Curley Byrd

Curley Byrd
H. C. "Curley" Byrd
Byrd as President of the University of Maryland
Sport(s) Football, baseball, and track
Biographical details
Born February 12, 1889(1889-02-12)
Place of birth Crisfield, Maryland
Died October 2, 1970(1970-10-02) (aged 81)
Place of death Baltimore, Maryland
Playing career
1905–1907
1908
1909
1912		 Maryland
George Washington
Georgetown
San Francisco Seals
Position(s) Quarterback (football)
Pitcher (baseball)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1911–1934
1913–1923		 Maryland (football)
Maryland (baseball)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1915–1935
1918–1932
1932–1936
1936–1954		 Maryland (AD)
Maryland (asst. president)
Maryland (vice president)
Maryland (president)
Head coaching record
Overall 119–82–15 (football)
88–73–4 (baseball)
Statistics
College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2× Maryland State Championships (1913, 1914)

Harry Clifton "Curley" Byrd (February 12, 1889 – October 2, 1970) was an American university administrator, educator, athlete, coach, and politician. Byrd began a long association with the University of Maryland as an undergraduate in 1905, and eventually rose to the position of university president from 1936 to 1954.

In the interim, he had also served as the university's athletic director and head coach for the football and baseball teams. Byrd amassed a 119–82–15 record in football from 1911 to 1934 and 88–73–4 record in baseball from 1913 to 1923. Byrd Stadium, the university's current football field, and its predecessor were both named in his honor. In graduate school at Georgetown University, he became one of football's early users of the newly legalized forward pass, and he had a brief baseball career including one season as pitcher for the San Francisco Seals.

Byrd resigned as university president in order to enter politics in 1954. He ran an unsuccessful campaign as the Democratic candidate for Maryland Governor against Theodore McKeldin. Byrd later received appointments to state offices with responsibilities in the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. In the 1960s, he made unsuccessful bids for seats in each chamber of the United States Congress. Byrd was a proponent of a "separate but equal" status of racial segregation in his roles as both university administrator and political candidate.

Contents

Early life

Harry Clifton Byrd was born on February 12, 1889, in Crisfield, Maryland. He was one of six children of oysterman and county commissioner William Franklin Byrd and his wife Sallie May Byrd.[1] In his youth, Byrd worked in the Chesapeake Bay fishing industry, where he saved most of his money to finance his college education.[2] He attended Crisfield High School, where he excelled on the baseball diamond, and was also known as his hometown's first recreational jogger.[2]

A later source described how he appeared in 1905:

"He was tall, and as the saying goes, built like a whip. He had a startlingly handsome face, with big, flashing eyes, a splotch of florid red on each cheek, and a mane of black curly hair ... He looked like Rupert of Hentzau, and had all of that worthy's cold, sinister resolution about everything that he did."[3]

College career

Byrd as a senior at Maryland in 1908

In 1905, Byrd graduated from Crisfield High School and enrolled at the Maryland Agricultural College, which is now known as the University of Maryland.[2] Byrd was a star college athlete and participated in varsity football, baseball, and track. He served as the football team captain in 1907, as the pitcher on the baseball team, and set a school record 10.0-second 100-yard dash in track.[4] Before leaving Crisfield, Byrd's father warned him not to "try to play that thing called football."[5] He ignored the advice and reported for football practice where head coach Fred K. Nielsen told the undersized Byrd to "play with the kids" and that "football's a man's game."[6] He was allowed, however, to fill in as an end on the scout team due to a shortage of players.[5] After sitting out the first three games, Nielsen sent Byrd in as a substitute against Navy, and his play was impressive enough to earn a position on the first team. After the elder Byrd read of his son's newfound stardom in the newspaper, he wrote, "Since you're going to play football, I'm glad to see you're doing it well."[7] During the summers and on weekends, Byrd supplemented his income by continuing work as a fisherman.[2] He graduated second in his class with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in 1908.[1]

