Description: This is a team photograph of the Oorang Tribe football team with Jim Thorpe in the second row center, October 27, 1922. The team, a National Football League franchise, was sponsored and managed by Airedale terrier breeder Walter Lingo. All of the players were Native American. They were based in LaRue, Ohio, the location of Lingo's kennels. Thorpe served as the team coach and a celebrity spokesperson for Oorang Airedales, and played a few games. The team played two disappointing seasons in the NFL during the years 1922 and 1923. In 1922 their record was 5 wins and 8 losses; in 1923, 2 wins and 10 losses. Jim (James Francis) Thorpe was born in 1888 in Oklahoma to Hiram P. and Charlotte Thorpe. Both Hiram and Charlotte were of European and American Indian heritage and Jim was raised in the Sac and Fox tribes. In 1904 he was sent to a boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania for American Indian children. While at Carlisle he played multiple sports, including football, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, and track. He left Carlisle in 1909 and 1910 to play professional baseball with teams in Eastern Carolina League in North Carolina. He returned to Carlisle in 1911 for two successful football seasons. In both 1911 and 1912 he was an All-American halfback for football. In 1912 he became the only person to win gold medals in both the pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. His Olympic celebrity propelled him a three year contract playing professional baseball for the New York Giants. He also played baseball with the Boston Braves and Cincinnati Reds. However, it was as a professional football player that Thorpe was more successful and strongly tied to Ohio. He was associated with four professional or semi-professional football teams in Ohio as a player and coach: the Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Tigers, the Oorang Indians based in LaRue, and the Portsmouth Shoe-Steels. His greatest success was with the Canton Bulldogs, which he led to win national championships in 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1919. From 1922-1923 he was a player and coach for the Oorang Indians, a National Football League team comprised of all native players. The majority of the Oorang Indians team members, like Thorpe, had played at Carlisle. The team owner, Robert Lingo, used the team and Thorpes celebrity to advertise his Oorang Kennels Company, particularly his Airedale terriers. Thorpe played another season with the Bulldogs in 1926 and then went to Portsmouth as a player-coach for the semi-professional Portsmouth Shoe-Steels in 1927. This was Thorpes last athletic job. During the 1930s and 1940s he worked a variety of jobs until he died of a heart attack in 1953. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07881
Subjects: Thorpe, Jim, 1887-1953; Cultural Ohio--Ohio Sports; Football players; Football--Ohio--History; Sports teams
Places: LaRue (Ohio); Marion County (Ohio)
 

Description: Unidentified players for the Columbus Tigers Football Players. In 1920, the American Professional Football Association formed. This organization became the National Football League in 1922. Among its original fourteen teams was the Columbus Panhandles, which would eventually become known as the Columbus Tigers. The team played its home games in Columbus, Ohio. Before joining the American Professional Football Association in 1920, the Panhandles had represented Columbus against other non-professional football teams. Joseph Carr, president of the National Football League (1921-1938) formed the team in 1904. Before joining the American Professional Football Association the Panhandles only had seven winning seasons. During 1920, the team’s first year in the American Professional Football Association, the Panhandles finished thirteenth. The next two seasons, the squad finished seventeenth and eighteenth respectively, near the bottom of the league. Following the 1922 season, the Panhandles became the Columbus Tigers. This new team played in the 1923 to 1926 seasons before disbanding. In 1923, the Tigers attained their best ranking in the NFL, finishing eighth. The next season, the squad finished tenth, and then ended their final two seasons twentieth and nineteenth respectively. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07048
Subjects: Sports; Cultural Ohio--Ohio Sports; Football--Ohio--History
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows Olympic athlete and professional football player Jim Thorpe, ca. 1920-1929. Jim (James Francis) Thorpe was born in 1888 in Oklahoma to Hiram P. and Charlotte Thorpe. Both Hiram and Charlotte were of European and American Indian heritage and Jim was raised in the Sac and Fox tribes. In 1904 he was sent to a boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania for American Indian children. While at Carlisle he played multiple sports, including football, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, and track. He left Carlisle in 1909 and 1910 to play professional baseball with teams in Eastern Carolina League in North Carolina. He returned to Carlisle in 1911 for two successful football seasons. In both 1911 and 1912 he was an All-American halfback for football. In 1912 he became the only person to win gold medals in both the pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. His Olympic celebrity propelled him a three year contract playing professional baseball for the New York Giants. He also played baseball with the Boston Braves and Cincinnati Reds. However, it was as a professional football player that Thorpe was more successful and strongly tied to Ohio. He was associated with four professional or semi-professional football teams in Ohio as a player and coach: the Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Tigers, the Oorang Indians based in LaRue, and the Portsmouth Shoe-Steels. His greatest success was with the Canton Bulldogs, which he led to win national championships in 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1919. From 1922-1923 he was a player and coach for the Oorang Indians, a National Football League team comprised of all native players. The majority of the Oorang Indians team members, like Thorpe, had played at Carlisle. The team owner, Robert Lingo, used the team and Thorpes celebrity to advertise his Oorang Kennels Company, particularly his Airedale terriers. Thorpe played another season with the Bulldogs in 1926 and then went to Portsmouth as a player-coach for the semi-professional Portsmouth Shoe-Steels in 1927. This was Thorpes last athletic job. During the 1930s and 1940s he worked a variety of jobs until he died of a heart attack in 1953. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02916
Subjects: Thorpe, Jim, 1887-1953; Football--Ohio--History; American Indian athletes--United States--History
 

