Located
on the Georgia/South Carolina boarder, Augusta is Georgia's second largest and
second oldest city, about 150 miles east of Atlanta.
For
many, Augusta means a prestigious professional golf tournament.
For
Linfielders it means a 1965 championship college football game and a racist
incident after that game.
Although
the incident was negative, Linfield’s positive response, delivered by Paul
Durham, Linfield football coach, is a never should be forgotten part of
Linfield history.
The
1965 Linfield football Wildcats won all three of its non-conference games and all
five Northwest Conference games going into the NAIA (National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics) championship playoffs featuring four teams.
In
the NAIA semi-finals, the Wildcats traveled to Midland, Texas, and upset favored
Sul Ross State of Texas, 30-27.
Hotel Richmond -- now Richmond Summit, a low-income apartment complex -- on Broad Street in February 2017. Photo credit: Google Street View.
Linfield
and St. John’s of Minnesota traveled to Augusta to practice prior to the game.
Both teams stayed in Augusta Town House hotel which was headquarters for the
teams and NAIA officials.
In
the NAIA Championship Bowl game held Saturday afternoon, Dec. 11, 1965, at ARC
(Academy of Richmond County) Stadium in Augusta, Linfield lost, 33-0.
Following
the game, the Linfield and St. John’s football teams, coaches and staffs along
with NAIA officials attended the NAIA Football Hall of Fame banquet in the
historic Hotel Richmond in downtown Augusta. During the event five were
inducted into the “Hall.”
The
banquet included a sit-down meal for everyone in attendance. While that was the
plan, everyone from Linfield sat down. No one from Linfield ate.
But
first, some background…
Linfield
1965 football team player Odis Avritt (see photo of Odis as a Linfield football
player), an African American, said, “Several days prior to the team departing
McMinnville for Augusta, following practice, I sought out Coach Durham. Many
questions were on my mind regarding going to the ‘Deep South’ and it seemed
appropriate to share my concerns with him and get some answers to my
apprehensions. My main question was, ‘Were we going to be separated as a team?’
”
During
times of overt racial discrimination, it was not uncommon for sports teams
staying overnight on the road to have separate lodging, white players and
coaches in a hotel and black players and coaches elsewhere.
“Realizing
that the furthest East my travels had taken me was to St. Louis, Missouri, and
Midland, Texas (for the Linfield vs. Sul Ross 1965 playoff football game), the
idea of Georgia was beyond comprehension. Coach Durham assured me that the
Linfield Wildcat football team would be together throughout the entire
experience. Coach always had a way with words and you could trust his guidance.
He said we would stay together as a team and we did,” Avritt said.
RACIST
INCIDENT IN AUGUSTA
After
the game as Linfield’s players, coaches and staff entered the hotel’s lobby en
route to the banquet, Coach Durham was told by the hotel restaurant manager
that any "colored people" -- for Linfield that meant African Americans and people
of color from Hawaii -- with Linfield would have to eat in the restaurant’s
kitchen.
Coach
Durham’s immediate response was, "Then we (the entire Linfield contingent)
will all eat in the kitchen."
When
told there wasn't room in the kitchen for everyone from Linfield, he promptly
stated "Then we won't eat."
And,
indeed, the Linfielders attending the banquet did not eat while all others at
the banquet not affiliated with Linfield did.
Another
1965 Linfield football player, Bob Haack (see photo of Bob as a Linfield
football player), said “There was no hesitation in Coach Durham’s response. He
was a man of principles. He always did what he knew was right. His players were
always a team and not a group of individuals. I have reflected many times over
the years as to the lesson his action gave about racial equality to both teams
as well as to the hotel employees.”
Avritt
added, “What happened at the banquet was a testimony of the man Coach Durham
was and his commitment to his players and team.”
In
December 2015, a column in the Augusta
Chronicle daily newspaper discussed Augusta’s history as 1964 and 1965 NAIA
“Championship Bowl football game site.
The
column said the games were financial losers with the sponsoring organization
being in debt after the 1965 (Linfield vs. St. John’s) game.
