Inventing the Boston game : football, soccer, and the origins of a national myth / Kevin Tallec Marston and Mike Cronin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Marston, Kevin Tallec, 1977- author.

Cronin, Mike, author.

Series:

Public history in historical perspective

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Oneida Football Club (Football team).

Football--Massachusetts--Boston--History.

Football.

Football--United States--History.

Boston (Mass.)--Social life and customs--19th century.

Boston (Mass.).

Boston (Mass.)--Social life and customs--20th century.

Collective memory--Massachusetts--Boston.

Collective memory.

Physical Description:

xix, 293 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Other Title:

Football, soccer, and the origins of a national myth

Place of Publication:

Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, [2024]

Summary:

"On Boston Common stands a monument dedicated to the Oneida Football Club. It honors the site where, in the 1860s, sixteen boys played what was then called the "Boston game"--an early version of football in the United States. In the 1920s, a handful of the players orchestrated a series of commemorative events, donating artifacts to museums, depositing self-penned histories into libraries and archives, and erecting bronze and stone memorials, all to elevate themselves as the inventors of American football. But was this self-laudatory origin story of what, by then, had become one of America's favorite games as straightforward as they made it seem or a myth-making hoax? In Inventing the Boston Game, Kevin Tallec Marston and Mike Cronin investigate and reveal the true story of the Oneida Football Club. In a compelling narrative informed by sports history, Boston history, and the study of memory, they posit that these men engaged in self-memorialization to reinforce their elite status during a period of tremendous social and economic change. This exploration provides fascinating insight into how and why origin stories are created in the first place"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I : The Oneidas and Boston

1 : 1863 : The Match

2 : School Years : A Classroom, a City, And a War

3 : Games : Spaces, Clubs, and Organizing Play

4 : The Crimson : Harvard and Football

5 : Brahmin Networks : Families, Professions, and High Society

Part II : From Memory To Monument

6 : Dinner Guests : Books, Memories, and the Origins of Sport

7 : The Boy in Bronze : Schools, Anniversaries, and the Birth of a Myth

8 : Moonument Men : Deaths, Rivals, and Making a City Legend

Part III : The Steal and The Hoax

9 : The Soccer Grab : Surprise Legacies, Halls of Fame, and Refurbishing a Usable Past

10 : Postmatch Analysis : Friendly Tactics, Mischief, and Gammon, or a Hoax?

11 : Conclusion : Boys Will Be Boys

Epilogue

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-282) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Marston, Kevin Tallec, 1977- Inventing the Boston game

ISBN:

9781625348425

1625348428

9781625348432

1625348436

OCLC:

1425794879