well as an All-American skillset, Williams broke many, many barriers. You'll receive an original ticket from his graduation day ceremony in 1904 where he walked and received his law degree. Below is his incredible story!
The 1905 Harvard baseball team was highlighted by star shortstop William Clarence Matthews (1902–1905), who led the team in batting average, and second baseman Eddie Grant , who played 10 seasons in the major leagues. Harvard boasted a strong 75–18 record during Matthews' tenure, which concluded with the 1905 season.
Key Players on the 1905 Harvard Team:
William Clarence Matthews (January 7, 1877 – April 9, 1928) was an early 20th-century African-American pioneer in athletics, politics and law. Born in Selma, Alabama, Matthews was enrolled at the Tuskegee Institute and, with the help of Booker T. Washington (the principal of the institute), enrolled at the Phillips Academy in 1900 and Harvard University in 1901. At Harvard, he became one of the standout baseball players, leading the team in batting average for the 1903, 1904, and 1905 seasons.
Matthews, having come from poverty and with no living parent, had to financially support himself with multiple jobs, but still managed to graduate in 1905 and was accepted to Boston University School of Law. In the summer of 1905, Matthews joined the Burlington, Vermont baseball team of the Northern League, making him the only African-American in any white professional baseball league at the time. Halfway through the season there were rumors of Matthews joining the struggling Boston Beaneaters as the starting second baseman, but possible backlash throughout the National League stopped the rumors. Matthews joined the Bar association in 1908 and became one of the first African-American Assistant District Attorneys in the country. He worked as legal counsel to Marcus Garvey before getting active in Republican Party politics and helping get Calvin Coolidge elected President in 1924. He died in 1928 while serving in Washington, D.C., as a U.S. Assistant Attorney General. For challenging the color line in professional baseball he is considered by his main biographer, Karl Lindholm, to be "the Jackie Robinson of his day".
Matthews was a recognized baseball standout at both the Tuskegee Institute and at Phillips Andover, and thus was able to walk on to the Harvard varsity baseball team as a freshman. The tryouts for the Harvard Baseball team had over 140 people for only 12 spots, and Matthews was one of the first ones selected for the team. His joining the team caused some controversy, as one of a few African-American baseball players in American colleges at this point, and he had to be held out of games occasionally because of protests by other teams. During his sophomore year the team cancelled a tour through the southern states entirely.
The Harvard baseball team was one of the best in the country (coached in 1902 by Cy Young and Willie Keeler) and Matthews was the star shortstop for the team, lettering all four years (1902–1905). Matthews made an important contribution his first season by scoring the winning run in the final game of the series against Yale in front of 9,000 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York City. He led the team in hitting his final three years (batting a high .400 and stealing 25 bases during his senior year) as the Harvard team won 78 games and lost 18 with him over that span.
On the Harvard baseball team, he played alongside second baseman Eddie Grant and pitcher Walter Clarkson, both of whom went on to careers in professional baseball. However, Matthews was considered by one local paper to be the "greatest big league prospect" on the Harvard team. Matthews was highly lauded as a member of the Harvard Baseball team with The Boston Post dubbing him "no doubt the greatest colored athlete of all time" and "the best infielder Harvard ever had."
Matthews, as he had done at Tuskegee and Andover, also played football at Harvard. He played as the varsity quarterback for the first games of the 1901 season (his freshman season) until he suffered an injury in the Harvard–Army game and became a backup for the rest of the season. He played his last three years for Harvard but was moved primarily to the left end position. In 1904, he was mentioned as a potential All-American.
While at Harvard, Matthews was mentored by William H. Lewis who was a coach for the Harvard football team and the first African-American assistant United States Attorney in the country.
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