Professor Hamilton's Diary: Dec. 28, 1935

He spends the day typing; football killed 30 players, injured tens of thousands more

Still in Bronxville at his in-laws’ home, Professor Hamilton writes, “Worked on my thesis typing a great deal of the day.” That’s it.

Following up on the comment at the Pi Gamma Mu conference about football’s growing dominance of college campuses, an article in the New York Times of Dec. 29, 1935 caught my eye. It was about the 30 football deaths and tens and thousands of injuries for the year. It is a shocking number, and much like the traffic fatality rate in the 1930s, dwarves the rate of today. Paid subscribers can read on about the deaths on the gridiron.

Professor Hamilton’s Diary is coming to an end on Dec. 31, and the 1942 diary of Mrs. Gladys Gunn of Washington, D.C. begins. Don’t miss out on the deep dive into the era, as well as the ability to comment, ask questions and research the archives which you only get as a paid subscriber. It costs less than 16 cents a day. Click below to upgrade. And if you are already a paid subscriber, thank you! — And please tell your history-loving (or simply curious) friends!

The photo of the 1935 Mercersburg (Pennsylvania) Academy football team in action is being offered by a dealer on eBay.