After graduation from Maryland, Byrd spent the next three years doing graduate work in law and journalism at George Washington University, Georgetown University, and Western Maryland College (now known as McDaniel College). In a time before eligibility limitations, he played football at George Washington and Georgetown and ran track at Western Maryland.[4] At Georgetown in 1909, he was called the first quarterback in the East to master the forward pass, several years before Gus Dorais of Notre Dame did so in 1913.[8][9] According to The Georgetown Hoyas: A Story of A Rambunctious Football Team, Dorais's "end-over-end 'discus' throw was an exact copy" of Byrd's passing technique, and the Irish "got the headlines because they had a press agent and Georgetown didn't."[10]

Byrd also played for Maryland-based semi-professional baseball teams while pursuing his graduate studies.[2] In 1910, the Chicago White Sox signed Byrd, but he was soon traded to the San Francisco Seals,[2] a semi-professional Pacific Coast League baseball team with whom he pitched in 1912.[1] He returned to Maryland later that year, and in 1913, married Katherine Dunlop Turnbull.[1] Before they divorced twenty years later, the couple had three sons and a daughter: Harry, Sterling, William, and Evelyn.[1]

Coaching career

See also: Maryland Terrapins football under Curley Byrd
Coach Byrd on the gridiron in 1918

In 1911, injuries claimed enough Maryland Agricultural football players that the team could no longer field a practice squad to scrimmage against.[11] The college turned to Byrd, who was serving as coach at Western High School in Georgetown, and he was willing to help his alma mater with scrimmages.[11] Byrd later replaced head coach Charley Donnelly, who resigned mid-season after accumulating a 2–4–2 record.[12] Byrd led the Aggies to wins in both of their final games of the season, against Western Maryland, 6–0, and Gallaudet, 6–2.[11]

In 1913, the Maryland Agricultural College hired Byrd as an instructor in English and history,[1] and he was named the head coach of the track and baseball teams, the latter of which he coached through 1923.[13] According to author David Ungrady in Tales from the Maryland Terrapins, the university initially offered Byrd $300 to coach football, but he demanded $1,200.[11] The two parties came to agree upon that salary for all of his coaching and teaching duties which spanned nine months of the year.[11] Byrd also worked as a sportswriter for The Washington Star,[1] a job he held until 1932.[11]

As football coach, he developed a unique offensive scheme called the "Byrd system", which combined elements of the single-wing and double-wing formations.[14] One of Byrd's track and football players, Geary Eppley, said, "He never yelled in practice or at a game ... He pointed out mistakes and explained what you did wrong. He took a calm approach. The strongest thing he'd say was 'for cripes sake.'"[11]

In 1915, his duties were expanded to include those of athletic director.[1] That same year, he requested funds for the construction of the campus's first dedicated football stadium, which was named in his honor.[15] During his tenure as head football coach from 1911 to 1934, he compiled a 119–82–15 record.[16]

Administrative career

The University of Maryland campus as it appeared in 1938 before the dramatic expansion engineered by President Byrd

Byrd was appointed to the post of assistant university president in 1918.[1] He became a proponent of unification of the Maryland Agricultural College and the Baltimore professional schools into a single public University of Maryland,[1] and he was instrumental in what became the Consolidation Act of 1920.[1] Byrd named the student newspaper The Diamondback in 1921, and in 1933, he was the lead advocate for the adoption of the diamondback terrapin as the university's official nickname and mascot.[1]