On
Sept. 7, 1966, according to the column, it was announced the bowl game was
leaving Augusta for Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The
column said the NAIA “thought a city with a bigger population and a bigger
stadium would be better than Augusta. A.J. Duer, executive secretary of the
NAIA, said he ‘had hopes that Tulsa will be the permanent home of our Champion
Bowl.’ It wasn’t. Tulsa didn’t even do as well as Augusta, and would only host
the 1966 Champion Bowl game. The following year it moved to West Virginia, then
Alabama, then Texas. In fact, since the Champion Bowl left Augusta 50 years ago,
25 cities have hosted it.”
That
being said, the championship game move from Augusta took place for more than
just than finances. Wildcatville speculates because of the racist incident and
Coach Durham’s lobbying, the NAIA football championship game would not be held
after 1965 in Augusta even if the 1964 and 1965 Champion Bowl games had been profitable
financially.
Coach
Durham did not want any team to experience the racism Linfield experienced in
Augusta.
The
racist incident happened to a Linfield team coached by Paul Durham, who, year-by-year
was moving up the NAIA leadership hierarchy and would have become president of
the NAIA Executive Board, the association’s highest ruling body covering the
schools within the organization. He rose to third VP of the NAIA Executive
Board. But, in 1968 resigned because he was leaving Linfield to become athletic
director of the University of Hawaii, not a NAIA member.
The
racist incident didn’t happen to Linfield football in a vacuum. It happened at
the NAIA football Hall of Fame banquet in Augusta with NAIA officials,
including A. J. Dauer, NAIA executive secretary, in attendance.
In Durham’s
lobbying to get the championship football game moved from Augusta, he didn’t
have to describe what happened to NAIA officials what happened. They were there.
IN
CONCLUSION
The
Coach Paul Durham statue/monument (see photo taken 5/4/2017) on the Linfield
campus is near the Linfield Health, Human Performance and Athletics (HHPA)
building, which opened in 1989.
Engraved
text which accompanies the statue/monument includes…
… “Long
before racial sensitivity became a national issue, Durham judged his athletes
by the strength of their character without regard to race or religion.
“He
made a strong unpublicized statement for human and civil rights during the
Champion Bowl in Augusta, Georgia, in December of 1965. When a hotel official
wanted to serve the Black and Hawaiian members of the team in the kitchen at
the banquet following the game, Durham advised the restaurant manager the
entire team would eat in the kitchen.
“When
the manager said there was not enough room to feed the team in the kitchen, the
team stayed in the dining room but there was no food served at the Linfield
tables.
“As
a result of this incident and his personal lobbying efforts, the 1966 NAIA
championship game was moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“Such
was the profound influence of a man whose memory is still alive in the hearts,
minds, and actions of those he touched during his distinguished career and
extraordinary life. One of life’s blessings was to be a friend of Paul Durham.
He was a beacon of light in the darkest of times.”
……….
……….
WILDCATVILLE
EDITORIAL
Twice, most recently in 2014, the Linfield Board of Trustees was
asked by alumni to name HHPA for Paul Durham. Twice the board said no.
Durham was more than a football coach. He was an extraordinary person.
A talented Linfield student, including in athletics and music, his successes
after graduating from Linfield are storied. He was a respected community leader
in McMinnville. His teaching skills and leadership of Linfield teams and
athletics and impact on players he coached are storied. You have the Augusta
story to look into his soul.
In its written proposal to the board in 2014, a group of alums said,
“From the date (1989 HHPA) opened its doors to the present, (HHPA) has had a
generic name while the names of most other athletics-related facilities on
campus memorialize former Linfield coaches. There is one person alone, Paul
Durham … who deserves the honor of having his name on HHPA.”
In the aftermath of the board saying no in 2014, funds raised by
friends of Paul Durham, many of them his former Linfield players, paid to have a
statue/monument of him created and installed near HHPA. In concert with that,
his name went on the front of HHPA to repeat the fact the lobby and foyer
inside HHPA are named for him. But, the fact remains, Paul Durham’s name is on
the building and inside the building. But, the building is not, as it should
be, named for him.
………..
Photos
-Odis Avritt and Bob Haack as Linfield football players. Photo credit: Linfield Sports Information.
-Coach Paul Durham Statue/Monument
on Linfield campus on May 4, 2017. Photo credit: Wildcatville.
-Hotel Richmond -- now
Richmond Summit, a low-income apartment complex -- on Broad Street in February
2017. Photo credit: Google Street View.
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See 'Linfield College Football history: Bowl and iconic games'
http://wildcatville.blogspot.com/2017/08/linfield-college-football-history-bowl.html
