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Boston Athletic Association

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Boston Athletic Association
Formation15 March 1887 (1887-03-15)
FounderRobert F. Clark
Legal statusNon-profit (501c3)
Headquarters185 Dartmouth Street, Boston, MA 02116
Location
President and CEO
Jack Fleming
Websitewww.baa.org

The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is a non-profit dedicated to organized sports, with a focus on running, in the Greater Boston area.[1]: 13, 23, 28  The B.A.A. hosts such events as the Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K, the B.A.A. Half Marathon, the B.A.A. Distance Medley (comprising the 5k, 10K, and half marathon events), and the B.A.A. Invitational Mile.

The current mission of the B.A.A. is "to promote a healthy lifestyle through sports, especially running" for all people.[1]: 130 

History

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Early years

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The B.A.A. baths, 1889

The Boston Athletic Association, one of the nation's oldest athletic clubs, held its first official meeting on March 15, 1887, and was incorporated later that year on May 12.[1]: 16–17  The club was founded through the collaborative efforts of an eclectic group of former Civil War officers such as its first president, Robert F. Clark; the Irish poet, activist, and editor John Boyle O'Reilly;[2][1]: 13, 15, 20  other noted sportsmen in Boston;[1]: 24  members of prominent, wealthy Boston families, such as George Walker Weld;[3] and entrepreneurs and politicians of the day.[citation needed]

According to its 1887 charter, the B.A.A.'s purpose was to "encourage all manly sports and promote physical culture."[4][5][1]: 111  The organization was based in an opulent clubhouse, which opened in December 1888 and was located on the corner of Exeter and Boylston Streets in Boston's Back Bay[1]: 26  at the present-day site of the Boston Public Library.[1]: 28  The athletic club provided extensive amenities for its due-paying members.[6] Its first floor, called the "Social Floor," focused on the social aspects of membership. This first floor included a large dining hall, a library, a billiard room, a wine room, and two drawing rooms.[1]: 28–29  The second and third floors focused on sports and training, including a gymnasium, tennis and racquet courts, and a running track. [1]: 30–32  The basement mezzanine had bowling alleys and a barber shop. The club's basement contained Turkish steam baths and a 60,000-gallon "swimming tank" for aquatic sports.[1]: 25, 32 

B.A.A. worked quickly to organize competitive sports for young men, establishing programs in ten sports before 1900: football, baseball, cricket, "fives," rowing, boxing, fencing, water polo, squash, and track and field.[1]: 33–37  In 1890, it hosted 27 competitions and exhibitions, including fencing, swim meets, bicycle races, and cross-country runs,[1]: 23  and chose the unicorn as its symbol.[7] In 1897 the first famed Boston Marathon took place. The unicorn appears on the Boston Marathon medals to this day.

The Boston Athletic Association ice hockey team won the American Amateur Hockey League championship in 1916 and 1917 and the United States Amateur Hockey Association championship in the 1923 season.[8][9][10]

The B.A.A. lost nearly 1,000 of its 1,600 members during the Great Depression. In 1935, the organization filed a petition of reorganization under Section 77B of the Bankruptcy Act of 1898.[11] The B.A.A. closed its clubhouse on August 4, 1935 and the building's furnishings were sold at auction later that year.[12][13] The building was purchased by Boston University. The school planned to turn the clubhouse, renamed the Soden Building, into a modern gymnasium, but a city ordnance prevented BU from building a hall with a capacity of over 300 people in this type of building. It was instead remodeled and housed classrooms.[14] The building continued to be the headquarters of the Boston Marathon for two decades and was torn down in 1959.[15]

Boston Garden

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Shortly after the B.A.A. went bankrupt, a number of its members created the Unicorn Club to continue the association's indoor games and the Boston Marathon. On January 3, 1936, the Unicorn Club merged with the old B.A.A. to form a new Boston Athletic Association. Unicorn Club president Clarence A. Barnes was elected president of the revived B.A.A.[16]

Walter A. Brown was elected president of the Boston Athletic Association in 1940 and continued until his death in 1964.[17][18] During this time, the B.A.A. was a commercial enterprise of the Boston Garden, which hosted the association's annual indoor meet.[19] For many years, the B.A.A. Games, not the Boston Marathon, was the association's premier event. It attracted top athletes, including Cornelius Warmerdam, Wes Santee, and Ron Delany. However, as the years went on, attendance declined (dropping from 13,645 in 1960 to 9,008 in 1971) and overhead costs increased, making the meet unprofitable. In 1971, the decision was made to end the BAA meet.[20]