In 1932, Byrd was promoted to vice president of the university.[1] In July 1935, he was named the acting president of the university,[1] and was officially appointed to the presidency in February 1936.[1] During his tenure, the budget, facilities, faculty, and enrollment increased significantly.[1] The school budget was increased and the campus expanded largely due to Byrd's deft political maneuvering in Annapolis and Washington. The school also saw a large growth in enrollment, due in part to returning veterans making use of the G.I. Bill after World War II.[17][18] From 1945 to 1948, the university budget increased from $4.8 million to $9.8 million.[19] Between 1935 and 1954, student enrollment grew from 3,400 to 16,000.[17] Over that same time period, the value of the campus rose from $5 million to $65 million.[17] Byrd, however stood fast on faculty salaries. He reportedly said, "Ph.D.s are a dime a dozen."[19] For years, Byrd refused to release the university's financial records to state legislators,[20] and how exactly he secured funding for many of his projects was largely a mystery.[21] According to booster Jack Heise, Byrd financed a new basketball arena through the out-of-state tuition, paid by the federal government, for Maryland high school graduates who attended the university on the G.I. Bill. The General Accounting Office calculated that the extra fees totaled more than $2 million, but determined that they were within the bounds of legality.[22]

"The thing to do with a man of such talents is not to cuss him for doing his job so well; it is much wiser, so long as hanging him is unlawful, to give him a bigger and better one."[23]

— H.L. Mencken on Byrd, The Baltimore Sun

Byrd was a staunch supporter of a "separate but equal" state university system. The Princess Anne campus provided agricultural education and Morgan State College provided liberal arts education for the state's black students, while the University of Maryland remained open only to white students.[24] In 1951, Governor Theodore McKeldin criticized the University of Maryland as an example of wasteful state spending,[24] and was especially critical of expansions to the Princess Anne campus, which was geographically disconnected from the state's black population and not attracting many students to study agriculture.[24] Contractors had begun projects at the college before approval from the public works board, which was described as a usual practice under Byrd.[24] Byrd acceded to McKeldin and secured approval from the board for both the Princess Anne expansions as well as a sizable increase to the university budget.[24]

In 1945, Byrd hired 32-year old Paul "Bear" Bryant to his first head coaching post. Bryant led the Terrapins to a 6–2–1 record, but the two personalities clashed.[25] The tensions came to a head when Byrd reinstated a player Bryant had suspended for violating team rules.[26] Bryant resigned as head coach an hour later, which caused an uproar among students until he interceded to restore order.[27]

Two years later, Byrd hired Jim Tatum as football coach. The year prior at Oklahoma, Tatum fielded a winning team, but the athletic department ran up a huge deficit and some players were paid in violation of conference rules,[28] which resulted in university president George Cross firing athletic director Jap Haskell.[29] The media blamed Tatum for his termination.[29] Tatum told Cross to refute Tatum's role in the matter, and threatened to reveal the Oklahoma team had been paid $6,000 after the 1947 Gator Bowl.[29] Cross asked Byrd to persuade Tatum not to go public, and according to author Gary King in An Autumn Remembered, Byrd replied, "Persuade, hell! I'll tell him to keep his damn mouth shut!"[29] Tatum remained as coach at Maryland from 1947 to 1955, and amassed a 73–15–4 record.[30]

In 1948, the National Collegiate Athletic Association passed a set of regulations called the Purity Code, later renamed the Sanity Code, which permitted student-athletes free tuition and meals, but required that part-time jobs be legitimate and their pay commensurate with the work.[31] Schools found to be in violation could be expelled from the NCAA.[31] In 1950, seven schools, called the "Sinful Seven"—Virginia, Maryland, VMI, Virginia Tech, The Citadel, Boston College, and Villanova—admitted they were in violation of the code.[31] Time magazine asserted violators were far more widespread than those seven that had confessed.[31] Maryland was the only Sinful Seven school that was also a major football power with eighty scholarship players, and Byrd led them in their stand against the Sanity Code.[32] University of Virginia president Colgate Darden called the code hypocritical, and The Citadel's leadership refused to "lie to stay in the association" and requested termination of its NCAA membership.[31] At the convention to decide Virginia's fate, Byrd said, "Does Ohio State want to vote for expulsion of Virginia, when Ohio State has facilities to take care of four or five as many athletes as Virginia?"[33] The ensuing vote fell 25 short of the needed two-thirds majority to expel the Sinful Seven.[31]