Description: An image of the 1890 Ohio State Football Team. Players are in two rows, in jerseys emblazoned with "OSU". The Ohio State University (OSU) fielded their first football team in 1890. The formation of the team is due largely to George N. Cole, a student at the university who purchased their first football, and convinced his friend Alexander S. Lilley to be the unpaid first coach. He also asked another friend, Knowlton Lymon “Snake” Ames to demonstrate how to kick the ball. The captains of the 1890 team were Paul Lincoln and Jessie Jones. Their first game was played against Ohio Wesleyan University on May 3, 1890, in which OSU won 20-14. It was the only game that spring, and football resumed in the fall. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07670
Subjects: Football; Ohio State University--Football; Sports--Ohio--History
Places: Columbus (Ohio)
 

Description: Group portrait of the Columbus Panhandles football team in 1907. The men are identified from left to right as: John Nesser, Frank Nesser, Reagan Burton, Andy Kertzinger, Chief Henry, Ed Hughes, Joe Carr (founder and manager), Harry Greenwood, Phil Nesser, Fred Nesser, Baker, and Carlise. The Panhandles were one of the first professional football teams to join the American Professional Football Association, later renamed the National Football League, when it formed in 1920. They operated as a professional football franchise from 1920-1922, then again from 1923-1926. At the time this photograph was taken, the team played their home games at Indianola Park in Columbus. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05258
Subjects: Cultural Ohio--Ohio Sports; Football; Columbus (Ohio); Sports teams; Sports--Ohio--History
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This 40-page scrapbook compiled by the Timken Company documents the opening of the Pro Football Hall of Fame on September 7-8, 1963. The scrapbook was presented to Senator Frank Lausche, who was also a former governor of Ohio. The Pro Football Hall of Fame expanded in 1971, nearly doubling in size. By the end of the twentieth century the museum grew two more times and drew crowds of 200,000 people annually. The scrapbook measures 8.5" x 11" (21.59 x 27.94 cm). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3203_4418080_001
Subjects: Arts and Entertainment; Sports; Football; Football players; Athletes; Pro Football Hall of Fame (U.S.); Parades; Galleries and museums
Places: Canton (Ohio); Stark County (Ohio)
 

Description: This 1960s photograph shows Fawcett Stadium and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The Pro Football Hall of Fame opened on September 7, 1963. The facility was expanded in 1971, nearly doubling in size. By the end of the twentieth century the museum expanded two more times and drew crowds of 200,000 people annually. This photograph measures 2.75" x 2.75" (6.99 x 6.99 cm). John A. Fawcett Stadium, named for a member of the Canton Board of Education, was completed in 1939. At the time it was the largest high school stadium in the United States. The stadium was renovated in 1997. Five teams call the field home: Glen Oak, McKinley, and Timken high schools, Malone College, and Walsh University. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3048_3655556_001
Subjects: Sports; Architecture; Football; Football players; Athletes; Pro Football Hall of Fame (U.S.); Stadiums; Schools
Places: Canton (Ohio); Stark County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of the Nesser Brothers on the Columbus Panhandle Football Team. The Columbus Panhandles professional American football team was founded in 1901 by workers at the Panhandle shops of the Pennsylvania railroads. The team played as part of the Ohio League in 1904 and 1907-1919 before joining the National Football League (NFL). They became the first to play an NFL game against another NFL opponent. The team was in existence until 1926. The Nesser brothers were a famous family among professional football fans in the early 1900s. The 7 brothers worked as boilermakers for the Pennsylvanian railroads and were all considered exceptional athletes in their time. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07142
Subjects: Football--Ohio--History; Football players; Cultural Ohio--Ohio Sports
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: The Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. In 1961, Canton requested that the NFL build the hall of fame there due to Canton's importance in the history of football. The predecessor to the NFL started in Canton in the 1920s. By 1963, the building was opened for the public, and Canton had gotten its Hall of Fame. Since that time there have been numerous additions to the building. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06707
Subjects: Football; Football--United States--History--20th century; Pro Football Hall of Fame (U.S.)
Places: Canton (Ohio); Stark County (Ohio); Ohio
 

Description: Boys on the field during a little league football game, October 1968. Fans and parents watch from the sidelines as the ball is snapped. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07642
Subjects: Sports; Cultural Ohio--Ohio Sports; Sports--Ohio--History; Football--Ohio--History; Football players; Football
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Boys on the field during a little league football game, October 1968. A referee watches as an offensive player tries to push off a defender. The green jerseys read "Nicklaus Drugs," a small pharmacy chain owned and operated by Charlie Nicklaus, father of golfer Jack Nicklaus, around the Upper Arlington neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07643
Subjects: Sports; Cultural Ohio--Ohio Sports; Football; Football players; Football--Ohio--History; Sports--Ohio--History; Sports teams
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Students of the West Mound Street Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio, play football in front of a crowd. Two players tackle each other on the ground while another runs with the football. The image is titled "Pee Wee Football" and was submitted by Jeffrey A. Rycus of Columbus, Ohio, in the Professional category of the Spirit of Ohio Bicentennial Photo Contest. In August 1976, the Ohio American Revolution Bicentennial Advisory Committee (OARBAC) began the Spirit of Ohio Bicentennial Photo Contest as part of a larger effort in Ohio to celebrate the 1976 American Bicentennial. The contest was meant to document "the spirit and character of the people and places which represent Ohio during [the] bicentennial year," and to create a permanent photographic archive of the year's festivity for use by future researchers. Both professional and amateur photographers submitted over 500 photographs for consideration, all taken within the state between January 1 and December 31, 1976. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA2734AV_B03F10_02_1
Subjects: American Revolution Bicentennial (1976); Football; Students;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio);