1932 Michigan v MSU Spartans GERALD FORD & NATIONAL CHAMPS Football Program GD

Description: This is a sale for a 100% original program for the Michigan State Spartans at the University of Michigan Wolverines for the 1932 game. This program is in GOOD condition. (td.br)This PROGRAM is INCREDIBLY SIGNIFICANT for a multitude of reasons: * First and foremost, this program features the future U.S. President Gerald Ford!!!! Do you know what else is awesome, is it also features his best teammate/friend Willis Ward. More on this great story below.... * Michigan went on to win the National Championship * Program features FIelding Yost (AD), Harry Kipke (Coach), All-American's Harry Newman (consensus), Ted Petoskey, Ivan Williamson (Captain too), Chuck Bernard and future AAs in Willis Ward, Francis Wistert and Herman Everhardus (UM) and Bob Monnett (MSU) as well as likely future AAs.Before I delve into the flaws, let me share the great things about the condition. The original staples are solidly intact and holding all pages including the center. The program is unscored with no writing too!!!! And all pages are accounted for, a must!!! The less than ideals are: the most noticeable is the left of center vertical crease line (like a back pocket carry fold). Otherwise, the cover displays great. Minimal handling soiling, the texture of the paper makes it more conducive to retaining dirt/dust. Cover has light surface/edge/spine/rub/page turn wear and corners are rounded. Internally, center pages show very well. The back shows just how clean the program is and lack of handling soiling given the white paper stock. This program is a historical gem!!! Please see pix.Gerald Ford / Willis Ward Story: Gerald Ford (48) threatened to quit the University of Michigan football team in 1934 if fellow Wolverine Willis Ward (61) was benched against Georgia Tech because of the southern school's refusal to play against black players. Just two weeks into its 1934 season, the University of Michigan football team faced mounting adversity. The Wolverines had been shut out by teams from the University of Chicago and Michigan State, and a home game against Georgia Tech loomed. But off the field, athletic director Fielding Yost had a decision to make.The Yellow Jackets still observed the Jim Crow laws of the South, frowning upon the participation of black athletes within their program. They frowned upon lining up against them, too. Georgia Tech publicly refused to meet the Wolverines at Michigan Stadium if Yost and head coach Harry Kipke sent out Willis Ward, the team’s star end. But Ward was no ordinary end. In his track career, he bested Ohio State’s Jesse Owens in the 100-yard dash and was a three-year starter for the football team. Ward also was black.At Ford’s funeral services on Jan. 2, 2007, President George W. Bush eulogized the Grand Rapids native and nation’s 38th president with a speech that featured a segment on the two former U-M teammates. “Gerald Ford was furious at Georgia Tech for making the demand, and for the University of Michigan for caving in,” Bush said. “He agreed to play only after Willis Ward personally asked him to. The stand Gerald Ford took that day was never forgotten by his friend. And Gerald Ford never forgot that day either — and three decades later, he proudly supported the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in the United States Congress.”As the story goes, Georgia Tech expected Michigan to follow the “gentleman’s agreement” which coerced Northern schools into benching their black players when playing teams from the South. Yost — a West Virginia native who had ties to Southern schools — obliged, despite pressure from local media and protesters, as well as the opportunity to call off the game well before the season started.“(Georgia Tech coach) W.A. Alexander said to Fielding Yost, ‘Michigan has this tradition and we have ours. In order to avoid this embarrassment, we can cancel the game.’ But Fielding Yost was not interested in canceling the game,” said Tyran Steward, a doctoral student in history at Ohio State, who wrote his master’s thesis on the topic while studying at Eastern Michigan University. “We understand Fielding Yost to be very influential in making contributions to the University of Michigan. He is, in many ways, to be thanked for putting U of M on the map in becoming a football powerhouse. He is, in all intents and purposes, the architect of the Big Ten. But he is also an individual who was committed to racial bigotry and racial prejudice. He’s a son of the South.”Ford, the team’s starting center, was enraged at the idea of taking the field without his close friend. Ward called Ford the first friend he made at Michigan, as the two entered as freshmen together and roomed together on road trips.“But when Ford found out about it, he was just outraged and went to Harry Kipke and told him if (Ward) didn’t play, (Ford) was going to quit the team,” said Buddy Moorehouse, a Michigan film director who is partnering with filmmaker Brian Kruger to create a documentary on the incident they hope to include in a 10-part series this year about the history of Michigan football.In the end, it was Ward himself who encouraged Ford to play in the game, citing the team’s poor start and need for Ford’s play. “Apparently it was one of the best games Ford ever had,” Moorehouse said. “During the game, there was this player on Georgia Tech that was using racial slurs and talking trash. Ford and this other Michigan lineman put a hit on this guy that knocked him out of the game. Afterward, they went and told Ward, ‘That was for you.’” Michigan won the game, 9-2. It would be the team’s only win of the season.Ward earned a law degree and went on to serve as the chairman of the Michigan Public Service Commission, as well as a probate judge in Wayne County. His friend, Jerry, went on to be president of the United States. Neither of them forgot 1934.“Willis Ward becomes one of those individuals in the same vein as Jackie Robinson, Booker T. Washington, Joe Louis — figures who attempt to work within the framework of American democracy and believe in working side-by-side with whites to attack these injurious racial issues,” Steward said.PAYMENT & RETURNS: Payment due no later than 3-days after auction closes. Will ship to continental U.S. (48-states) for listed price with Tracking but no Insurance. Please contact me if you want to make any changes to this shipping structure, cannot be liable for USPS damage.Returns are welcome, but Bidder pays return shipping and return postage will need to have tracking - original shipping not refundable. I am happy to combine shipping to save you $ too if any other auctions appeal to your interests. No Shipping outside the U.S.Questions? Please contact me before bidding.NOTE - I leave feedback after the entire transaction is complete, including Buyer left feedback. This ensures I am able to meet the highest of expectations.

Price: 165 USD

Location: Canton, Michigan

End Time: 2024-12-17T07:50:40.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.75 USD