In 1951, the football team's 10–0 season culminated in a 28–13 victory over first-ranked Tennessee in the 1952 Sugar Bowl. Maryland's participation, however, was in violation of a Southern Conference resolution passed mid-season that banned participation in postseason bowl games. Byrd had Maryland accept the bowl invitation, despite Tatum's objections. The coach thought the threatened sanctions, which prevented Maryland from playing any Southern Conference games the following season, would severely disadvantage his team.[34] In 1952, Maryland and Clemson, which had also violated the bowl game ban, were sanctioned, and the incident hastened the break-up of the Southern Conference and formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference, of which both schools were founding members.[35]

"Dictator, president, athletic director, football coach, comptroller, chief lobbyist and glamour boy supreme ... Curley is the most-hated and most-beloved man in Maryland."[36]

— Bob Considine, Curley Byrd Catches the Worm, 1941

Opponents in The Baltimore Sun alleged that Byrd emphasized athletics over academics and belittled him as the only college football coach to rise to the position of university president.[4] Among the campus expansions, Byrd was responsible for the construction of Byrd Stadium in 1950 and Cole Field House in 1955, which at the time was the largest basketball arena in the Southern Conference.[22] Critics alleged that both facilities were constructed at the expense of campus libraries.[22][30] Byrd also built the University of Maryland Golf Course in 1959.[22] Byrd resigned from the post in 1953 and his tenure ended effectively on December 31.[37]

Political career

Byrd resigned from the presidency in January 1954 to embark upon an unsuccessful campaign as the Democratic candidate against the Republican incumbent McKeldin for the state governorship.[1] Byrd campaigned on his stance of separate but equal. McKeldin won comfortable majorities in Baltimore's black, Jewish, and upper-middle class white districts, while Byrd took all of the blue-collar white South and East Baltimore neighborhoods, including McKeldin's boyhood home along Eutaw Street.[38] Elsewhere in the state, however, middle-class white voters did not support Byrd.[38] Byrd also made unsuccessful bids for the Democratic nominations to the U.S. Senate in 1964 and the U.S. Congress in 1966.[1]

Despite his lack of success in campaigning, Byrd did receive several gubernatorial appointments: Chairman of the Maryland Tidewater Fisheries Commission, Maryland Commissioner to the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, and Chairman of the Commission on Chesapeake Bay Affairs.[1] In 1959, Governor J. Millard Tawes appointed Byrd as commissioner of tidewater fisheries.[39] When a fisheries officer killed a Virginian waterman illegally dredging, Byrd disarmed the force. The action was credited with helping to end the long-standing Potomac River Oyster Wars.[39] Following the example of other oyster-producing states, Byrd authorized fossil shell mining to produce culch, crushed shells used to form oyster beds.[39] Byrd ignored Tawes' warning to "stay away from private planting" by promoting the formation of leasing cooperatives, but his plan failed due to opposition in the Maryland General Assembly.[39]

Business career

Byrd was also active in business and civic organizations.[1] In 1951, he was involved in the merger that formed the Suburban Trust Company, which in 1960 was the largest bank in Maryland outside of Baltimore City.[40] He later served as the company's vice president.[1] Byrd also did business in real estate and construction.[1] Byrd was active with service organizations.[1] In 1962, he became a member of the Loyal Order of the Moose. Byrd organized the College Park Rotary Club and served as its first president.[1] Byrd was a member of the Defense Orientation Conference Association (DOCA),[1] an organization which educates civilians on the Defense Department's programs and policies.[41]

Death

Byrd died of a heart condition on October 2, 1970 at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.[42] He is interred at Asbury United Methodist Church Cemetery in Crisfield, Maryland,[43] and his epitaph reads: "Harry Clifton 'Curley' Byrd, Educator–Statesman–Conservationist, President Emeritus, Father and Builder of the Greater Consolidated University of Maryland, Founded 1920."[2] Byrd was inducted into the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982.[44]

