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Lot # 1115: Notre Dame Football Coach Frank "Shorty" Longman Photograph Album with Great Fighting Irish Content

Starting Bid: $300.00

Bids: 15 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "2024 Winter Classic",
which ran from 2/25/2024 10:00 AM to
3/16/2024 10:00 PM



Presented is a great photograph album and archive from Frank "Shorty" Longman, who was a star football player at the University of Michigan in the early 1900s. At Michigan, Longman played for legendary coach Fielding Yost and his 'Point-a-Minutes" teams. Longman was an All-American fullback, who hit the line, said a 1904 article in the Chicago Daily Tribune, "like a stone shot from a catapult." Longman coached at Arkansas University and Wooster College, and then went on to coach the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in 1909 & 1910. He was regarded as an outstanding coach, but he left college coaching after the 1910 season to go into business. At Notre Dame, he went 7-0-1 in 1909 and 4-1-1 in 1910. After he retired from college coaching, in 1911, The Indianapolis Star said of him, "For the last few years his work with the Notre Dame eleven has been little short of phenomenal, and under his tutelage and care the Catholics last season won the Western Championship." The offering features 100+ photographs from Longman's life, going as far back as his high school days, and his time as a student at Michigan University in the early 1900s. Includes: 1904/05 Michigan team photograph, 1900 Kalamazoo High School football team photo, two photos of President Grover Cleveland, photos of Shorty Longman on campus, and photos of him with his family as an adult. There are about half a dozen football-related images in the album. Some items are loose, including a Fighting Irish football team photo, postcards, etc. Some of the photos have creasing, some paper loss, small stains, some tears, etc, but overall, the collection presents a substantial visual record of the family, friends, and some of the events in Shorty Longman's life. Longman was the coach of Knute Rockne as a freshman at Notre Dame, and the coach of Notre Dame's first-ever victory over Michigan in football, in 1909, an 11-3 win over Longman's alma Mater, Michigan, and his legendary coach, Fielding Yost - a tremendous win that helped to propel Notre Dame to new heights as an emerging football powerhouse.

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