Truxtun Hare

Thomas Truxtun Hare (October 12, 1878 – February 2, 1956) was an American Olympic medalist who competed in track and field and the hammer throw.^{[1] [2]} He also played football with the University of Pennsylvania and was selected first-team All-American all four years.^[2] Sports Illustrated wrote, "Few early 20th Century players were as revered as Hare, who played every minute of every game."^[3] He was selected as a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.^[2]

Hare was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^{[2] [4]} He was the son of Emily Power (née Beale) and Horace Binney Hare, a successful attorney.^[5] He came from a long line of lawyers.^[6] He attended St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts, where he graduated in 1897.^{[2] [4] [5]} There, he started in baseball, football, and track.^[5]

In the fall of 1897, Hare enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a B.S. in 1901.^[4] There, he was a member of the Fraternity of Delta Psi (St. Anthony Hall), the Ancient and Honorable Order of the Sons of Rest, and the Sphinx Senior Society.^[2] He performed in plays with Mask and Wig, was vice president of the Cercle Francais and an assistant manager of the Musical Clubs.^[2] He was freshman class president and was elected as the Spoon Man his senior year.^{[5] [2]}

At the University of Pennsylvania, Hare played on the varsity cricket team and the varsity track team, competing in jumper, runner, and weight thrower.^{[2] [5]} The track team won their collegiate championships during his time.^[5] He also played on the Penn Quakers football team from 1897 to 1900 and served as team captain in his junior and senior years.^[2] He also played "every minute of every game for four years," helping his team win 32 consecutive games.^{[7] [4]} He is one of only a handful of men to earn first-team All-American honors during all four years of college.^{[2] [7]} While primarily a guard, he also called signals, kicked off, punted, ran, and drop-kicked extra points.^[7] Walter Camp said he could have been an All-American in any position.^{[7] [5]}

He then enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania Law School, graduating with a law degree in 1903.^{[2] [4]}

He won the silver medal in the hammer throw in the 1900 Summer Olympics held in Paris, as well as placing eighth in the shot put and competing without making a legal mark in the discus throw.^{[2] [1]}

He competed for the United States in the 1904 Summer Olympics held in St. Louis, Missouri, in the all-rounder which consisted of ten events: 100 yd run, shot put, high jump, 880 yd walk, hammer throw, pole vault, 120 yd hurdles, 56 lb weight throw, long jump, and 1-mile run, where he won the bronze medal.^{[1] [5]}

After graduating from law school, he practiced corporate law in Philadelphia.^[2] In 1913, he became an assistant solicitor for the United Gas Improvement Company, retaining this position until 1943.^{[2] [4] [5]}

He became the managing director and board member of Bryn Mawr Hospital in 1943.^{[2] [4] [5]} He replaced his brother, C. Willing Hare, who had died on December 6, 1942.^[4] In 1946, he was named president of the hospital.^[4] In this capacity, he oversaw the addition of a six-story wing, a 2ドル.8 million project.^[4]

Hare also served as a director of the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance Houses from Loss.^[4]

Starting in 1908, he authored two series of books for boys.^{[2] [5]} His first series followed a journey from college football to coaching.^[5] The second series, followed the same character through prep school.^[8] He also published poetry books.^[2]

• Making the Freshman Team. Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Company, 1908.^[9]
• A Sophomore Half-Back. Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Company, 1908.^[10]
• A Junior in the Line. Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Company, 1909.^[11]
• A Senior Quarterback. Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Company, 1910.^[12]
• A Graduate Coach. Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Company, 1911.^[13]

• Philip Kent. Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Company, 1914.^[14]
• Philip Kent in the Lower School. Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Company, 1916.^[8]
• Philip Kent in the Upper School. Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Company, 1918.^[15]
• Kent of Malvern. Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Company, 1919.^[16]

• He was selected as a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and was inducted in 1953.^{[2] [4]}
• In an attempt to name retroactive Heisman Trophy winners before the first one was awarded in 1935, Hare was awarded the mythical 1900 trophy.^[3]
• He was named to the Helms Athletic Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame.^[5]
• The Helms Athletic Foundation named Hare the player of the year for 1900.^[5]
• In 1969, in honor of the centennial of collegiate football, the Football Writers Association of America named two "College Football All-Time Teams" of eleven players — an "early" team consisting of players who played prior to 1920, and a "modern" team who played in 1920 and after.^[17] Hare was chosen as one of two guards on the pre-1920 squad.^[17]

He married Katherine Sargent Smith, a Philadelphia socialite, in 1906.^{[4] [6] [5]} They had four children: Truxtun Jr., Tristan, Robert, Martha and Mrs. Frederic McLaughlin.^[4] They lived in Radnor, Pennsylvania, on a sixty-acre farm known as Limehouse.^{[4] [18] [5]}

During the 1930s, Hare chaired the University of Pennsylvania Athletic Advisory Board.^[5] He was also a member of the University of Pennsylvania Scholarship Committee.^[5] He was a vestryman and senior warden at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Radnor.^{[2] [4]}

He was president of the United Bowmen of America and a member of the Merian Cricket Club, the Philadelphia Club, the Racquet Club of Philadelphia, the St. Anthony Club of Philadelphia, and the University Barge Club.^{[2] [4] [6]} He was also a member of the Authors' League of America and the Pegasus Club.^[2] He was the founding president of the Business Men's Art Club in 1927, and his paintings and pottery was shown in exhibitions with the Art Club of Philadelphia.^{[2] [6]}

In 1956, he died at his home on Weadley Road in Radnor at the age of 77 years.^[4]

• Truxtun Hare at Olympics.com Edit on Wikidata
• Truxtun Hare at Olympedia Edit on Wikidata

• 1878 births
• 1956 deaths
• 19th-century players of American football
• All-American college football players
• American male decathletes
• American football guards
• American male hammer throwers
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1900 Summer Olympics
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1904 Summer Olympics
• College Football Hall of Fame inductees
• Members of the Philadelphia Club
• Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field
• Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field
• Players of American football from Philadelphia
• Track and field athletes from Philadelphia
• University of Pennsylvania alumni
• 20th-century American lawyers
• American football drop kickers
• Medalists at the 1904 Summer Olympics
• Medalists at the 1900 Summer Olympics
• St. Anthony Hall
• St. Mark's School (Massachusetts) alumni
• Penn Quakers football players
• Writers from Philadelphia
• Lawyers from Philadelphia
• People from Radnor Township, Pennsylvania
• Sportspeople from Delaware County, Pennsylvania
• University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni
• 19th-century American sportsmen
• 20th-century American sportsmen

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