Head coaching records

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Harry Clifton Byrd papers, University of Maryland Libraries, retrieved July 4, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Jason Rhodes, Somerset County, Maryland: A Brief History, pp. 111–a112, The History Press, 2007, ISBN 1596292733.
  3. ^ James Mallahan Cain, 60 Years of Journalism, p. 120, Popular Press, 1985, ISBN 0879723270.
  4. ^ a b c Paul McMullen, Maryland Basketball: Tales from Cole Field House, pp. 10–12, JHU Press, 2002, ISBN 0801872219.
  5. ^ a b Morris Allison Bealle, Kings of American Football: The University of Maryland, 1890–1952, p. 50, Columbia Publishing Co., 1952.
  6. ^ Bealle, p. 49.
  7. ^ Bealle, pp. 50–53.
  8. ^ Ted Patterson and Edwin H. Remsberg, Football in Baltimore: History and Memorabilia, p. 41, JHU Press, 2000, ISBN 0801864240.
  9. ^ Georgetown Football Timeline, Hoya Saxa, retrieved March 21, 2009.
  10. ^ Morris Allison Bealle, The Georgetown Hoyas: A Story of A Rambunctious Football Team, p. 75, Columbia Pub. Co., 1947.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g David Ungrady, Tales from the Maryland Terrapins, pp. 18–20, Sports Publishing LLC, 2003, ISBN 1582616884.
  12. ^ 1911, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved October 9, 2011.
  13. ^ 2009 Maryland Baseball Media Guide, p. 25, University of Maryland, 2009.
  14. ^ Old Liners Need New Backfield This Season, The Evening Independent, August 30, 1935.
  15. ^ Ungrady, p. 24.
  16. ^ All-Time Coach Records by Year: Curley Byrd, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved July 4, 2010.
  17. ^ a b c David Scott Brown, Richard Hofstadter: an Intellectual Biography, p. 37, University of Chicago Press, 2006, ISBN 0226076407.
  18. ^ C. Fraser Smith, Lenny, Lefty, And The Chancellor: The Len Bias Tragedy And The Search For Reform In Big-Time College Basketball, p. 27, Bancroft Press, 1992, ISBN 0963124609.
  19. ^ a b Roger J. Brugger, Maryland, A Middle Temperament: 1634–1980, p. 565, JHU Press, 1996, ISBN 0801854652.
  20. ^ C. Fraser Smith, William Donald Schaefer: a Political Biography, p. 125, JHU Press, 1999, ISBN 0801862523.
  21. ^ McMullen, p. 11.
  22. ^ a b c d McMullen, p. 12.
  23. ^ Dot Dot Dot, Time, June 14, 1954.
  24. ^ a b c d e Theodore F. Scheckels, Maryland Politics and Political Communication, 1950–2005, pp. 150–151, Lexington Books, 2006, ISBN 0739114158.
  25. ^ Football's Supercoach, Time, September 29, 1980.
  26. ^ Al Browning, I Remember Paul "Bear" Bryant: Personal Memoires of College Football's Most Legendary Coach, as Told by the People Who Knew Him Best, pp. 100-101, Cumberland House Publishing, ISBN 158182159X.
  27. ^ Browning, p. 205.
  28. ^ Gary King, The Forgotten Man of Oklahoma Football: Jim Tatum; "Jim Tatum was a con-man, a dictator, a tyrant and one hell of a football coach." – Buddy Burris, All-American 1946, 1947 and 1948, Sooner Magazine, University of Oklahoma Foundation, Inc., Spring 2008.
  29. ^ a b c d Gary King, An Autumn Remembered: Bud Wilkinson's legendary '56 Sooners, p. 38–40, University of Oklahoma Press, 2006, ISBN 080613786X.
  30. ^ a b The Coach, Time, August 3, 1959.
  31. ^ a b c d e f Sport: What Price Football?, Time, January 23, 1950.
  32. ^ John Sayle Watterson, College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy, p. 214, JHU Press, 2002, ISBN 080187114X.
  33. ^ Watterson, p. 217.
  34. ^ Ungrady, pp. 77–78.
  35. ^ K. Adam Powell, Border Wars: The First Fifty Years of Atlantic Coast Conference Football, p. xvi, Scarecrow Press, 2004, ISBN 0810848392.
  36. ^ Michael MacCambridge (ed.), ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Game, ESPN, 2005, ISBN 1-4013-3703-1.
  37. ^ BYRD LEAVES U. OF M. POST DECEMBER 31; Retiring President Will Get Emeritus Rank, Full Pay For '54, The Baltimore Sun, September 25, 1953.
  38. ^ a b Kenneth D. Durr, Behind the Backlash: White Working-Class Politics in Baltimore, 1940–1980, UNC Press, 2003, ISBN 0807854336.
  39. ^ a b c d Christine Keiner, The Oyster Question: Scientists, Watermen, and the Maryland Chesapeake Bay Since 1880, pp. 174–175, University of Georgia Press, 2009, ISBN 0820326984.
  40. ^ Suburban Trust Building, Peerless Rockville, retrieved July 4, 2010.
  41. ^ Background and History, Defense Orientation Conference Association, retrieved July 4, 2010.
  42. ^ DR. HARRY BYRD OF U. OF MARYLAND; President, 1936-54, Dies—Guided School's Growth, The New York Times, October 4, 1970.
  43. ^ Harry Clifton Byrd (1882–1970), Find A Grave, retrieved July 4, 2010.
  44. ^ University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame: All-Time Inductees, University of Maryland, retrieved June 12, 2009.
Preceded by
Raymond Pearson		 President of the University of Maryland, College Park
1935–1954		 Succeeded by
Thomas B. Symons