In 1951, during the height of the Korean War, Brown denied Koreans entry into the Boston Marathon. He stated: "While American soldiers are fighting and dying in Korea, every Korean should be fighting to protect his country instead of training for marathons. As long as the war continues there, we positively will not accept Korean entries for our race on April 19."[21]

Brown was succeeded by Will Cloney, who was president from 1964 to 1982.[22]

Current organization

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With the Boston Garden no longer involved with the B.A.A, a new board of directors was formed in 1977.[19] The B.A.A.'s current headquarters is at 185 Dartmouth Street. In 1986, John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. assumed major sponsorship of the Boston Marathon, an affiliation that helped not just the marathon, but also in its year-round community programming until the 2023 marathon, when Manulife's contract was allowed to expire.

The B.A.A. maintains an active running club, organizes the B.A.A. 5K on the weekend of the Boston Marathon, The B.A.A. 10K in June, the B.A.A. Half Marathon in October, and the Mayor's Cup cross country races in Franklin Park in October. The B.A.A. successfully bid to host the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials Women's Marathon, which was run on the Sunday before the 2008 Boston Marathon.

In January 2016, the B.A.A. purchased an office building just yards from the starting line of the Boston Marathon in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. The office building will be used by the association for the registration of runners and services for various B.A.A. events.[23]

In March 2023, Bank of America took over sponsorship of the Boston Marathon.

Youth races

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The B.A.A. organizes an annual relay race for Boston-area middle school and high-school-aged runners that takes place on Clarendon Street in Boston.[24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Hanc, John (2013). The Official History of the Boston Athletic Association, 1887-2012. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1613211984.
  2. ^ Hanc, John (June 25, 2012). "The Men Behind the First Olympic Team". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  3. ^ Lambert, Craig. "The Welds of Harvard Yard: History through a family lens". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  4. ^ "The Boston Marathon- 121 Years And Running". Sports History Weekly. 2017-04-16. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  5. ^ Silverman, Michael (April 14, 2022). "50 years after first running the Boston Marathon, women are running much of the BAA office now". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  6. ^ Butler, Sarah Lorge (2022-12-05). "Did You Know the Boston Athletic Association Has a Membership?". Runner's World. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  7. ^ Scachetti, Leanna (2024-03-16). "Boston Marathon's magical tradition lifts spirits ahead of race day". WCVB. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  8. ^ "B. A. A. Wins Hockey Title". The Boston Globe. April 2, 1916.
  9. ^ "B. A. A. Takes Hockey Title". The Boston Globe. March 25, 1917.
  10. ^ "B. A. A. Wins Title By 2 to 1 Victory". The Boston Globe. March 25, 1923.
  11. ^ "B. A. A. Seeking Reorganization". The Boston Globe. May 11, 1935.
  12. ^ "B. A. A. Closes Doors Tonight". The Boston Globe. August 3, 1935.
  13. ^ Nason, Jerry (November 7, 1935). "Strip the B. A. A. Under Hammer". The Boston Globe.
  14. ^ "Modern Gym Plans Abandoned by B. U.". The Boston Globe. April 15, 1935.
  15. ^ Lewis, Frederick (2005). Young at Heart: The Story of Johnny Kelley, Boston's Marathon Man. Cambridge, MA: Rounder Books. p. 142. ISBN 9781579401139. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  16. ^ "Clarence Barnes Elected President of Boston A. A. at Reorganization Meeting". The Boston Globe. January 4, 1936.
  17. ^ "Brown and Lapham Follow Footsteps of Famous Fathers". The Boston Globe. April 24, 1940.
  18. ^ Marvin Pave, Boston Globe, April 17, 2008: Legacy on the line
  19. ^ a b Concannon, Joe (October 14, 1982). "Cloney Decries Loose Structure of BAA". The Boston Globe.
  20. ^ Nason, Jerry (February 10, 1974). "Cloney sees no comeback for late, lamented BAA". The Boston Globe.
  21. ^ Sport: Banned in Boston. Time, February 12, 1951.
  22. ^ Griffith, Bill (January 18, 2003). "Will Cloney, was race director of the Boston Marathon; at 91". The Boston Globe.
  23. ^ Phelps, Jonathan (2016-02-04). "BAA buys property near Marathon start line in Hopkinton". MetroWest Daily News. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  24. ^ Youth Programs, B.A.A. Website

Further reading

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  • Hanc, John (2013). The B.A.A. at 125: The Official History of the Boston Athletic Association, 1887-2012. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-61321-392-6.
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