University Barge Club
University Barge Club of Philadelphia (also known as UBC)[2] is an amateur rowing club located at #7 Boathouse Row in the historic Boathouse Row of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark.[3] The Club's founding, in 1854, is considered the "dawn of organized athletics in the University of Pennsylvania."[4] Known as "the upper-class rowing club," UBC is a founder, and the most senior member, of the oldest amateur athletic governing body in the United States –- the Schuylkill Navy.[5]
Founding
University Barge Club was founded by ten members of the University of Pennsylvania’s freshman class in 1854.[6] The founders of the Club first rowed out of a boathouse near the Fairmount Waterworks on the Schuylkill know simply as Charlie’s boathouse.[7] The University Barge Club was officially formed when the founders purchased the Club’s first boat, the Hesperus, from Bachelors Barge Club.[8] Club members wore sailor uniforms from clothier Jacob Reed that were monogrammed with “U.B.C.” on their hats and belts.[2] In 1855, members of the Club, in conjunction with the Philadelphia Barge Club, built a one story brick boathouse on rented land.[8] The Club purchased a second boat, named Lucifer.[7] After 1860, both boats were moved to a space rented from the Philadelphia Skating Club, which is now the Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club.[9]
At first, membership was limited to students enrolled at Penn, but the Club was not listed as a student organization of the University of Pennsylvania until 1867, when the University Barge Club won the Schuylkill Navy championship flag.[7] Membership was later opened to Penn alumni and select non-alumni members.[7]
Although the Club was still affiliated with the University, it gradually began to cater more to non-students.[8] As the Club’s membership became dominated by Old Philadelphians[10] from the upper-class[5] aristocracy, student enthusiasm waned.[7]
In 1871, the Fairmount Park commission allowed the Club to build its own boathouse on Boathouse Row.[11] In 1872, Penn students formed an alternative club, the College Boat Club, to cater to students and focus on preparing for intercollegiate competitions.[7]
In 1887, for social functions, University Barge Club leased an additional upriver clubhouse on the west bank of the Schuylkill, called The Lilacs.[5][10] Today, while many of the University Barge Club's members are University of Pennsylvania graduates, the Club has no official affiliation with the University.[7]
University Barge Club is the sister club of Union Boat Club of Boston.[12] For more than 60 years, the two sister clubs have held an annual interclub "UBC" regatta.[12]
History of the boathouse
The boathouse, at #7-8 Boathouse Row, dates from 1871, and was greatly expanded in 1891.[13] Originally, University Barge Club only occupied #7, while Philadelphia Barge Club occupied #8. In 1932, University Barge Club acquired #8 when Philadelphia Barge Club ceased operations.[13]
References
- ^ "University Barge Club". University Barge Club. http://www.universitybarge.com/index.html. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ a b Thayer, John B. (June 1904). "The Early Years of the University Barge Club of Philadelphia". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 29. Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania. pp. 287–88. http://books.google.com/books?id=5hHFp_Ku9XIC&pg=PA287.
- ^ "Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State". National Historic Landmarks Survey, National Park Service. p. 81. http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/Lists/LIST07.pdf. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ^ Thayer, John B. (June 1904). "The Early Years of the University Barge Club of Philadelphia". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 29. Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania. pp. 284. http://books.google.com/books?id=5hHFp_Ku9XIC&pg=PA284.
- ^ a b c Baltzell, E. Digby (2001). "Upper-Class Clubs and Associations in Philadelphia". The Protestant Establishment Revisited. Transaction Publishers. p. 102. ISBN 9780765806642. http://books.google.com/books?id=M9_S2yqcnh0C&pg=PA102.
- ^ Crowther, Samuel; Arthur Brown Ruhl (1905). "The Beginning of Rowing". Rowing and Track Athletics. New York: MacMillan. p. 24. http://books.google.com/books?id=vxULAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA24. The ten members were: J. Ashurst Bowie, Horace G. Browne, Alexander B. Coxe, Pemberton S. Hutchinson, Chas. I. Macouen, J. Beauclerc Newman, James H. Peabody, Edmund A. Robinson, George H. Waring, and John W. Williams.
- ^ a b c d e f g Tannenbaum, Seth S.; Hood, Clifton R.; and McConaghy, Mary D. (April 2006). "University Barge Club founded 1854, Penn Crew in the 1800s". University Archives, University of Pennsylvania. http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/sports/crew/1800s/histy_bargeclub.html. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ^ a b c Thayer, John B. (June 1904). "The Early Years of the University Barge Club of Philadelphia". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 29. Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania. pp. 285–86. http://books.google.com/books?id=5hHFp_Ku9XIC&pg=PA285.
- ^ Peverelly, Charles A. (1866). "University Barge Club". The Book of American Pastimes. New York. pp. 204–05. http://books.google.com/books?id=j1cqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA204.
- ^ a b Burt, Nathaniel (1999). "The Schuylkill Navy". The Perennial Philadelphians: the anatomy of an American aristocracy. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 297–98. ISBN 9780812216936. http://books.google.com/books?id=L9ueb6r1uXgC&pg=PA297.
- ^ Stillner, Anna (2005). The Philadelphia Girls’ Rowing Club: An Incremental Historic Structure Report (Thesis). p. 28. http://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses/41. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
- ^ a b "Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta 2009 Program". Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. 2009. p. 22. http://www.hosr.org/2009HOSRPROGRAM.pdf. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ a b "University Barge Club History". University Barge Club. http://www.universitybarge.com/history.html. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
Further reading
- "Boathouse Row". Living Places. http://www.livingplaces.com/PA/Philadelphia_County/Philadelphia_City/Boathouse_Row.html. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
- "National Registry of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form". NPS Focus, National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior. 27 November 1983. pp. 662–63. http://image1.nps.gov:9001/StyleServer/calcrgn?cat=NHLS&item=Text/87000821.djvu&style=nps/FOCUS-DJview.xsl&wid=640&hei=480&oif=jpeg&props=item(SUMMARY,COPYRIGHT),cat(Name)&page=13. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- Heiland, Louis (1938). The Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia, 1858 - 1937. Philadelphia: The Drake Press, Inc. p. 81. http://books.google.com/books?id=vRdrOgAACAAJ.
- Janssen, Frederick W. (15 August 1888). "University Barge Club". Outing Library of Sports: American Amateur Athletic and Aquatic History 1829-1888. New York. p. 213. http://books.google.com/books?id=j2p68grSMFoC&pg=PA213.
- Keyser, K. C. (1872). "University Barge Club". Fairmount Park: Sketches of its Scenery, Waters, and History (5th ed.). Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen, and Haffelfinger. p. 135. http://books.google.com/books?id=pWKQ8GKMRigC&pg=PA135.
- Scharf, John Thomas; Westcott, Thompson (1884). "Public Squares, Parks, and Monuments". History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884. 3. L. H. Everts & Company. p. 1871. http://books.google.com/books?id=8uYkAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1871.
- Sweeney, Joe. "The History of the Penn Athletic Club Rowing Association: Part 2 - Beginning of the Clubs". Schuylkill Navy. http://www.boathouserow.org/pac/pachist2.html. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
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