1866 Harvard University

This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Minor details may be undocumented or difficult to determine. An educated guess is made to complete the rendering.

Rendering accuracy:Year: unconfirmed    Team: documented

Visual documentation on this uniform:

Photo A

Attributed 1866. Other examples of this photo are hand-dated 1866. Players wore a gray uniform with a bib-front shirt displaying the letter H in magenta. The belt and cap were white, and the belt carried the school name.

From left: D Abercrombie (class 66), G Flagg (class 66), T Nelson (class 66), N Smith (class 69), T Wright (class 66), H Parker (class 67), J Ames (class 68), A Hunnewell (class 68) and B Banker (68). Player IDs from photo. Class information from Peter Morris, Base Ball Founders (2013).

Attributed 1866. Detail of photo A. Detail view shows that the shirt bib was large in size and was secured with large buttons, most likely magenta in color.

Written documentation on this uniform:
1865-1875: “The first varsity ‘H’ was old English in type and in color magenta and was worn by the first university nine in the spring of 1865. It was embroidered on the breast of a gray flannel shirt similar in design to that of the old handtub fireman. […] Until 1876 the nine played in long gray flannel trousers tucked in their boots at the bottom.” From John A. Blanchard, Harvard Varsity Club, The H Book of Harvard Athletics, 1852-1922 (1923). Research from Brian Sheehy.

1866: “Uniform [of Harvard] is of light gray throughout, trimmed with magenta.” From Charles A. Peverelly, The Book of American Pastimes (1866).

1866: “‘Magenta was talked of as the Harvard color. When Horatio Curtis of ’65 and his crew [rowing] appeared with magenta handkerchiefs, magenta as Harvard’s color was established.’ Magenta remained the color of Harvard for eight years before crimson was restored.” From Peter Morris and others, Base Ball Founders (2013), referencing the Harvard Bulletin, October 15, 1902, and James D’Wolf Lovett, Old Boston Boys And The Game They Played (1907).

1860s: “Two players purchased gray flannel for the shirts and asked for crimson old English ‘H’ on the front. The seamstress decided magenta was a more fashionable so the players took the field as the Harvard Magenta…official school color was changed to magenta until 1875, when crimson was re-adopted.” From Troy Soos, Before The Curse, 1858-1917, (2006), as posted on 19cbaseball.com. No specific documentation given.

1860s: “In the 1860s, magenta became all the fashion throughout the United States, and as the trend hit Harvard’s campus, the color was soon vying with the original crimson. In 1864 a Harvard crew member bought magenta scarves for his teammates. The legend goes that the tipping point between the two colors came at an 1875 regatta race with Union College of Schenectady, when both teams claimed magenta as their color. This crisis prompted a meeting in Holden Chapel on May 6, 1875, with Harvard faculty, students, and alumni in attendance. At the meeting an alumnus admitted that the only reason he bought those magenta scarves in 1864 was because the shop was out of crimson ones. A vote was taken and crimson won by a large majority.” From R. Leopoldina Torres, The Colorful History of Crimson at Harvard, (2013), as posted to magazine.harvardartmuseums.org.

Team genealogy: Harvard University was established in Cambridge, MA, in 1636. The first baseball team organized to play opponents outside of the school was formed in 1863. Information from Peter Morris, Base Ball Founders (2013).