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Byrd Stadium — Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium Location 90 Stadium Drive College Park, Maryland 20742 Coordinates …   Wikipedia

  • Old Byrd Stadium — For the current University of Maryland stadium, see Byrd Stadium. University of Maryland, College Park campus Old Byrd Stadium The Byrd Cage …   Wikipedia

  • Maryland Terrapins football: 1856–1946 — For the subsequent era in Maryland football history, see Maryland Terrapins football under Jim Tatum (1947–1955). Maryland playing Johns Hopkins in 1919 during Curley Byrd s coaching tenure. The modern Maryland Terrapins football program… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Maryland Terrapins quarterbacks — This is a list of the individuals who have played college football as a quarterback at the University of Maryland. The Maryland Terrapins have produced several prominent quarterbacks. Starting with three consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference… …   Wikipedia

  • Maryland Terrapins football — Current season …   Wikipedia

  • Maryland Terrapins — The Maryland Terrapins University University of Maryland Conference(s) Atlantic Coast Conference NCAA Division I Athletics di …   Wikipedia

  • Bear Bryant — Bryant with trademark houndstooth hat Sport(s) Football Biographical details Born September 11, 1913 …   Wikipedia

  • Maryland Terrapins football under Jim Tatum (1947–1955) — For the previous era in Maryland football history, see Maryland Terrapins football: 1856–1946. Main article: Maryland Terrapins football From 1947 to 1955, Jim Tatum served as the head coach of the Maryland Terrapins football team, which… …   Wikipedia

  • Charles W. Melick — Sport(s) Football, track Biographical details Born May 20, 1877(1877 05 20) Place of birth Lincoln, Nebraska Died April 15, 1960( …   Wikipedia

  • University of Maryland, College Park — University of Maryland redirects here. For other uses, see University of Maryland (disambiguation). Coordinates: 38°59′15.0″N 76°56′24.0″W / 38.9875°N 76.94°W …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”