Tikvah
Subscribe
MosaicImage of Mosaic
Editor's Pick

February 3, 2023

The Jewish Football Coach Who Shook Up Athletics, and Protestant Dominance, at Harvard

Arnold Horween, Jewish sports hero.

In his forthcoming book Dyed in Crimson: Football, Faith, and Remaking Harvard’s America, Zev Eleff examines the decision in 1926 by Bill Bingham, then the Harvard University athletic director, to hire a Jew named Arnold Horween to coach the football team—and its consequences. Bingham hoped Horween could help revitalize the sport and make it more enjoyable for players and for other students; Eleff argues that, in a time of growing anti-Semitism at elite colleges, the decision opened doors for Jews in the Ivy League. Menachem Wecker writes:

Subscribe to Continue Reading

Get the best Jewish ideas and conversations. Subscribe to Tikvah Ideas All Access for $12/month

Login or Subscribe
Save

February 3, 2023

  1. Gaza’s Quiet Dissenters

    “If you say, ‘I don’t want war,’ you’re branded a traitor.”

  2. Taking a Page from the KGB Playbook, Russia Supports Neo-Nazis across the Globe

    The Iran of white supremacism.

  3. Israel Risks Learning All the Wrong Lessons from American Politics, and None of the Right Ones

    Democracy is doing just fine in the Jewish state.

  4. The Jewish Football Coach Who Shook Up Athletics, and Protestant Dominance, at Harvard

    Arnold Horween, Jewish sports hero.

  5. Jerusalem’s Millennium-Old Moat

    Meant to keep Crusaders out.